Margrain La Michelle Martinborough Méthode 2017

Description

• Dry style
• Apple & feijoa
• Baked éclair & chestnut
• Tangy freshness

"Two-thirds Pinot Noir, one-third Chardonnay, three years ageing on the lees in this bottle. Nice weight and mouth-feel from the Pinot component and tangy freshness from Chardonnay with plenty of bready yeast autolysis" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Jan 2022

This nose quite literally leaps from the glass as a rush of aromas are carried up the nostrils by a gush of escaping gas, along with the slight sting it imparts. Clean notes of green apple, fejoa skin and fresh baked éclair are backed up by way more complex aromas of creamed sweetcorn, rhubarb custard, and grilled chestnut. The bead, which initially tears about like a young man at a party, later eases to a graceful ascension of intricate bubbles which allows for an easier appreciation of the various attributes. Mashed potato with lashings of butter overlays rich marmite, rubbed linseed oil and warm sourdough. There are hints of the blackball lollies your Grandad used to bring and something akin to a well-worn Swandri caught in a briar hedge.

The wine explodes across the palate leaving no stone unturned, like a wave crashing onto a rocky shoreline. On the dry side of dry, it is underpinned by an almost prehistoric acidity which wells up like the plume of a passing whale. Sumptuous and potent, it is grounded by a rich beef-wellington complexity yet is as light-footed as an astronaut dancing on the moon as it trips the light fantastic across the tongue. Passionfruit scraped from the skin, bombe Alaska, crunchy sesame seeds and a tart pluminess that causes hunger pangs. With incredible breadth and a serious underbelly of rich flavours it is bound to keep you on a short leash.

Methode Traditionelle, made “traditionally”, is a most interesting proposition. The dissolved CO2, trapped in the wine as a result of the secondary fermentation, is only the half of it. If you open a bottle 12 to 18 months after this fermentation, the wine has almost no flavour whatsoever - just a neutral dry white. The key lies in the yeast lees deposited at the bottom of the bottle and these do not add the classic bready aromas and flavours until they die and (sorry to say) decompose, which happens from about the 2 year mark on. This particular wine was not disgorged (separated from those lees) for full 54 months and hence has morphed into something very special.