60% Chardonnay; 40% Pinot Noir.  Chardonnay is 100% vinified in oak.  From La Côte des Bar.  Tête de cuvée from Veuve Doussot.

A full yellow-gold color.  Estery, ripe, rounded nose:  slightly gingery orchard fruit, heather, brioche and brazil nut.  Barb says, “cheesy leesy”.   Open, autolytic and meaty body, with more baking spice on the richly textured palate: bosc pear, mutsu apple, blood orange, meyer lemon.  Ample bead with good definition.  Substantial mousse.

Broad-shoulders here.  More guts than grace but not without finesse.  It is, however, not a champagne to lose track of in your cellar.  A little time will help nuance the finish but the ideal drinking window is somewhere between ten and thirteen years, not to exceed fifteen.  Certainly a champagne worth checking out if your preferred style includes the micro-oxygenation you get from barrique fermentation.  Very good.   Now – 2019.