producer profile

<p>In 1687, Pierre Tarlant began cultivating his first vineyards in&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="84">Aisne</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The family stayed put for almost 100 years before moving to the village of <glossary title="735">Oeuilly</glossary> in 1780. At the turn of the 20th century, Louis Tarlant took over as head&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1089">vigneron</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> His tenure would prove instrumental to shaping the family legacy, principally due to his involvement as mayor of <glossary title="735">Oeuilly</glossary> in the rarely discussed<strong>&nbsp;</strong><em>Champagne&nbsp;Revolution</em>, a tumultous movement that you have probably never heard of. Let us explain.</p> <p>By the early twentieth century, it had become increasingly common for the big <glossary title="267">Champagne</glossary> houses, who even then had a strong-hold on&nbsp;commercialisation, to bring in fruit from all over France and even different countries (the farthest being Portugal!) to&nbsp;<glossary title="1104">vinify</glossary> and sell the&nbsp;wine as&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="267">Champagne</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> When this became common knowledge amongst growers in the region, many were infuriated that such practices could be happening right under their noses. Through rigorous organisation, many villages managed to block off the points of entry of outside fruit, as&nbsp;well as skillfully organizing themselves to codify the <glossary title="267">Champagne</glossary> region. As a result, Louis helped achieve worldwide recognition of the <glossary title="108">AOC</glossary> in 1911 and contributed to the establishment of the <glossary title="108">AOC</glossary> <glossary title="267">Champagne</glossary> region in 1927.<br /> <br /> In the aftermath of these events, Louis swore never to sell a single grape to the big houses again, making Tarlant one of the first independent <glossary title="427">estates</glossary> in the region (less than 10 existed at the time). Fast forward to today, and head <glossary title="1089">vigneron</glossary> Beno&icirc;t Tarlant is the 12th generation working the land under his family name. Beno&icirc;t is the real deal: his great understanding and respect of history, tradition and nature, coupled with his experimental, forward thinking tendencies have been the driving force of some truly next level,&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1026">terroir</glossary><span>-</span></span></span>centric&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="267">Champagnes</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> With his sister M&eacute;lanie joining the family business in 2003, things are more than ever a family affair.<br /> <br /> The <glossary title="427">estate</glossary> consists of 14 <glossary title="523">hectares</glossary> of vines&nbsp;within 31 <glossary title="594">lieu-dits</glossary>&nbsp;of&nbsp;<glossary title="805">Pinot Noir </glossary>(50%), <glossary title="271">Chardonnay</glossary> (30%) and <glossary title="804">Pinot Meunier </glossary>(20%), along with small amounts of&nbsp;<glossary title="267">Champagne</glossary>&#39;s &quot;forgotten&quot;grapes&quot; -&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="801">Pinot Blanc</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary title="115">Arbane</glossary> and&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="780">Petit Meslier</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> From empirical observation,&nbsp;Beno&icirc;t and M&eacute;lanie have singled out 63 <glossary title="760">parcels</glossary>&nbsp;that they <glossary title="1104">vinify</glossary> individually each&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1109">vintage</glossary><span>,</span></span></span>&nbsp;permitting unparalled precision in <glossary title="1146">blending</glossary> decisions for <glossary title="146">base</glossary> and&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1223">reserve wines</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> but also letting them highlight&nbsp;<glossary title="959">single vineyard expressions</glossary> of their land.&nbsp;</p> <p>In the vines, <glossary title="279">chemicals</glossary> are never used and <glossary title="1162">biodiversity</glossary> is prioritized. Because of the <glossary title="571">Marne</glossary>&#39;s extremely diverse&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1026">terroirs</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> Benoit adapts his <glossary title="1103">viticultural</glossary> approach <glossary title="760">parcel</glossary> by&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="760">parcel</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> using the soil, grape and <glossary title="656">micro-climate</glossary> to guide him. While only <glossary title="328">contact treatments</glossary>&nbsp;have been used for the past two generations, Beno&icirc;t and M&eacute;lanie have decided to work towards<strong>&nbsp;<glossary title="746">organic</glossary> <glossary title="260">certification</glossary></strong>.&nbsp;</p> <p><em>&quot;Our father fought for grass in the vines and to stop having&nbsp;garbage from cities being thrown in the&nbsp;vines as a </em><glossary title="442"></glossary><glossary title="442"><em>fertilizer</em></glossary>.<em> It took five years. That was his fight. </em><glossary title="746"><em>Organics</em></glossary><em> seems like the challenge of our generation.&quot;</em></p> <p>In the&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="254">cellar</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> the grapes are gently <glossary title="827">pressed</glossary> and <glossary title="843">racked</glossary> by <glossary title="1165">gravity</glossary> to <glossary title="210">Burgundian</glossary> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="142">barrels</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> where each <glossary title="760">parcel</glossary> <glossary title="441">ferments</glossary> and <glossary title="74">ages&nbsp;</glossary>individually.&nbsp;<glossary title="622">Malolactic fermentation</glossary> almost never occurs&nbsp;but is&nbsp;not&nbsp;blocked: Beno&icirc;t feels that through careful&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="827">pressing</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> attention to temperature and the correct <glossary title="1103">viticultural</glossary> practices, <glossary title="267">Champagne</glossary>&#39;s&nbsp;naturally cold climate gives them grapes with low&nbsp;<glossary title="783">PH</glossary> and high&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="71">acidity</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> a combo that does not&nbsp;incite&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="622">malo</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> <glossary title="993">Sulfites</glossary> are only added in microscopic&nbsp;doses at <glossary title="827">press</glossary> and intermittently to <glossary title="242">casks</glossary> of&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1223">reserve wine</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The wines are never&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="447">filtered</glossary><span>:</span></span></span></p> <p><em>&quot;&ldquo;</em><glossary title="393"><em>Disgorgment</em></glossary><em> is sort of like a </em><glossary title="447"><em>filtration</em></glossary><em>. If you&rsquo;re going to take the time to do long </em><glossary title="418"><em>&eacute;levages</em></glossary><em> and letting the solids deposit themselves, you don&rsquo;t need to </em><glossary title="447"><em>filter</em></glossary><em>. It requires a respect of the rhythm of the wine.&quot;</em></p> <p>The big particularity of the Tarlant&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="267">Champagnes</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> a tradition started by Beno&icirc;t&#39;s father Jean-Mary in the late 1970&#39;s, is that the vast majority of the production (90%) is bottled without&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="403">dosage</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> While the idea of <glossary title="203">Brut Nature</glossary> <glossary title="267">Champagne</glossary> has slowly but surely gained momentum since the early 2000&#39;s, this was unheard of at the time. Still, Jean-Mary stuck to his guns and over time this has defined the Tarlant style. In such, the house&#39;s entry level <glossary title="363">cuv&eacute;es</glossary>&nbsp;are named &quot;Zero&quot;.</p> <p>Representing 70% of the total production,&nbsp;&quot;Zero&quot;&nbsp;is the Tarlant&#39;s calling card&nbsp;and consists of a non&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1109">vintage</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> no <glossary title="403">dosage</glossary> wine made equal parts&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="805">Pinot Noir</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary title="804">Meunier</glossary> and&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="271">Chardonnay</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> &quot;Zero Ros&eacute;&quot;&nbsp;is a majority of <glossary title="271">Chardonnay</glossary> with a bit of still <glossary title="805">Pinot Noir</glossary> for color. For an entry level wine, a huge amount of thought is put into its creation:</p> <p><em>&quot;Zero is&nbsp;a reflection of the four villages we work in and the goal is to&nbsp;express a </em><glossary title="267"><em>Champagne</em></glossary><em>&nbsp;without the external sugar masking the land&#39;s characteristics.&rdquo;</em></p> <p>To achieve this, Beno&icirc;t and M&eacute;lanie rigourously taste through each micro<span class="zalup"><span><span>-</span><glossary title="1104">vinification</glossary> </span></span>to pick which will serve as the&nbsp;<glossary title="146">base wines</glossary> with the innate knowledge that they&nbsp;will be released five to seven years later. These will be <glossary title="74">aged</glossary> until the spring after <glossary title="521">harvest</glossary> then <glossary title="168">blended</glossary> with <glossary title="1223">reserve wines</glossary> before an extended period&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="995">sur lattes</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The remaining <glossary title="1104">vinifications</glossary>&nbsp;are&nbsp;<glossary title="1146">blended</glossary> into <glossary title="1223">reserve</glossary> <glossary title="242">casks</glossary> for future use.&nbsp;</p> <p><em>&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t buy or sell grapes. We have to work our vines the best we can to have the best wine. &quot;</em></p> <p>Single vineyard <glossary title="363">cuv&eacute;es</glossary> -a rarity in&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="267">Champagne</glossary><span>-</span></span></span> are also&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span> <glossary term="Bottling" title="185">bottled</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> &quot;La Vigne Royale&quot;<em>&nbsp;</em>is from a vineyard of <glossary title="805">Pinot Noir</glossary> originally worked by Beno&icirc;t and M&eacute;lanie&#39;s maternal grandfather in <glossary title="256">Celles-l&egrave;s-Cond&eacute;</glossary>&nbsp;at the confluence of <glossary title="1172">La Dhuys</glossary> and the <glossary title="997">Surmelin</glossary> rivers.&nbsp;Historically, it was a <glossary title="1026">terroir</glossary> favored by the Bourbon kings, hence the name.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> &quot;La Vigne D&#39;or&quot;&nbsp;is a&nbsp;<glossary title="166">Blanc de Noirs</glossary>&nbsp;from a <glossary title="760">parcel</glossary> of <glossary title="804">Pinot Meunier</glossary>&nbsp;planted in the sparnatian <glossary title="301">clay</glossary> of the&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1068">Vall&eacute;e de la Marne</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The vines are 65 years old and planted by Beno&icirc;t and M&eacute;lanie&#39;s paternal grandfather, Georges Tarlant.&nbsp;</p> <p>&quot;La Vigne d&#39;Antan&quot; is 100% <glossary title="464">ungrafted</glossary>&nbsp;<glossary title="271">Chardonnay</glossary> from&nbsp;the&nbsp;<glossary title="594">lieu-dit</glossary>&nbsp;&quot;Les Sables&quot;. The name Antan essentially means &quot;yesteryear&quot;, a reference to the historical roots (pun intended) of this&nbsp;<glossary title="464">franc de pied</glossary>&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="185">bottling</glossary><span>.</span></span></span>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>&quot;</strong>Cuv&eacute;e<strong>&nbsp;</strong>Louis&quot;&nbsp;is Beno&icirc;t&#39;s homage to his great, great grandfather mentioned above and the top of the top from Tarlant&#39;s single vineyard offerings: <glossary title="271">Chardonnay</glossary> and <glossary title="805">Pinot Noir</glossary> from a single parcel of 65 year old vines (originally planted by Louis himself!) called&nbsp;Les Crayons, <glossary title="1104">vinified</glossary> and <glossary title="74">aged</glossary> in&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="731">oak</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p> <p><glossary title="1109">Vintage</glossary> releases&nbsp;have also joined the lineup in recent years. These wines are meant to capture a snapshot of the years&#39; characteristics by <glossary title="1146">blending</glossary> specific <glossary title="760">parcels</glossary> that best reflect it. Each year has a different name (&quot;&Eacute;tincelante&quot;, &quot;La Matinale&quot;) and so far the wines have <glossary title="74">aged</glossary> for well over a decade <glossary title="995">sur lattes</glossary> before release!</p>