CLOS LE LÉON

100% chardonnay; Dizy Clos Le Léon; harvested at high maturity; vinified in oak barrels; slow fermentation over two months at 12-13 degrees; aged 7 months in barrels of 4-7 years of age with no racking or bâtonnage; no malolactic fermentation; aged 72 months on lees; 3g/L dosage of MCR; disgorged July 2022

Jean-Paul Hébrart is very proud of his acquisition of the Clos Le Léon, a historic, south-facing site just below the road from Dizy on the border of Aÿ. The walled, western end of the vineyard had been divided into three tiny parcels of just 0.81 hectares in total, and it has long been his dream to reunite them into a single vineyard cuvée. He has been sourcing fruit from this site since the early 2000s, acquiring one of the three parcels in 2008, the second in 2016 and finally the last in 2021. ‘I was so happy to secure the final parcel,’ he beamed when I first visited in late 2021. ‘It is a top exposition, with just 40cm of soil before the chalk, perfectly south-orientated and well protected from the winds, with a very high maturity. The vineyard had been neglected and there were only three vines alive when I bought the first parcel, so I replanted it to chardonnay.’ The vines are hence still very young. ‘I manage it organically, as it’s very close to houses, so we need to protect the local inhabitants. It always achieves a high maturity, and the minimum we have achieved is 11.8 degrees potential. It always has great concentration and exotic fruits. The yields are not so high. I don’t green harvest as it’s too late, but in May we select branches to conserve 10-12 bunches to set the yield and take off the rest. I don’t want to smell the new wood so I cycle 60 barriques between Clos and Rive and I buy more after three vinifications.’

The generosity of this site speaks in layers of juicy white peach and white nectarine, even fig, illuminated with a bright, medium straw hue and set to a backdrop of the freshness of lemon and grapefruit. High class oak contributes subtle vanilla nuances. There is real presence and concentration here of grand cru Burgundian heights, reflective of both this warm site and Hébrart’s patience in awaiting full ripeness, yet at every moment elegant and refined, freshened impeccably by malic acidity and most of all by the strong, fine chalk minerality of this site on the border of Aÿ and Dizy. It speak more of the mineral stature of the former than the latter. And the grandeur, too.

Tasted 2023 Rating: 96 Tyson Stelzer - The Champagne Guide

A lively mousse and generous, luminous color; engaging from the outset. The nose marries almonds, lemons, nutmeg—quite successfully, it has to be said. palate is still a little foursquare, almost tannic, its quality foreshadowed. In three years, this Champagne will very agreeable, youthful indulgence suitably tamed. Rating: 92 Simon Field MW (Jun 2024)

This round, rich Champagne has a plush creaminess, which is well met by a backbone of racy acidity that drives finely meshed flavors of baked nectarine and apricot fruit, candied lemon peel and ginger, pastry cream and toasted hazelnut as they expand on the palate and through to the zesty finish. A lush version, with a sense of restraint. Disgorged April 2021. Drinking range: 2022 - 2029 Rating: 94 Alison Napjus, The Wine Spectator (Sept 2022)