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Champagne Agrapart

Grand Cru Avize from one of Champagne’s Great Artisans

Without doubt, Agrapart is one of Champagne’s most outstanding growers. For Chardonnay alone, it is probably the reference. Agrapart is now routinely compared to his neighbour Selosse, even though the style of wine produced by these two is markedly different. If you were looking for a Burgundian analogy, you could think of Selosse as Lafon to Agrapart’s Coche. Both are in the same village, crafting wine of exceptional quality yet markedly different from one another. To compare, Agrapart picks earlier and uses larger, older wood and bottles earlier, resulting in wines that are less influenced by oxygen. Avize has always been a special village, and today, thanks to Agrapart and Selosse, it is at the heart of the great grower movement in Champagne.

“For readers who want to discover what the Côte des Blancs is all about, I can’t think of a better place to start than here.” Antonio Galloni

Under Pascal Agrapart’s stewardship, this producer is a benchmark source of genuinely great grower Champagne. Today, Nathalie and Pascal’s son Ambroise Agrapart runs the show with the active support of his father. Together, they work an astonishing 70 micro-plots across nine and a half hectares in the Côte des Blancs, mostly in Avize but with plots in Cramant, Oiry and Oger. All these parcels are ploughed (many by horse), no chemical pesticides, fertilisers, or herbicides are ever used, and the fruit is harvested manually. Production is tiny, and vine age is among the oldest in the Côte des Blancs (between 35 and 60+ years old, with around 70% of the vines at 40+ years). Yields are kept very low, and the average potential alcohol at harvest is high for the region, typically around 11 degrees—an intentional and risky technique employed by Agrapart, resulting in this producer rarely, if ever, having to chaptalise.

The grapes are pressed with a traditional Coquard vertical press, and fermentation is carried out with natural yeasts, which Agrapart feels is crucial to the expression of terroir. Malolactic conversion is completed for all the wines, and aging is, for the most part, in old 600-litre demi-muids. Dosage, done with a traditional liqueur d’expédition of cane sugar, varies from wine to wine, although it is usually around 3-4 g/L. The wines are typically bottled around the full moon of May following the harvest, with no filtration or cold stabilisation. Extended lees aging is the norm.

You only need to look at the range of wines to understand how unique this grower is. Despite being one of the entry wines in the portfolio, Terroirs is already one of Champagne’s most compelling Blanc de Blancs. It is 100% Grand Cru, with the fruit sourced from exclusively great sites across four villages. The domaine then offers three vintage-dated cuvées parcellaires from what Agrapart considers the three main terroirs of Avize: Minéral, Avizoise and Vénus—the latter is simply one of the region’s greatest cuvées. In addition, there is now Complantée, from a single parcel in Avize that Agrapart co-planted with six varieties, the Vieux Millésime, a late-disgorged Minéral aged on cork, and Expérience, which, without giving too much away, is one of Champagne’s most singular wines. Together, these represent a remarkable line-up of sparkling Avize (with a little Cramant), all grown in historically significant vineyards by a grower with few peers.

Currently Available

Champagne Agrapart & Fils Grand Cru Terroirs Blanc de Blancs NV (Base 20 Disg. 2024)

Champagne Agrapart & Fils Grand Cru Terroirs Blanc de Blancs NV (Base 20 Disg. 2024)

Agrapart’s scintillating Terroirs is 100% Grand Cru, with the fruit sourced only from great sites across four revered villages in the Côte des Blancs: Avize, Cramant, Oger and Oiry. Together with the terroir, vine age is a key quality factor, with the average age of the plantings at more than 50 years.This release is based on two outstanding vintages: 2020 and 2019. The reserve wine (the earlier vintage) makes up a remarkable 80% of the cuvée—another telling factor in its quality. After natural fermentation, half the wine matured in large-format, neutral oak and spent over 36 months on lees. Dosage is limited to 5 g/L, and disgorgement was carried out by hand in March 2024.This is another flat-out stunning disgorgement of this wine. Although the 7 Crus is terrific, this is, as always, another level altogether. The quality of the Grand Cru sites, the age of vines, the vintages involved, and the dominance of reserve wines in the blend all play their role in this difference. Regardless, it’s evidence of a stellar grower in perpetual movement. The wine is already wonderful but will, as always, benefit from another year under cork. No third-party notes as yet, but again, trust us: This is superb!

Champagne Agrapart & Fils Grand Cru Terroirs Blanc de Blancs NV (Base 20 Disg. 2024)
Champagne Agrapart & Fils 7 Crus NV (Base 21 Disg. Jul 24)

Champagne Agrapart & Fils 7 Crus NV (Base 21 Disg. Jul 24)

Disg. July 2024. The Agrapart range begins with a non-vintage wine called 7 Crus. The name refers to the seven villages from which the wine derives. These include Avize (from younger vines aged 20 to 40 years), Cramant, Oger, Oiry, Avenay-Val-d’Or, Coligny and Vauciennes. Like all Agrapart wines, the fruit is from 100% estate-owned and farmed vineyards.7 Crus is a blend of two harvests. In this case, 60% is 2021 from 1er Cru sites, and 40% is 2020 from Grand Cru sites. The reserve wine was raised in neutral, 600-litre oak casks from François Chidaine and Didier Dagueneau. The breakdown is 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Noir (this and the Complantée are the only wines from this producer that aren’t blanc de blancs). Even at this first level, the wine is aged for three years on lees, and it was disgorged with 6 g/L dosage. This is the most immediately seductive cuvée in the Agrapart range, yet it is still extremely fine: long, racy and saline with some gentle grip. And as the note below makes clear, it’s become ever classier in recent years under Ambroise Agrapart’s tutelage. Sadly, we do not get nearly enough. With a further four months in bottle, this is the new disgorgement of the same wine we offered in July this year. 

“The NV Brut 7 Crus is a very pretty, entry-level wine in this range. Bright, mineral and intensely vibrant, the 7 Crus is all energy. All the elements are so well proportioned. A blend of 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Noir, this captures all the house signatures with tons of energy and better overall balance than in some previous editions. White flowers, chalk and citrus linger. Dosage is 6 grams per liter."
90 points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Champagne Agrapart & Fils 7 Crus NV (Base 21 Disg. Jul 24)
Champagne Pascal Agrapart Grand Cru Minéral Blanc de Blancs 2018 (Disg. Jul 24)

Champagne Pascal Agrapart Grand Cru Minéral Blanc de Blancs 2018 (Disg. Jul 24)

Disgorged July 2024. Minéral is blended from two adjacent vieilles vignes plots (50-plus years old) on the border between Avize and Cramant, where the vine roots plunge straight into the chalky bedrock. The fruit from Le Champ Bouton in Avize fermented in tank, while the component from Les Bionnes in Cramant was vinified in 600-litre oak casks—“barrels for the expression of minerality and tank of the precision”, as Pascal puts it. The wine spent over five years on lees and was dosed at 3 g/L. Typically the saltiest, most mineral wine in the Agrapart range, this is also incredibly deep and vinous this year—Meursault-like but with an iodine/salinity that is uniquely Côte des Blancs. A great release of this wine! 

“This must be one of the most beguiling and refined 2018s from the Côte des Blancs, managing to retain a tensile, nuanced and detailed complexity in a year that can sometimes be a bit simple. From some of the estate’s chalkiest, shallowest soils, Minéral impresses by setting white peach, bitter almond and dried flowers in a lithe, persistent frame full of leapfrogging details of slate, umami savour and apricot kernel richness, dancing over a long, detailed finish. Terrific.”
95 points, Tom Hewson, Decanter
“This year 2018 fits the Minéral cuvée like a glove. A comfortable and rich vintage, which meets the straightness, verticality and tension of this cuvée, for a wine that is both energetic and textured.”
96 points, La Review du Vins de France
Champagne Pascal Agrapart Grand Cru Minéral Blanc de Blancs 2018 (Disg. Jul 24)
Champagne Agrapart & Fils Grand Cru Terroirs Blanc de Blancs NV (Base 20 Disg. March 2024) (1500ml)

Champagne Agrapart & Fils Grand Cru Terroirs Blanc de Blancs NV (Base 20 Disg. March 2024) (1500ml)

Agrapart’s scintillating Terroirs is 100% Grand Cru, with the fruit sourced only from great sites across four revered villages in the Côte des Blancs: Avize, Cramant, Oger and Oiry. Together with the terroir, vine age is a key quality factor, with the average age of the plantings at more than 50 years.This release is based on two outstanding vintages: 2020 and 2019. The reserve wine (the earlier vintage) makes up a remarkable 80% of the cuvée—another telling factor in its quality. After natural fermentation, half the wine matured in large-format, neutral oak and spent over 36 months on lees. Dosage is limited to 5 g/L, and disgorgement was carried out by hand in March 2024.This is another flat-out stunning disgorgement of this wine. Although the 7 Crus is terrific, this is, as always, another level altogether. The quality of the Grand Cru sites, the age of vines, the vintages involved, and the dominance of reserve wines in the blend all play their role in this difference. Regardless, it’s evidence of a stellar grower in perpetual movement. The wine is already wonderful but will, as always, benefit from another year under cork. No third-party notes as yet, but again, trust us: This is superb!

Champagne Agrapart & Fils Grand Cru Terroirs Blanc de Blancs NV (Base 20 Disg. March 2024) (1500ml)
Champagne Pascal Agrapart Grand Cru EXP Blanc de Blancs 2019 (Disg. Jul 24)

Champagne Pascal Agrapart Grand Cru EXP Blanc de Blancs 2019 (Disg. Jul 24)

Disgorged July 2024. (Formerly known as Expérience). The price here reflects the demand for a cuvée that is utterly unique in the Champagne world and the rarity (there is next to none to go around). Finally, we should not forget that this is a wine style that is extremely difficult to make. First, some background for those new to this wine. In 2002, Agrapart sought and (remarkably) received permission from the local authorities to begin experimenting with a small quantity of wine that he wanted to produce without adding any sugar: no chaptalisation and no additions for the secondary fermentation’s liqueur de tirage (the tricky part), nor the final dosage (liqueur d’expédition). Not using sugar and yeast for the liqueur de tirage (to prompt the second fermentation in the bottle) is actually against the AOC laws, which is why Agrapart needed permission. So how does Agrapart achieve the bottle fermentation? Instead of sugar, he uses must (grape juice) from the same vineyards that produce the wine, thus enabling him to produce a Champagne that is 100% the product of estate-grown grapes. It is also a lower-alcohol wine because the absence of sugar additions means the alcohol does not jump 1.5 degrees, as typically occurs with standard secondary fermentation. So, this wine rests at around 11.8% alcohol compared with 12.5% for the rest of the range. It’s also a wine that can age well; we recently tasted the first vintage, 2007, from magnum at the estate. It was in wonderful shape!The current release is an equal-parts blend from vineyards that contributed to the Avizoise and Minéral cuvées (Les Robarts in Avize and Les Bionnes in Cramant), ‘dosed’ with around 20% of the juice of 2020 from these same vineyards. It is this juice that drives the secondary fermentation in the bottle. Again, no sugar or yeast additions are used for all fermentation, and the wine is never fined or filtered. Regardless of the methodology, this is simply a magnificent, one-of-a-kind Blanc de Blancs: complex, floral and crystalline—without the traditional autolytic notes of a standard tirage, but instead, a purity and delicacy that is second to none. The finish is seriously long as well, streaked with chalk, sap and candied lemon notes. 

Champagne Pascal Agrapart Grand Cru EXP Blanc de Blancs 2019 (Disg. Jul 24)
Champagne Pascal Agrapart Grand Cru Vénus Blanc de Blancs 2018 (Disg. Jul 24)

Champagne Pascal Agrapart Grand Cru Vénus Blanc de Blancs 2018 (Disg. Jul 24)

Disgorged July 2024. This is a very special wine from a very special plot. It comes from one-third of a hectare of vines in the renowned Avize vineyard plot, La Fosse aux Pourceaux. This 0.3-hectare section of La Fosse lies on the chalkiest portion of the slope near the village (contrasting with the more clay-rich soils of the Avizoise cuvée). The vines were planted in 1959 and so are extremely old by Champagne standards. This single parcel cuvée is therefore made in only tiny quantities each year. The wine is named after the Boulonnais mare, Vénus, that first ploughed the vineyard. Yes, Avizoise is one of the benchmark wines of the Côte des Blancs, yet Vénus somehow takes everything to another level. It’s an intense wine that demands food and is worth decanting when young. It will also benefit from two or three years of further aging (at least). Treat it like a great white wine, served at the table with proper wine glasses (we recommend a Burgundy glass), and you will be greatly rewarded. This cuvée is bottled without any dosage.Vénus has more depth, grip and phenolic power than Avizoise, yet it offers plenty of finesse and mineral intensity to match the wine’s power and complexity. It’s a Côte des Blancs Chevalier-Montrachet! In 2018, this terroir's magic is again on show; no matter the depth, the wines still offer otherworldly vibrancy, finesse and drinkability. Very beautiful indeed.

“In 2018, Venus remains the most structured wine in the cellar. A powerful champagne while remaining racy and chalky, with a real delicacy of bubbles and a great hold in the mouth. Its tannic presence contributes to its length and its personality. Very beautiful!”
96 points, La Review du Vins de France
Champagne Pascal Agrapart Grand Cru Vénus Blanc de Blancs 2018 (Disg. Jul 24)
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“Agrapart’s wines are of uniformly excellent quality, with a naturally vibrant and vinous character that makes them feel grown rather than made.” Peter Liem, champagneguide.net

“…this is a model source of fine-drawn Champagnes … Because there are no large marketing budgets to factor in, these are also some of the best value wines in Champagne.” Michael Edwards, The Finest Wines of Champagne  

“Pascal Agrapart embodies the best of the artisan tradition in Champagne, and his wines show it.” Antonio Galloni, Vinous

“Three Stars: Ils represent L'excellence du vignoble français” Les Meilleurs Vins de France 2022, La Revue du Vin de France (The same rating granted to Selosse, Egly-Ouriet and Krug)

“Agrapart’s wines are of uniformly excellent quality, with a naturally vibrant and vinous character that makes them feel grown rather than made.” Peter Liem, champagneguide.net

Country

France

Primary Region

Champagne

People

Winemakers: Pascal and Ambroise Agrapart

Availability

National

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