There is a new kid in town! Read Richard Juhlin’s thoughts on Agrapart (Fabrice Agrapart) from Avize. [read the full champagne story]
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Agrapart (Fabrice Agrapart)
★★★★
Avize
R-M
105,000 bottles
Through a succession, the famous Agrapart & Fils was recently divided into two equal parts. Pascal was allowed to keep the vineyards and the name of Avizeoise and Venus. However, Fabrice was allowed to keep the company name Agrapart.
Fabrice and his team with Stephen and Emanuell Turpin and Johanna Bertilsson and the same competent team that once started the Swedish Hatt & Söner with Kristofer Ruscon and Olof Larsson at the helm now have 5.5 hectares at their disposal (4.3 hectares that were part of Agrapart et Fils and 1.2 hectares that they bought outside Agrapart et fils in Avize and Oger). Fabrice has 5.1 hectares in Grand Cru and 0.4 hectares in Premier Cru (Bergères-les-Vertus). In addition, he collaborates with Jardin, which gives them access to a further 5.5 hectares in Mesnil-sur-Oger, Festigny and Mareuil-le-Port for Pinot Meunier. As N-M, they also buy Pinot Noir from Verzenay.
Fabrice now makes wines more in the Selosse spirit than in the classically pure and less bombastic style that Pascal represents.
Champagne Club by Richard Juhlin
The wines are certainly young and Atoma needs significantly more aging, but the first wine Fabrice made in 400 copies is the best that has ever carried the name Agrapart. A blend between Selosse, Ulysse Collin and Ramonet in Chassagne-Montrachet. The situation for us outsiders is a bit messy, but for those of us who love Agrapart we have been enriched with two wonderful growers who make wines in two different styles at the highest level.
2020 Fabrice Agrapart ‘A Grape Art’
100 chardonnay
96(96)p
TASTING NOTE Fabrice Agrapart’s first wine under his own label was made from only 400 magnum bottles from a 600-liter oak barrel and is absolutely sensational. I had been told that they spent without limits so that Fabrice could make a perfect wine. I had also been described to me that the vineyard wine from Pisseraines in Avize would give a monster wine in the spirit of Selosse.
But when I went away for myself and concentrated on receiving the scent impression, I ended up somewhere else. This is a completely unique aromatic fireworks, but at the same time quite similar to a couple of other scent experiences I have had. Certainly with Selosse similarities, but even more like an oxidation-free cross between Ulysse Collin and the Burgundy demon Ramonet in Chassagne-Montrachet. It is not so surprising that the wine is biodynamic with the lunar calendar as a companion.
Nor does it come as a surprise that the fruit from the majestically rich year 2020 is colossally ostentatious and impressively magnificent. The fact that the oak barrel notes are strong like in a white Burgundy Grand Cru and at the same time well integrated did not perplex me either. What is perhaps most remarkable is how this style manages to be achieved without an ounce of brown oxidation and apple-like fruitiness. The fruit is explosive and warm, the sesame spice is extremely piquant and the texture is nutty buttery and the sweetness is strongly present. Well, how high is the dosage of this exotic sweetness? An incredible zero grams!
Do I have anything at all to object to this masterpiece? Well, maybe there is a question mark about whether they should have sulfured a little more than just the must at harvest for it to last for decades. The question in general is how it will develop when it is so generous and fantastic from the start. I most closely compare the creation to a great white Burgundy. Absolutely perfect to drink young and it would be foolish to take a chance and risk having a worse experience than the one you get now. The best champagne of the vintage so far and extremely close to 97 points.
MV Agrapart ‘Atoma’ (2022-base)
100 chardonnay
88(82)p
TASTING NOTE The first edition of this wine, which will be the new company’s entry-level champagne, will always be a perpetual mix of vintages that started in 2020, also vinified in a mix of large oak barrels and steel tanks. I fully understand that you have to get the sales going to get the wheels turning, but if I buy a few bottles of Atoma, I do it to continue aging them for at least five more years in my own cellar. The wine is impeccably composed and vinified. Delicious pure fruit, strong minerality and a nice light oak note, but the power, complexity and toasted sesame notes will have to wait a while. My recommendation is to buy a few bottles of each edition and test them against each other as they gradually gain more depth of age. Always with a few atoms from the first vintage 2020 left in the mix.
