Champagne Adventures with Fallet-Dart

The drive from Epernay to Charly-sur-Marne is a beautiful way to spend an hour and a half while visiting Champagne. Scott Beckerley and I made the drive last week to see Paul Fallet of Champagne Fallet-Dart, and the next time you come to Champagne it is worth putting on your list. Along the way you pass through the entire Western Valley of the Marne, some of the prettiest countryside in Champagne. The views of the Marne river itself are often stunning from the D3 along the way, and one passes the Chateau de Boursault and the American Monument at Cote 204 in Chateau Thierry—as if the destination wasn’t enough on its own!

Paul Fallet gave us a nice tour of his cellars and we sat down for a great tasting of his excellent 2019 vin clair as well as his current releases. The 2019s were uniformly top notch, but his pure Meunier from Les Gouverneuses, a plot high on the hill that is in conversion to organics, stood out. It had crisp, Gala apple fruit and was open and aromatic. It managed a soft delicacy without loosing length, and it will be interesting to see if he decides to bottle it separately. He explained that the Meunier, even more than the other two varieties, thrived in 2018 and 2019, but that the 2019’s had far more concentration than the 2018’s due to lower yields. After the rot problems of 2017, many of my friends in Champagne said that Meunier might be on its way out in Champagne. It has once again bounced back!

Afterwards, we previewed a new range from Fallet-Dart, a selection from the Clos du Mont that will be released perhaps later this year—one is a 2007, the other is a 2009. The patience of this family with their wines never ceases to amaze me and I can’t wait to taste them again once they are finished. The Fallet Dart “Grande Selection” Brut Champagne was a big stand out for the current releases that we tasted; it is based on the 2013 harvest with 35% reserves from 2012. It is amazing to think that this wine, which has spent more than six years on the lees, sells for just $35. It is composed of 70% Pinot Noir and 15% each Chardonnay and Meunier and has not only pie crust–style richness from long ageing and black cherry Pinot power, but also an amazing texture and bead from the patient time on the lees. The dry, long finish would not quit on this one, and I wrote in my notebook that I need to start drinking more of this at home.