2016 Paul Dethune Les Crayeres Extra Brut Blanc de Noirs, Champagne

For Champagne pros, the mere mention of Les Crayères will bring Egly-Ouriet’s  Blanc de Noirs to mind, along with the $300+ price tag that now accompanies it. Tonight, I’m here to tell you this increasingly legendary Grand Cru Ambonnay vineyard shouldn’t  be solely linked to Egly in Champagne’s HOF register! A few years ago, without any red carpet press release, Paul Déthune also began crafting a prestige cuvée from this glorious site. Each one has been off-the-charts delicious...and devilishly rare.

Déthune’s organic grapes come from just 1.5 hectares within Les Crayères, and after a long vinification in Champenois oak, plus five years of bottle aging, only 2,000 bottles are disgorged for the entire world.

Ian Cauble MS SommSelect

 Hall of Honour  Tyson Stelzer's Champagne Guide 2020-2021

The Déthune family has tended to vines on the privileged slopes of Ambonnay since 1610, and produced their own wines since 1890.  Today, Pierre Déthune and wife Sophie sensitively manage seven hectares of 70% pinot noir and 30% chardonnay  entirely within the village.  Ten cuvées draw complexity and diversity from 34 different Ambonnay parcels vinified separately, some in large oak foudres and small oak ‘pièces’ from the forests of Champagne. ‘We want to show that the same grapes from the same village can produce seven different styles by varying the blends, the ageing and the use of oak,’ Sophie explains.  Their 50,000 bottles confidently express the luscious power and characterful poise of Ambonnay and quickly sell out every year.

Tyson Stelzer