Picamelot JB Chautard 2016

The blanc de blancs Crémant Jean-Baptiste Chautard, named for the Founder, is the Maison Picamelot’s flagship wine.  The current offering is from the 2016 harvest and a part spends time in oak barrels. With seven years on the lees it has developed plenty of complexity. The fruit recalls pear and apricot, and there are notes of brioche and oak alongside.

We cellar some of this wine in the bottle and recently have opened strikingly good bottles from the harvests of 2012 and 2015. During warehouse tastings last fall we put the 2015 up against some true Champagne – the Chautard more than acquitted itself (at half the price) and to some tasters won outright.