Champagne Tarlant is special for many reasons: The family has been farming in Champagne’s Marne Valley for 12 generations, they incorporate a diversity of extremely rare “heirloom” grape varieties into many of their wines (including Arbane and Petit Meslier), and the current winemaker, Benoît Tarlant, is one of the most gifted and well-liked experts of vineyard and cellar techniques in the region. But the real story here is about the wines. Across the board, Tarlant’s house style is muscular, direct, mineral-driven and delicious. You can spend hours with one bottle, carefully deciphering all it has to say as the temperature slowly rises and the wine opens up. A great bottle of Tarlant is a unique experience, don’t miss it!
While Benoît Tarlant currently supervises operations at the estate, the Tarlant family has been farming and making wine since 1687. Benoît worked his first vintage in 1999 and has single handedly brought his family’s estate into the modern era by vinifying parcels separately and doubling down on the family’s respect for the environment. He is deeply engaged in his work and passionate about all aspects of the estate. You can see in this video that he enjoys his work immensely by the way his eyes glow with joy.
The Tarlant family’s vines are spread over forty different parcels of four “crus” in the villages of Oeuilly, Boursault, St-Agnan and Celles-lès-Condé. Despite the variety of soils and elevations, most parcels directly face the widest section of the Marne River, which has a dominant and unifying impact on the character of the wines. In short, this means a lot of sunlight, but with moderate temperatures, allowing the wines to remain powerful and intense, but never flabby or overly rich. The blending of such an impressive diversity of terroirs also contributes to the layered, classic style of the wines, comparable to a Grande Marque in character, but with the purity of a single family farming organically for twelve generations.
The family’s work in the cellar is equally pure. After being harvested by hand, grapes are fermented naturally in stainless steel tanks and neutral barrels, with no packaged yeasts. The wines do not undergo malolactic fermentation and there is no sugar added to this particular Champagne (hence the name “zero”). Do not be fooled though, because these are not the lean, austere, tart and joyless non-dose Champagnes. Due to the Marne Valley’s ample sun, Tarlant’s wines are vibrant and full of life. They are a true joy to drink and the health and balance of the vines noticeably transfers into the glass.
In the glass, the NV Tarlant Brut Nature “Zero” is bright with golden color along with a steely tint at the rim. One the nose, one finds incredibly precise and focused aromas of green apple, acacia blossom, lime zest, white flowers, hazelnut, chestnut blossom, mushroom cream, wine lees, baked bread and wet limestone. This is not a soft, rich, biscuity corporate Champagne, it is an extremely serious, intellectual wine. On the palate, there is a deep and almost Chablis-like mineral core. It’s a good thing that this wine is “brut nature” and has no sugar added to it (most Champagne has over 8 grams of cane or beet sugar added). There is so much concentration and complexity here that I honestly think it would be weighed down by the addition of sugar. The trick to unlocking all this wine has to offer is drinking it slowly out of a broad, open rimmed stem–this is not a flute Champagne! Pair with simple dishes made from excellent ingredients like the scallop crudo below and you’ll be in for a wonderful gastronomic evening!
