2018 Blanc de Blancs La Bolorée

This is a positively stellar set of new releases from Cédric Bouchard’s Roses de Jeanne. Readers will note that there is no more Côte de Bechalin. Bouchard traded that parcel for a few rows of vines adjacent to his Creux d’Enfer planted by his father and uncle, which he preferred because of the clonal selection and a cooler micro-climate better suited to the warmer climate in Champagne today. Bouchard will make a new Blanc de Noirs from these holdings (starting in 2021), along with the iconic Rosé Creux d’Enfer, when conditions permit. In 2018, Bouchard did not make the Presle because of frost damage, but is releasing a new Champagne, RDJ.N.01, about which nothing is being disclosed. “Maybe my daughters will tell people one day what these wines are, but I really want people to taste this Champagne with no preconceptions, and just to decide if they like it or not,” Bouchard told me. The Val Vilaine is especially fine this year, while the La Haute Lemblé and Blanc de Blancs La Bolorée are both superb. Maniacally farmed vineyards and a laser-like focus on capturing the singularity of variety, site and vintage remain the signatures. I only wish the labels were a bit easier to decipher. Regardless, these remain some of the most compelling wines being made anywhere in the world, essentially Champagne deconstructed to its barest essentials.