2006 Blanc de Blancs La Bolorée

"What would you like to taste?” Cédric Bouchard asks as we descend into his cellar, where the cool temperature provides a much-needed break from a brutal heat wave. “Really, whatever you want,” Bouchard says before picking out the bottles for this remarkable retrospective of what is arguably his flagship Champagne and one of the most distinctive wines in the entire region, the super-rare Pinot Blanc La Bolorée. I also added a few vintages of the equally rare Rosé de Saignée Creux d’Enfer that I tasted on this visit.

The gate opens to reveal a dilapidated villa worthy of a Romantic opera. It is easy to imagine what the building must have looked like in its prime. We are in Landreville, a few kilometers from Celles-sur-Ource, in the Aube. In the middle of nowhere. Literally. An abandoned residence is off to the left, but it is the cellar in the center of the small property that brought Cédric Bouchard to this spot. We descend into the cave through a wobbly freight elevator and it is clear why Bouchard is attracted to his new winery. The cellar is cold. Frigid, actually. Just the way Bouchard likes it. In front of me is Bouchard's entire library, all the way back to 2000. Just a few bottles of most of his wines. “You choose what you want to taste,” Bouchard says, and he starts preparing the bottles. Every year it is pretty much the same. Given the tiny production of these wines, I usually focus on those I haven't tasted in a while. I am curious to see how long I can handle the Siberia-like conditions. But, then again, these wines have a way of channeling my focus. Over the last dozen years, Bouchard has essentially deconstructed Champagne. His wines are single-variety, single-parcel and single-vintage, essentially everything Champagne on a broader scale is not. But it goes beyond that. Bouchard is an atypical winemaker in that he never tastes his Champagnes before they are disgorged and only rarely once they are released. Bouchard idolizes Anselme Selosse, but makes no effort to meet him because he wants to maintain the spirit and emotion of anticipation. Over the last few years, Bouchard has begun spending time in California. I wonder how many Champenoise have visited Saxum and Abreu, and can talk about the wines? Not too many, I think. Bouchard's latest project is a sparkling wine he is making with Bill Wentzlau and Justin Willet from Wentzlau's vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills, one of the most promising sites in Santa Barbara. This is Cédric Bouchard. From a technical perspective, it all starts in the vineyard, where yields are ridiculously low. Farming is as hands-off as is practical. The wines are all made in stainless steel, using indigenous yeasts. The Rosé de Saignée Le Creux d'Enfer, one of Bouchard's signature wines, is crushed by foot and fermented entirely with stems. The wines are bottled with less pressure than most Champagnes, around 4.5 atmospheres versus the more common 6 or so, which is part of what gives the Bouchard Champagnes their nearly imperceptible bubbles. Some of the early wines were dosed, but today all of the wines are bottled with zero dosage. Although they weren't a part of this tasting, Bouchard also makes a set of Champagnes under the Inflorescence label that emerge from vineyard sites Bouchard does not control. All of the Roses de Jeanne Champagnes are made from vineyards Bouchard owns and farms himself. Having seen all of those sites, I can say they are truly a wonder to behold. Cédric Bouchard's Champagnes remain some of the most unique, personal wines being made anywhere in the world. Readers might also enjoy taking a look at this video covering current releases.