Pascal Doquet - Champagne Grand Cru - Champ d'Alouettes Le Mesnil-sur-Oger - White - 2005

Wine:

From a 0.62-hectare Chardonnay parcel located mid-slope with southern exposure, the 2005 Le Mesnil-sur-Oger Champ d’Alouettes Extra-Brut Blanc Champagne Grand Cru is a truly great Champagne—graceful and composed, with intense saline concentration, broad texture, and striking mineral persistence. One-third vinified in oak barrels, this pure Chardonnay—now twenty years old—shows no signs of age. Instead, it delivers a remarkably refined and complex mousse. An exceptional wine.
Rated 95/100 by the French wine guide RVF.

Vinification:

Hand harvested. Terroir: Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, a single plot located halfway up the hillside with southern exposure, benefiting from a very favourable microclimate in a small sheltered valley facing east. Location: Champ d'Alouettes. Planted in 1980. Area: 61.74 ares. Average production with low impact from ‘court-noué’ (grapevine fanfare) with many small, millerandage bunches (very small seedless grapes). Malolactic fermentation deliberately blocked in order to preserve all the fruit and original acidity of the grapes. Aged for 6 months on lees, 1/3 vinified in oak barrels and 2/3 in enamelled steel vats. Blend: 100% Chardonnay, 2005 vintage, only first pressings. Bottled in May 2006. Dosage: 1.5 g/l.

Temperature:

Serve between 8 and 10°C.

Food and wine pairing:

Poultry with porcini mushrooms, fish with mild spices, lobster tail Armoricaine style.

Cellar aging:

From today until 2030, and even longer for enthusiasts.

Awarded 3 stars by the French wine guide RVF, Pascal Doquet is a go-to name for lovers of precise, vibrant Champagnes made from Chardonnay.

This small, 9-hectare estate based in Vertus cultivates some of Champagne’s finest terroirs organically—including prestigious Côte des Blancs crus like the Grand Cru Mesnil-sur-Oger, as well as the chalky slopes around Vitry-le-François.

Vinification is partly carried out in oak barrels, though never with new wood, and the dosage is always carefully controlled following extended ageing in the cellar. The result: honest, finely crafted Champagnes with long, saline, and characterful finishes.