Champagne Ulysse Collin Les Maillons Blanc de Noirs NV Base 19. Disg. Feb 2024

Champagne Ulysse Collin Les Maillons is a single-vineyard blanc de noirs from Barbonne-Fayel in the Côte de Sézanne, a site Collin is the only grower to work without herbicides.

Les Maillons is a six-hectare parcel of powerful, clay-rich soil in the southern reaches of Champagne, and Collin farms almost half of it, the only producer here to bottle a site-specific wine from it. The vines were established from massal selection in 1971, and the combination of clay and a windy, east-facing exposure lets the fruit ripen well past 12 per cent potential alcohol while holding on to acidity, which is rare in the region. The commute from the cellar at Congy takes the best part of two hours by tractor. Only free-run juice is used. The base wine spends its first seven months in three- to six-year-old barrels and some foudres before bottling. This release is built on 2019 with 60 per cent reserve wine from 2018, spent 48 months on lees and was disgorged in February 2024 with less than 2g/L dosage.

Drinking now and worth cellaring for a decade or more. Serve at around 8°C with roast chicken, smoked eel or aged Comté.

*Every effort is made to ensure the current vintage is accurate; however, variations can occur. If you are after a specific vintage, please contact us prior to ordering.