2013 Suenen La Cocluette Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Champagne

The most northerly of Suenen’s Oiry parcels, La Cocluette is also home to the Domaine’s oldest vines, planted in 1925 (the younger plantings from this site go into the Oiry Blanc de Blancs). Vines of this age are as rare as hen’s teeth in Champagne and they gift tiny yields of concentrated berries. The land here is largely flat with a somewhat northerly exposure and the ancient roots bury deeply into the dense, Campanian chalk. Put simply, this is a more intense and complex expression of Oiry’s ‘naked chalk’ terroir than the NV Oiry bottling. It’s a superb, dense, tightly coiled and super-mineral Blanc de Blancs, with a long, rocky close. Here the base wine was naturally fermented and aged for 10 months in one 700 litre concrete egg and one 500 litre neutral French oak barrel. It was then aged sur lies for 60 months in bottle until disgorgement in June 2019, dosed with 2 g/L.

Other Reviews....
Disgorged in June 2019 with two grams per liter dosage, the 2013 Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Oiry La Cocluette derives from a parcel planted in 1925. Mingling scents of crisp yellow orchard fruit with nuances of nougat, fresh pastry, white flowers, smoke and citrus zest, it's medium to full-bodied, chiseled and weightless, with racy acids and a long, saline and delicately phenolic finish. Some 60% was vinified in concrete, the rest in used oak barrels.
94 points
William Kelley - Wine Advocate (Apr 2021)