Champagne Suenen ‘C+C’ Blanc de Blanc Grand Cru Extra Brut NV (2018)

Location: France, Champagne, Côtes des Blancs

Winemaker: Aurelien Suenen

Grapes: 100% Chardonnay

Soil: Campanian chalk

Winemaking: aged about 9 months on the lees in a combination of neutral oak, enameled steel, and concrete.

Disgorged: 2022

Dosage: 4g/L

From us at M&L: C+C is a nonvintage bottling of Chardonnay from two different vineyards, Chouilly and Cramant (hence the name ‘C+C’). Broad and texturally richer than the Oiry, with a long, embracing finish.

Aurelien’s family dates back to the 1800s, when they were collecting and selling grapes to coops and champagne houses in the Cramant region. His great-grandfather and -mother were the first to bottle their own champagne under the family name; their sons, and by the mid-20th century Aurelien’s father, Daniel, had continued the tradition. It was Daniel who began making vintage-dated wine under Champagne Suenen. Aurelien took over in 2009 and immediately began converting the estate to organics.

Though Suenen cultivates a small amount of Pinot Noir and Meunier, Aurelien focuses on Blanc des Blancs, capturing the nuances of different Chardonnay expressions through the chalk diversity in the soils between parcels located in Oiry, Chouilly, and Cramant. He isn’t one to go by rhetoric or dogma when it comes to winemaking and vineyard cultivation; Aurelien simply knows what works best for the health of the vines and soils, and how this will translate in the balance and purity of flavor of the eventual wine. He employs some biodynamic treatments when he deems them appropriate. He chooses to vinify mostly in enameled steel tank, though he’s been delving into foudre with Stockinger barrels. Only native yeasts are employed; all malolactic occurs only naturally.

His Blanc de Blancs are a superb exercise in precision and beauty. Don’t miss them.