Ulysse Collin Champagne Blanc de Noirs "Les Maillons" Extra Brut NV, Champgane, France
Regular price $225.00
Unit price per
100% Pinot Noir
While the Collins have owned vineyards in Congy since 1812, the family had long rented out its vines to Pommery. Like so many growers in Champagne, they didn’t actually make wine. Consequently, Olivier Collin didn’t think he would go into winemaking at all. But by 2001, Collin began to have a change of heart. After being exposed to the restless intellect and perfectionism of the great Anselme Selosse during a 6-week stage in Selosse’s cellar, Collin decided to become a Champagne maker.
When it came to winemaking, Collin followed in the footsteps of Selosse, by fermenting in barrel or foudre. Today, 20 to 40 percent of each vintage is kept back as reserves, with which to create his magical blends. Originally, he used 225-liter barrels to store his reserve wines, but he later moved towards foudre. Dosage has always been low (but not extreme), topping out at about 3 grams per liter.
While other new stars are best known for one or two cuvées, every bottle that Olivier Collin produces is coveted by collectors. And, uniquely among today’s growers, his Champagnes are distinguished first by terroir and then by the length of aging. Over the past decade, Collin has increased the aging of each of his cuvées.
In 2006, Collin debuted Les Maillons, a Blanc de Noirs made from Pinot Noir planted on brown, iron-rich soils in the village of Barbonne-Fayel, in the Côte de Sézanne, Les Maillons is robust and savory, entirely Pinot Noir from a 6 hectare plot of the same name which consists of heavier clay soils above the chalk. Collin allows this to ferment with natural yeasts in oak, and is later aged 3 years on its lees. Sometimes the wine is so concentrated it carries a pinkish hue, always bursting at the seams with tart red fruits and smoky mineral tones.