Champagne Premier Cru | Extra Brut
Longitude
« Longitude » means length and the very pure, straight style, from those great Côte des Blancs terroirs with practically outcropping chalk.
Longitude Premier Cru Extra Brut
Origins
Historically, since the beginning of the 20th century, this cuvée had gone under the name of “Blanc de Blancs”.
“Longitude” originates exclusively from the Chardonnay grapes grown on the Côte des Blancs: Vertus, Oger, Avize, Cramant, which form a line close to the 4th meridian.
This non-vintage cuvée contains 40% of wines coming from our perpetual reserve begun in 2004.
100%
Chardonnay
40%
Reserve wines
3g/l
Dosage
Vinification and maturation
The grapes are pressed gently, the juices are clarified very slightly and then go directly into wood. The natural alcoholic fermentation (indigenous yeasts) and the malolactic fermentation begin spontaneously in the Stockinger casks and vats. The wines are matured on the natural lees during their first year, with no filtering or fining being carried out.
The blending and the tirage are carried out in July. The bottles are taken down into the coolness of the cellars and stacked on lattes, the second fermentation takes place and maturation goes on for at least two more years.
Each bottle is disgorged by hand 6 months before being marketed. The dosage is only 3g/l (extra brut!).
Tasting Notes
Superbly fresh and mineral
Perfect as an aperitif, its straightness and its mineral character will whet your appetite. It’s ready to drink now, but may also be laid down for a few years.
Press Review
Wine Advocate- May 2020 – 93 points
« Disgorged in December 2018 and based on the 2015 vintage, the latest release of NV Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru Longitude is showing very well indeed, opening in the glass with a classy and youthfully reserved bouquet of lemon oil, freshly baked bread, crisp yellow orchard fruit and wet chalk. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, elegantly textural and concentrated, with racy acids, terrific tension and a pinpoint mousse. This new disgorgement is especially harmonious and complete. Longitude is routinely one of the region’s finest values; indeed, along with Egly-Ouriet’s VP bottling, this is one of my two “house” Champagnes »
