Champagne La Plante Pinot blanc 2022 Barat Père et Fils

The Champagne La Plante Pinot Blanc 2022 from Barat Père et Fils is one of the most original and promising bottles Les Clos Vivants has had the pleasure to discover. This is the signature cuvée of a young Champagne domaine whose name is only just beginning to circulate among curious wine lovers, and whose trajectory already speaks volumes about what we can expect in the years ahead. A vintage Champagne made from 100% Pinot Blanc, a confidential and rare grape variety in the Champagne region, which produces here an airy, precise expression of disarming freshness.

The grape and terroir

Pinot Blanc is Champagne's great forgotten variety. Though permitted in the appellation, it has virtually disappeared from the vineyards, progressively replaced by Chardonnay and Pinots Noir and Meunier since the mid-twentieth century. Only a handful of passionate growers still cultivate it, mainly in the Côte des Bar and a few villages in the Marne, on clay-limestone soils whose richness and depth offer an expression of surprising complexity and finesse. The parcel of the lieu-dit La Plante is precisely this type of terrain, a Pinot Blanc vineyard planted on characteristic chalky soils with favourable exposure, conferring on the Champagne a lightness, tension and aromatic delicacy that immediately sets it apart from the region's classic blends. The winemaking, conducted with the rigour and precision of a young vintner trained at the École de Viticulture et Œnologie de Beaune, rests on a minimalist approach: indigenous yeasts, careful ageing, measured dosage that allows the grape and terroir to express themselves without artifice.

Tasting profile

The colour is pale and luminous gold, with a fine and persistent mousse, light and airy. The nose shows immediate finesse and delicacy, characteristic of Pinot Blanc Champagne at its best: notes of fresh pear, white peach and white flowers open with spontaneity and naturalism, accompanied by a subtle touch of citrus and a discreet chalky minerality that brings depth and precision. Nothing exuberant or showy, everything lies in nuance, restraint and elegance. On the palate, the attack is fresh and lively, the texture silky and light, with well-integrated natural acidity that brings momentum and drinkability to delicate, precise material. The finish is clean, floral and gently mineral, with pleasant persistence and a purity that confirms the potential of this young domaine and the singularity of this confidential grape variety.

The domaine

Barat Père et Fils is a young Champagne domaine whose recent creation is matched only by the ambition and conviction of its founders. Trained at the École de Viticulture et Œnologie de Beaune, the vintner has developed a precise and rigorous vision of terroir and grape, which he applies to his Pinot Blanc vineyards with a rigour and consistency that immediately impress the professionals who discover him. His approach is resolutely artisanal and parcel-focused, in the spirit of the independent Burgundy growers he encountered during his training. The cuvée La Plante is the first expression of a project that is only just beginning, and Les Clos Vivants are proud to be among the first to support and share in the adventure.

Food pairings

This Champagne La Plante Pinot Blanc will pair beautifully as an aperitif with warm Comté cheese gougères, smoked salmon blinis, fine de claire oysters or a fresh herb fish terrine. At table, it will reveal all its delicacy with bar tartare with citrus, steamed scallops, cold langoustines with homemade mayonnaise or lightly creamed poached chicken. Served between 8 and 10 °C, it will reveal all the airy finesse and chalky minerality of a grower Champagne of absolute originality and sincerity.