NV Ulysse Collin Les Enfers Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut (2015 base - 48 months)
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From the 2017 vintage with 72 months of aging on the lees, the NV Champagne Blanc de Blancs Les Enfers Extra Brut is the last vintage they made with the old Coquard press. Harvest came with 17 mm of rain, yet the aromatics are beautiful, featuring notes of lemon curd, meringue, pineapple, and crème brûlée. The aromatics are next-level, with a mature profile that comes together and shows fabulously upon opening. Full-bodied, the palate is decadent yet refreshing, with an ultra-fine mousse and fabulous sweet fruit through the finish, supported by an underlying mineral texture. It’s a complete wine, with a wide drinking window ahead, and while it’s stunning right now, it should have no problem aging for decades. This is one of the standouts, and I know Olivier is only going to keep pushing. The mineral intensity that persists is just stunning, like the perfect spice. Drink 2025-2055. Olivier Collin is based in the Coteaux du Petit Morin, in the village of Congy. In the 1930s, his grandfather became the first récoltant-manipulant in the region, bottling only from his own vineyards and refusing to sell fruit to négociants. Olivier’s father sold the company in 1987, but in March 2003, Olivier and his family decided to reclaim a portion of the vineyards and begin making wine again. By that time, the health of the soils had deteriorated, so his first priority was to buy a tractor and start rebuilding them, and he was able to produce his first vintage in 2004. He prefers to work as naturally as possible, although he does not tie himself to the constraints of any organic or biodynamic certification. In the vineyard, he seeks high maturity in the fruit without allowing it to tip into over-ripeness. His approach emphasizes balance, natural yeasts, natural malolactic fermentations, low intervention, and the addition of sulfur only at the time of pressing before fermentation. The goal is always the same: to produce the best possible base wine with real gastronomic importance. In the cellar, everything is fermented in barrels, mostly used, and the dosage is kept very low, varying from 0.85 grams to 4 grams per liter, depending on what the wine needs. Recently, he has been extending aging on the lees and continues to push the boundaries of what he can achieve in the Coteaux du Petit Morin. In 2024, they lost 50% of Maillon to mildew, but they’re very happy with the resulting quality and density in the wines.
Critic scores
Jancis Robinson MW
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Disgorged after 60 months on the lees, and incorporating 20% reserve wines, the NV Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Enfers (2017) 60 months is based on the 2017 vintage. After the volume and breadth of the 2014 and 2015 iterations, and after the structure of 2016, the 2017 remains impressively vinous and intensely flavored, but it's more charming and immediate in style. Offering up aromas of mango, pear, spices, beeswax, dried white flowers and fresh bread, it's full-bodied, layered and giving, with a deep core of fruit and a resonant, saline finish. Often, it's Les Roises that's the more exotic of Collin's two Congy cuvées, thanks to its virused vines and more southerly exposition, but in 2017, that dynamic seems to have been reversed.
Disgorged after 60 months on the lees, which will now be the standard for this cuvée, Collin's NV Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Enfers (2016) unwinds in the glass with complex aromas of crisp Anjou pear and stone fruits mingled with pastry cream, toasted almonds and white flowers. Full-bodied, satiny and seamless, it's deep and complete, with racy acids, terrific texture and unerring precision. While my allegiance varies between Les Enfers and Les Roises, depending on the year and the disgorgement, in 2016 it's impossible to choose: both wines are benchmarks for contemporary Champagne.
Disgorged with two grams per liter dosage in March 2020, the newly released NV Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Enfers (2015) is based on the 2015 vintage, complemented by some 15% reserve wines. Offering up aromas of citrus oil, crisp white peach, spring blossom, warm bread and buttery pastry, it's full-bodied, layered and muscular, with terrific concentration, lively acids and chalky dry extract, concluding with a saline finish. I can't wait to revisit it with more time on cork, as it's still a little reserved after its recent disgorgment.
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12.5%
Blanc de Blancs