Champagne Valérie & Gaël Dupont « En Chemin » Extra-Brut Assemeblage de 10 communes – Champagne

(Pinot Meunier 42%, Chardonnay 42%, Pinot Noir 16%, 2022 harvest with 2021 reserve wine) The Champagne has a pale lemon yellow color and many fine and persistent bubbles. The first nose offers an expressive and typical aromatic profile, with a toasted character and distinct notes of autolysis, as well as dried fruits (toasted hazelnut, fresh hazelnut, fresh bread, melted butter), complemented by a slightly bitter touch of fresh yeast. The second nose finds the liveliness and a slightly bitter character of citrus fruits (grapefruit, lime, yellow lemon zest), associated with a racy, calcareous minerality, almost reminiscent of chalk, as well as notes of hay, dried lime, chamomile and chestnut honey in the background. The palate is precise, fresh and straight. The attack is tangy and lemony: at first, we can smell the notes of yellow lemon zest, grapefruit and lime, and then, it reveals the limestone mineral flavors. Beautiful tangy frame of crunchy apricot as well as floral touches (lime blossom, chamomile) and very slightly honeyed in the middle of the mouth. The finish is persistent, on notes of autolysis and nuts (fresh bread, a bitter hint of fresh yeast, fresh hazelnut, toasted hazelnut) and a good bitterness of grapefruit. Beautiful champagne, straight, slender and complex.