Doyard Clos de L'Abbaye Extra Brut Champagne 2018

100% Chardonnay. This comes from a true Clos that was planted in Vertus in 1956, and is all of .5 hectare; it is right behind the Doyard estate and is farmed biodynamically. After harvest, this was raised in older Burgundy barrels with native yeasts, malolactic was blocked. After being transferred to bottle, it saw a short 48 months on its lees before being disgorged with a scant dosage of 2 grams per liter to better show its site. This is quite the wine with a core aroma set of pear, apricot and nectarine, buttered toast, and a smoky flint style of minerality. The palate is both textured and amazingly precise with a flavor set of tart stone fruits, citrus, a light cut of chalky minerality and a delicate suggestion of oak. 

Offering up aromas of crisp stone fruits, pear, buttered toast, musky peach and smoke, the 2018 Extra-Brut Premier Cru Clos de l'Abbaye was disgorged this year with two grams per liter dosage. Medium to full-bodied, pillowy and precise, with a nicely concentrated core of fruit, racy acids and a long, chalky finish, the 2018 is quite a fine-boned, elegant rendition of this bottling. As readers will remember, this cuvée derives from a walled 0.4-hectare plot of 60-year-old cordon-pruned vines (including some "muscaté" selections of Chardonnay) just behind the winery in Vertus, and only the first and second "serres" of the press are used. 95 Points, Robert Parker Wine Advocate, December 2023