2008 Chartogne-Taillet Orizeaux Extra Brut

From a more than 50-year-old Pinot vineyard in Merfy, the Chartogne-Taillet 2008 Extra Brut Cuvee Orizeaux is no less distinctive – indeed, downright unusual – than the corresponding single-vineyard Meunier (and it’s also raised in repeatedly-used Anne Gros barriques). Scents of sea breeze, pungent marjoram, celery seed, and peat set the tone for a smoky and elusively mineral as well as herbal-vegetable performance. There is, for example, an artichoke-like combination of pleasant bitterness, nuttiness and herbacity; and the salty, chalky, smoky notes carry through to a vibrant, penetrating, mouthwatering finish. Here – albeit without any pronounced allusions to the animal world – we’re in territory Pinot sometimes inhabits that leads us to ask with head-scratching how such a thing could come from grapes! And almost certainly this will be good for head-scratching as well as versatile food-pairing for a least the next 4-6 years. Under the direction of still-young Alexandre Chartogne, the wines of Chartogne-Taillet – long praised, yet in my view still under-rated – seem to be going from strength to strength, fueled by exemplary experimentalism and attention to detail, not to mention passion. Among the more conspicuous recent innovations at this cellar in out-of-the way Merfy (on the Massif de Saint-Thierry immediately northwest of Reims) is the use of concrete eggs for fermentation and aging, a shape and material designed to enhance lees contact via Brownian motion. The emergence here of single-cepage single-vineyard bottlings, reflects a trend among intrepid young Champagne vintners. And the aforementioned experimentalism naturally encompasses serious dosage trials, with results that consistently hit the “sweet spots” of expression (even if these are not literally in the least sweet). Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300