Dizy Corne Bautray

High on the hill above the Premier Cru village of Dizy is the south-west facing lieu-dit of Corne Bautray, where Jacquesson owns a one hectare parcel of Chardonnay vines planted in 1962. Even if Campanian chalk forms the base of the sub-soil, as almost everywhere in Champagne, in this area it lies relatively far below the surface at a depth of some two metres. The topsoil, emanating from alluvial shifts, has a rather low chalk content and a silt-like clay texture that stands out because of its significant content of burrstone pebbles. This deep top layer provides an excellent source of water and minerals for the vines without constraining their ability to put down very deep roots, with the result that fertilizers are generally unnecessary.

In 1995 the weather conditions were initially quite tricky: springtime frosts were followed by a long period of warm, rainy weather that is so conducive to the development of both mildew and botrytis. A good summer was followed by the return of rain at the beginning of September. Thanks to the meticulous viticultural methods of the House, which focus on producing a moderate quantity of well-ventilated bunches, our grapes were able to ripen in optimal conditions without being attacked by botrytis. Picking took place on 26th September during the suitably cool but sunny weather that prevailed in the second half of that month. The grapes, in a state of perfect ripeness, produced a must measuring around 10 degrees of potential alcohol combined with a tartaric acid content of 8 gr/l.

The grapes harvested from this parcel were vinified in a single oak cask of 40 hectolitres. After the alcoholic and malolactic fermen¬tations the wine was promptly racked in order to retain the fine lees. There followed three months of weekly lees stirring. Thereafter we took advantage of the last colds of winter to clarify the wine naturally. During the tastings of vins clairs, Laurent Chiquet was so impressed by the weight, body and aromatic qualities of this wine that he decided to save a portion of this cask in order to bottle separately, with no filtration, 703 bottles of Dizy Premier Cru Corne Bautray 1995 on 28th May, 1996.

Disgorged on 7th November, 2002 with no dosage at all, this wine presents today a very unusual spectrum of flavours. On the nose ripe fruit and the nutty aroma redolent of fruit stones dominate, while on the palate it emerges as full-bodied and well-rounded with an extremely long and spice-filled finish. The result is a very individual wine where the complexity of this exceptional terroir in the Grande Vallée de la Marne takes precedence over the usual mineral characteristics of Chardonnay.