I have now tried a couple of 2019 Champagnes – both have been intense enough to need a safe word. Today’s tasting experience is Champagne Grand Cru Aÿ Noces de Craie 2019 from Marc Hebrart. Will Noces de Craie 2019 make all four cheeks blush or must I forgo the spanking? It is sure to be fun finding out!
For those who do not know Hebrart’s Noces de Craie, the name means ‘marriage of chalk’. It is a blend of pure Pinot Noir from Hebrart’s chalkiest plots in the Grand Cru village of Aÿ.
I first tried the Noces de Craie 2018 two years ago in a ‘big whites’ tasting and loved it. Its buxom charms rubbed me up the right way. That was certainly up for drinking. The 2019s I have tried have thunderously demanded age. What about Noces de Craie 2019?
Suit up for 2019 fizz – clothes optional!
Champagne Grand Cru Aÿ Noces de Craie 2019, Marc Hebrart
Fulgurating with fruit! There are raspberry and redcurrant aromas from the Pinot, but Noces de Craie 2019 is so ripe there are also crystalised papaya notes and enough pineapple to shame a Del Monte farm!
There is more… Spicy, wild aromas… Ginger, it seems, and hints of snowdrop flowers. I also get the impression of chalk being rammed up each nostril. It may be big, but there is one hell of a lot going on!
Dare I even put such a massive entity in my mouth? Noces de Craie 2019’s nose has such scale it makes the 2018 seem shrivelled. I will take one for the team and do it!
Hell’s bells, what a mouthful! The intense, almost tropical fruit! The serious slashing of acidity! The refulgent chalk afterburn!
But… It works! The fruit is undeniably delicious. The acidity gives it great energy and keeps it from being overweight. The chalky finish gives it grip, bite and focus. It just needs one thing for this to coalesce into a complete, harmonious, highly enjoyable fine wine experience: age.
Whereas the 2018 was ready for fun, the Noces de Craie 2019 needs time for all its elements to become at ease with each other and the balance to become coherent rather than off-the-wall. It will show its complexity in a more transparent, more pleasing manner.
At the moment, Noces de Craie 2019 is certainly great fun, but it is not great. Reaching that heady state will take… oohh this is difficult… 5-7 years in the cellar. I think it will reach a much more integrated and pleasurable state after being laid down for a while – currently it is like being laid by someone uninhibitedly enthusiastic.
Here is a source in the UK. Elsewhere try Wine-Searcher.
Davy,
A colourful and enjoyable ( for me information is best enjoyed with an accompanying helping of entertainment )account of Noces de Craie 2019.
I do think that given time we shall hold 2019 in very high regard as a Champagne vintage.
Rather more so than the super hyped and usually extravagant but unfocussed
2018’s.
Hi Mr 6416790d2e,
2019 clearly surpasses 2018 as a complete, balanced and harmonious vintage. They demand age, however, as at the moment they are completely wild!
Wonderful as always and interesting. The note doesn’t read like an extra brut – I guess the power of the fruit is exceptional. I’ll have to crack open a 2020 soon and see how it’s showing.
Hi Alex,
You are right! It was very dry, but that sweet, ripe fruit… deee-lish!
I would save your 2020s for a few years, at least. The vintage is supposedly more like 2019 than 2018, so I imagine they will be all over the place at the moment. I will be keeping mine.