Chalk Talk: The Brilliant Champagnes of Pascal Agrapart

10/31/19 -

At Chambers Street Wines we are blessed to work with an array of dedicated and talented growers. Careful work in the vines (mostly organic or biodynamic) and cellar (mostly non-interventionist) produce wines that, in addition to being delicious, seem to offer deeper dimensions of terroir expression than other wines of their appellation. That they are able to do this regularly, often transcending vagaries of vintage, is more inspiring still. One such grower is Pascal Agrapart from Avize in the Côte des Blancs, whose Champagnes are inspiring for their harmoniousness, clarity, and consistency.

With 62 parcels mostly spread across the grand cru villages of Avize, Cramant, Oiry, and Oger (per Peter Liem on his excellent website ChampagneGuide.net) Pascal Agrapart farms his vines conscientiously, avoiding herbicides, pesticides, and choosing to till the soils to encourage the roots to go deeper. In the cellar he ferments in a combination of tank and wood, with the vintage wines seeing significant time on the lees. The resulting Champagnes are deeply mineral and display great distinction between individual cuvées. All are nervy, balancing power with precision, with great expression of soils and subsoils, be they chalk, clay, or a combination thereof. This transparency shows across the entire lineup, from the generous non-vintage 7 Crus which is made up of Grand Cru Chardonnay from parcels located across the seven Côte des Blancs villages where Agrapart has vines, to Venus, a cuvée derived from a single 300-meter-square parcel of old vines in Avize that is profoundly lean, chalky and taut. For lovers of terroir and Champagne, Agrapart produces Champagnes that are immensely compelling. -John McIlwain