This spring, I was lucky enough to be at Champagne Fallet-Dart in the little hamlet of Drachy, just as they were releasing their 2012 vintage. The Fallet family’s 47 acres produce about 180,000 bottles a year, of which vintage wine is a very small proportion. Our allocation of the 2012 Fallet-Dart Vintage Brut Champagne has now arrived, and I am very excited about it.
Last night at closing, we opened a bottle, and it showed fantastically. It is composed of 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir, most of which is fermented in stainless steel, with just a small amount in barrel. It struck me immediately how much this 2012 reminds me of the 2002s at this age. The wine is full, powerful, and concentrated but still balanced by great acidity and a strong vein of minerality. The wine is loaded with the white flower exoticism of top-notch Chardonnay and seemed almost blanc-de-blanc-like. The texture and bead were perfect, reminding me of prestige cuvée-level Champagne. This Champagne is pretty irresistible right now.
These wines also have quite a track record for aging very well if you can keep your hands off of them. Many of you have tasted the late release 1999 that we have poured at tastings, which is showing chanterelle-like complexity and bready warmth right now. I also had a bottle of 2006 recently that had only changed in so much that it had integrated and smoothed out in the three years since we first received it. This is a great producer to start a vertical of!
A toast to you!
- Gary Westby