Agrapart L'Avizoise Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut 2009

Closed and brooding at this stage, offering little more than a whisper of lemon rind and white flower. But the bones are exceptional, old vines from Les Robarts and la Voie d'Epernay on clay soils deliver a density and grip that quietly commands attention. Neutral barrel work weaves in a faint creaminess without softening the stony, tightly coiled core. This needs five or more years before it begins to open up and reveal what it's holding back.