Champagne Benoit Lahaye, Millesime Bouzy Grand Cru 2011

The 45 year old vines are 100% from the grand cru of Bouzy and lieu-dit of Mont de Tauxi�res. Fermented in five year old 225 litre barrels, malolactics were blocked and the champagne was bottled off under cork without filtration in July 2013. It was disgorged in June 2017 with a 4g/l dosage. Usually produce 11% natural alcohol; never chaptalises. Pressed by automatic press. Leaves the juice to settle for 18 hours. Vinified in barrels (at 18�C) using selected yeasts. The wine doesn�t carry out its malolactic fermentation. Aged for 10 months in 228L five year old barrels. 23g/l of sugar are used for the secondary fermentation. Five years �sur lattes�. Dosage at 6 g/l with organic cane sugar. The bottles have an extra 6 months of cellaring before release. 4000 bottles produced.

A passionate advocate of natural winegrowing, Beno�t Lahaye took over his family�s estate in 1993 and has been bottling wine under his own label since 1996. He became interested in natural viticulture early on, and inspired by Patrick Meyer in Alsace, Lahaye completely stopped using systemic herbicides in 1994. By 1996 he had begun to work organically, in addition to using cover crops in the vineyards and experimenting with biodynamic treatments; the estate was fully converted to organic viticulture in 2003, and certified organic in 2007. In 2004 he began working all of his vineyards biodynamically, and since 2010, the estate has been certified as biodynamic by Biodyvin. Lahaye owns 4.8 hectares, largely planted with pinot noir: 88%. Three hectares lie in Bouzy, one hectare in Ambonnay and another 60 ares in Tauxi�res. In addition, a 20-are parcel of 50-year old chardonnay vines is planted in Voipreux, in the southern C�te des Blancs, and since this is so far away from Bouzy, these vines are worked by Pierre Larmandier. In 2010, Lahaye began working two hectares of the domaine by horse, as this compacts the soil less than plowing by tractor. In the cellar the work is as minimal as possible. Lahaye has slowly been increasing the percentage of his wines vinified in 205-liter barriques, and as of the 2012 harvest, all base wines are fermented in barrel. All of the wines in barrel are fermented with natural yeasts. He has also experimented with terracotta amphorae, although he hasn't been satisfied, as he finds that the wines quickly lose freshness compared with those in barrel. In general, he prefers to blend both malo and non-malo lots. ( Peter Liem)

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