2019 Pascal Agrapart EXP (Experience) Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut Champagne Grand Cru

Champagne Pascal Agrapart is one of the great grower producers, based at the heart of the Cote des Blancs in the grand cru village of Avize. Pascal has the reputation for being a grape grower first and Champagne producer second; a philosophy shared with his son Ambroise who is now in charge of production. Ambroise and the team works an astonishing 70-plus micro-plots in the Cote des Blancs, mostly in Avize, but also in Cramant, Oiry, Oger, Avenay-Val-d’Or, Bergeres-les-Vertus and Mardeuil. All of these parcels are ploughed, and no chemical pesticides, fertilisers or herbicides are ever used. Production is very small, with no more than 6,000 cases produced in any given year.

Formerly known as Experience, Agrapart's EXP is utterly unique in the world of Champagne. Given how difficult it is to produce, and the inherent rarity of such a cuvee, demand for EXP around the globe is enormous which is in part reflected in the price of this spectacular Champagne. In 2002, Agrapart sought and (remarkably) received permission from the local authorities to begin experimenting with a small quantity of wine that he wanted to produce without any sugar additions at all; no chaptalisation and no additions for the second fermentation and final dosage. Not using sugar and yeast for the liqueur de tirage (to prompt the second fermentation in the bottle) is actually against the AOC laws, which is why Agrapart needed permission. Instead of sugar, he uses must (grape juice) from the same vineyards that produce the wine, thus enabling him to produce a Champagne that is solely the product of estate-grown grapes.

This 2019 release is an equal-parts blend from vineyards that contributed to the Avizoise and Minéral cuvées (Les Robarts in Avize and Les Bionnes in Cramant), ‘dosed’ with around 20% of the juice of 2020 from these same vineyards. It is this juice that drives the secondary fermentation in the bottle. Again, no sugar or yeast additions are used for all fermentation, and the wine is never fined or filtered.