Geoffroy Les Houtrants Complantes Brut Nature 1er Cru (Gift Box) NV 750ml

Disgorged in February 2017 with no dosage, this bottle of the NV Brut Nature Premier Cru Les Houtrants Complant??s derives from the 2012 triage and consists of a blend of reserve wines from 2008 to 2011 that were aged in magnum. Les Houtrants is a precocious lieu-dit in Cumi??res that Geoffroy planted with a field blend of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay, Arbanne and Petit Meslier in 2004. The wine wafts from the glass with a subtle but complex bouquet of white currants, smoke, wet stones, warm biscuits and verb, followed by a medium to full-bodied, a fine-boned and tensile palate that's exquisitely balanced, its bright spine of acidity cloaked in just enough vibrant flesh and texture to avoid any hint of asperity, concluding with a searingly chalky finish. Intellectually stimulating and compulsively drinkable in equal measure, it's a pity that only a tiny number of bottles are produced.

(WA-Aug 2019)