NV Vouette & Sorbee 'Fidele' BdN. Champagne, France. 750ml
Fidèle is a Blanc de Noirs (100% Pinot Noir) that comes from Kimmeridgian-limestone soils. This is mostly from 2016 yet also includes roughly 5% reserve wine (from a perpetual blend started in 2001 and stored in a giant old foudre). The vintage that makes up the majority of the blend is always stated on the back label with an “R” number (R being an abbreviation for Récolte, or vintage).
The R16 was disgorged in November 2018. The Fonnetvineyard provides the heart of this cuvée and the nearby lieux-dit of Biaunes provides much of the balance. The vines for this wine average 30 years and Gautherot keeps the yields particularly low, (when Mother Nature has not already done that for him!). Interesting to note that the R16 contains much of the Pinot juice from Sorbée plot—noSaignée was made in 2016 due to the Pinot’s thinner-than-usual skins. We can also offer a small allocation of R15, disgorged in October 2018, in magnum; a complex, layered yet vibrantly fresh wine with flavours of blue fruit, cherry, spice and grenadine that is drinking beautifully.
Following pressing in a traditional, vertical Coquard press,Fidèle is vinified entirely—without added yeast or chaptalisation—in used Burgundian barrels for ten months. These barriques were purchased from Domaine Arnaud Ente in Meursault. The wine then spends 15-20 months on lees in bottle after the secondary fermentation and is disgorged with zero dosage. Gautherot describes this as, “a dangerous wine,” as it is so damn easy to drink. Very, very true.
