Chelsea Wine Vault

Tarlant NV Zero Dosage

The driest style of champagne, brut zero, is an acquired taste. However, if you get hooked, you’ll stay hooked. I shared my first encounter with this wine in last month’s Sipping. Since my first taste, I have definitely grown a strong liking for this bone-dry style of bubbly. I learned about Tarlant, a producer from Oeilly — note that many champagne village names end with a “y” — in an article, and was fascinated that half of this house’s entire production is of the brut zero style. This particular wine is a classic blend of equal parts Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier. The addition of oak-aged reserve wine rounds it off, providing the wine with good structure and a long finish. It is incredibly pure and well-integrated. To put it simply, I couldn’t get enough of it. I had it with a simple pasta the first night, then finished off the entire bottle the next day with a Thai rice dish right before flying off to Shanghai. Irresistible!

Editor’s PickCynthia Sin-Yi Cheng | October 31, 2006

Champagne, chardonnay, pinot noir, pinot meunier