{"id":35902,"date":"2024-04-24T12:35:54","date_gmt":"2024-04-24T11:35:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leaandsandeman.co.uk\/blog\/?p=35902"},"modified":"2025-06-06T15:26:28","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T14:26:28","slug":"champagne-spotlight-nicolas-maillart-ecueil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leaandsandeman.co.uk\/blog\/2024\/04\/champagne-spotlight-nicolas-maillart-ecueil\/","title":{"rendered":"Champagne Spotlight | Nicolas Maillart, \u00c9cueil"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Vigne<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

When I first joined Lea & Sandeman, not even four years ago, Larmandier Bernier\u2019s magnificent Vieilles Vignes du Levant 2011 was \u00a380 a bottle \u2013 I drank a lot of it. I wish I\u2019d drunk more.<\/p>\n

\"Nicolas<\/p>\n

Now, you\u2019re lucky to pick it up for \u00a3120 A lesson in how interest is fundamentally shifting away from more \u2018mass produced\u2019, branded Champagne and toward these tiny, \u2018Burgundian-style\u2019 growers, but also in picking up cases of these wines just as critical mass begins to build.<\/p>\n

So, you might ask if you\u2019ve read on this far, what am I drinking lots of now, and what might be the \u2018next big thing\u2019?<\/p>\n

Nicolas Maillart<\/a>, the 10th generation of his family to farm in the Montagne de Reims (Champagne\u2019s spiritual home for Pinot Noir, most famous for the village of Ambonnay), is making staggeringly good Champagne and, I constantly find myself reaching for their 2018 Blanc de Noirs \u2018Montchenot\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"NicolasThis is a single-vineyard wine, grown on the slopes in his mother\u2019s home village, for which it is named. Only a few thousand bottles are made, Nicolas ripens his grapes often up to 2 weeks longer than the expected norm and he vinifies and matures exclusively in old oak barrels.<\/p>\n

This creates a truly vinous Champagne, capable of great age, but also absolutely delicious right now.<\/p>\n

This 2018, an outstanding vintage, has recently been awarded 95 points from Vinous \u2013 the third best score for any 2018 Champagne released so far.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

The Champagne Club Awards\u201923 [grower of the Year] by Richard Juhlin<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
2023<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nAlexander Taillet<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nChartogne-Taillet<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nMerfy<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2022<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nPierre Larmandier<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nLarmandier-Bernier<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nVertus<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2021<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nAnselme Selosse<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nSelosse<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nAvize<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2020<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nNicolas Maillart<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nMaillart<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n\u00c9ceuil<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Here, I intend to rectify my previous error and put aside several cases, to drink smugly in years to come, when they are famous and it costs twice as much.<\/p>\n

I would encourage anyone and everyone to do the same!<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"20182018 MONTCHENOT Blanc de Noirs Extra Brut 1er Cru Villers Allerand Nicolas Maillart
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

France, Champagne
\nPinot Noir | 12.5%<\/p>\n

“The 2018 Extra Brut Montchenot is a pure Pinot Noir from the eponymous hamlet near Villers Allerand, vinified in oak. Cream suffused with lemon freshness meets much mellower Red Delicious apple flesh on the nose. The palate comes with a light-footed ease that seems cloud-like, expansive, yet anchored in salty soil. A slight but pleasant phenolic bitterness accentuates the saltiness even more and beds it on a mid-palate that combines deep chalk and salty, raw sourdough. The mousse is superfine. A lovely rendition of pure Pinot Noir.<\/em>
\nZero dosage. Disgorged: August, 2022.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Drinking range: 2023 – 2035
\n95 | Anne Krebiehl MW, Vinous
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a361.95 single bottle
\n\u00a356.95 in a full or mixed case of 6
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Order<\/a><\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

Read more about the Champagne market in Charles Lea’s post:
‘Champagne: the jigsaw of the market<\/a>‘.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I first joined Lea & Sandeman, not even four years ago, Larmandier Bernier\u2019s magnificent Vieilles Vignes du Levant 2011 was \u00a380 a bottle \u2013 I drank a lot of it. I wish I\u2019d drunk more. Now, you\u2019re lucky to pick it up for \u00a3120 A lesson in how interest is fundamentally shifting away from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":35920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,417,1521,42,557],"tags":[788,1494,1520,411],"class_list":["post-35902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-champagne","category-champagne-sparkling","category-champagne-spotlight","category-france","category-grower-champagne","tag-champagne","tag-grower-champagne","tag-producer","tag-vintage-champagne"],"contentshake_article_id":"","yoast_head":"\nChampagne Spotlight | Nicolas Maillart, \u00c9cueil<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When I first joined Lea & Sandeman, not even four years ago, Larmandier Bernier\u2019s magnificent Vieilles Vignes du Levant 2011 was \u00a380 a bottle \u2013 I\" \/>\n<meta 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