Champagne Monmarthe Le Nid d'Agace 2018

Champagne Monmarthe Le Nid d’Agace 2018 is a bottle that makes you slow down. Gauthier Monmarthe sent me two wines from his estate in Ludes, and this was the quiet surprise next to the Solera that grabbed all the attention. A single-plot Extra Brut, co-planted the old way, six years on the lees. Not a wine for a quick toast.

The name points to the plot itself. Agace is the local word for magpie. Le Nid d’Agace means the magpie’s nest.

The wine

Producer

Champagne Monmarthe

Wine

Le Nid d'Agace Extra Brut Premier Cru

Vintage

2018

Region

Ludes, Montagne de Reims, Champagne

Grapes

Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, co-planted

Dosage

Extra Brut

Vinification

In foudres, no malolactic

Ageing

Six years on the lees

One plot, co-planted

Most Champagnes are blends. Different plots, different grapes and often different vintages come together after vinification. Le Nid d’Agace works the other way round, and older.

The plot is co-planted. Old Chardonnay sits at the top of the slope, young Pinot Noir on the clay below. The two grapes grow interplanted, get picked at the same moment and pressed together. Not vinified separately and blended afterwards, but together from the start. This is how it was done before plots were carved up by grape.

What you get is a wine that does not read like a sum of parts. The Chardonnay gives tension and height, the Pinot Noir flesh and warmth, but you do not taste them as two components sitting side by side. They became entangled in the same fermentation.

Six years on the lees, no malo

Gauthier blocks the malolactic fermentation. That keeps the sharp malic acids intact and gives the wine a freshness that does not have to come from dosage. “The freshness doesn’t only come from the dosage, because it’s Extra Brut, but also from blocking the malolactic fermentation,” he explains.

Then six years on the lees. And the vinification happens in foudres, large wooden vats, rather than small oak. That is a deliberate choice. You get the vinosity and gastronomic depth of wood without the wine tasting of wood. The result is an Extra Brut that belongs at the table more than at the bar.

Tasting note

Tasting Note

Tasting Note

Appearance

Pale to medium gold with a calm, fine mousse. Nothing showy about the colour, but the bead is precise.

Nose

Ripe yellow fruit sets the tone: yellow apple, a touch of pear, ripe peach. Underneath, a layer of brioche and toast from the long lees ageing. And then, unmistakably, the chalky tension that runs below it and keeps everything fresh. Rich on the nose, but never heavy.

Palate

Full on the palate, yet precise. That is where this wine’s strength sits. The Pinot Noir fills the mid-palate with warmth and texture, the Chardonnay and the chalk hold it upright. The acidity sits in it like a spine, not as sharpness. The toasty, yeasty register from the lees runs through to the finish, which is long and dry.

Finish

Long, mineral, with that yeasty trace that lingers. This is not a wine you drink quickly, and that is exactly the point.

Quality

Outstanding. A gastronomic Champagne that shows what co-planting and patience do together.

Two critical notes

Honesty matters. Two things to weigh before you reach for a bottle.

First, this is not an aperitif. The full-bodied, gastronomic style asks for food. Open it cold and on its own and the richness can become almost too much without a dish to lean on. Think poultry, a ripe cheese, or fish in a creamy sauce.

Second, the co-planted style and the six years on the lees make this a wine for people who love vinosity. If you want the linear, citrus-fresh blanc de blancs style, this is the wrong bottle. Le Nid d’Agace is broader, warmer and deliberately old-fashioned. That is a choice, not a flaw, but one not everyone wants to make.

Verdict

Le Nid d’Agace 2018 is the bottle you overlook if you only came for the Solera, and the one you keep remembering afterwards. A single-plot Extra Brut that takes the old technique of co-planting seriously and turns it into a Champagne built for a laid table.

Don’t serve it too cold, give it air, and give it food. Then it opens up.

More about the estate: champagne-monmarthe.com

Sources

• Primary source: Sparks by VinoVonk, episode 38 with Gauthier Monmarthe (recording and show notes)
• Producer: champagne-monmarthe.com
• Comité Champagne (CIVC): champagne.fr

This article is based on a press sample from Champagne Monmarthe. No payment, the assessment is independent.