2015 Suenen Les Robarts Cramant Blanc de Blancs Champagne

Champagne nerds might recognise this lieu-dit as one of the sources of Pascal Agrapart’s renowned Avizoise cuvée. Suenen’s vines lie just across the border in the Cramant section of this vineyard, at the top of a small hill. Originally planted in 1952, with further plantings in 1978 and 1984, the average age of Suenen’s vines is now almost 40 years. The planting contains a large portion of massale selection vines.

The 2015 was aged in a single Rousseau 20-hl foudre for 10 months before bottling. As with all the single-site wines, this spent a minimum of five years on lees until disgorgement (with two grams per litre in this case) in July 2021.

Suenen describes this terroir—30 cm of silty clay over degraded, upper Campanian chalk—as combining the tension and salinity of Oiry with the concentration of Chouilly. It is often the most textural of Suenen’s four lieux-dits releases and also, arguably the most complex.

Other Reviews....
The 2015 Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Cramant Les Robarts is brilliant, delivering complex aromas of orange oil, crisp orchard fruit and peach mingled with freshly baked bread, iodine and dried white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and layered, it's ample and seamless, with a deep, multidimensional core of fruit and a long, saline finish. Drink 2022 - 2035.
94 points
William Kelley - Wine Advocate (Sep 2022)

The 2015 Champagne Cramant Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Les Robarts Extra Brut is a pale straw color and is pure and inviting, with ripe green apple, quince, and crushed stone. It is crystalline on the palate, with pinpoint mousse, and although it is ripe and concentrated, it retains freshness and a fantastically pure nature. The energy that is captured from this site is outstanding. Drink 2023-2040.
96 points
Audrey Frick - jebdunnuck.com