2016 Doyard Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs “Voie d’Oger” Extra Brut, Champagne, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

This Blanc de Blancs is a highly site-specific, single-vintage Champagne from the Avize Grand Cru. It is made from 100% Chardonnay from the lieu-dit Voie d’Oger, an east-facing parcel in Avize. Rather than emphasizing richness or oak, the cuvée is built around the chalky, mineral character and tension associated with Avize.

The 2016 was vinified entirely in stainless steel, which keeps the focus on the Chardonnay and the terroir rather than élevage character. There is no malolactic fermentation, This wine was bottled in 2017 and extended aging on the lees. 

There are multiple disgorgements in circulation. A July 2023 release was disgorged after more than five years on lees with a very low 1.2 g/L dosage; a later June 2024 disgorgement was finished at 1.6 g/L. 

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

The Doyard family traces their winemaking roots in Champagne back to 1677 when a marriage license of Jean-Baptise Doyard showed “winegrower” as the occupation. Maurice Doyard was the first in the family to make wine in Vertus under the Doyard label in 1927, officially signifying the domaine’s foundation. In 1979, Yannick Doyard took over, turning it into a beacon for precise, vinous, mineral-etched Champagne in the Côtes des Blancs.

Today, Yannick’s son Guillaume is at the helm, farming 10 ha of prime vineyards in Vertus and the Grand Cru villages of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Cramant, Oger, Avize and Aÿ. The domaine employs organic farming in the vines, with most of the vineyards worked by horse. Yields are kept very low, adding to the concentrated intensity that defines the estate’s style. In the cellar, state of the art double-banked Coquard PAI presses are employed to get the cleanest and most delicate juice possible and every parcel is vinified separately in barrel. All of the wines undergo very long lees aging before disgorgement — a minimum of 48 months on all cuvées — which truly sets them apart from much of Champagne and is a key component to achieve the incredible complexity and depth that is found throughout their magnificent lineup.