Collin, Ulysse - Champagner Les Pierrieres Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut (2014)

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The NV Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Pierrières (2014) contains fully 50% reserve wines matured in foudre from the 2013 vintage, and it was disgorged in February 2017 with 1.7 grams per liter dosage after 36 months sur lattes. As I reported earlier this years, this is a superb release from Collin, and having followed the 2013 reserve wines from their infancy—I remember them reminding me of a young Raveneau Montée de Tonnerre!—it's fascinating to see their influence in this release. Unfurling in the glass with aromas of crisp yellow apples, citrus oil, oyster shells and warm bread, the wine is full-bodied, elegantly textural and incisive, with a deep, concentrated and chiseled core, racy but ripe acids and chalky dry extract. This vineyard, defined by flinty chalk, is located some six kilometers from Collin's base in Congy, and from it one can see the Côte de Blancs: ironically, in view of the quality of the wines Collin produces here, it isn't even classed as a premier cru."