Champagne Domaine Petit & Bajan Blanc de Noirs Obsidienne Brut Grand Cru NV
Petit & Bajan make powerful, heady, and vinous styles of wine. There’s a “cult-y” quality to these wines – without the “cult-y” price!
Retail
Why We Love It...
Oftentimes Love is sparked over a glass of Champagne…but every now and again…a Champagne is born from Love. When Richard Petit and Véronique Bajan fell in love and married, they combined each of their family’s modest holdings to create one spectacular Grand Cru grower Champagne portfolio.
After a decade of marital bliss, Richard and Véronique Petit united his family’s holdings in Avize – prime chardonnay lots in the Cote des Bars passed down for generations – with Véronique’s family holdings in Verzenay, where pinot noir reigns supreme in the Grand Cru lands of Montagne de Reims. This was 2008 and in the short time since, their reputation has grown considerably. It was Richard’s longtime neighbor, the legendary Anselme Selosse (who has run one of Champagnes foremost luxury houses, Jacques Selosse since 1980), who served as their mentor as they transitioned from grape growers to grower-producers (a récoltant-manipulant). In the traditional Selosse style, they make Champagne from fully ripe grapes, producing full and hearty wines that excel with or without food.
This 100% pinot noir hails from their estate vines in the Grand Cru of Verzenay – one of the three original Grand Cru villages in Champagne. The pinot noir is grown in the clay and chalk soils of their parcels, and allowed to fully mature on the vine. Typically, it is their holdings, alongside Jacques Selosse, to begin their harvest last, often not even starting until a week or two after the other wineries have completely finished for the year. The finished wine is immediately pressed and carefully fermented, with a selection of cultivated yeasts and bacteria to incite both primary and secondary fermentations. After prolonged aging of the base wine in barrel, the wine spends 3 years on the lees before disgorgement and a light dosage of 3 grams/liter, and then followed by an additional 30 months in bottle before release. As such, this new release utilizes a base wine of the 2013 vintage, with noticeable development over the 10 years since harvest.
The wine’s aromas are deep and warm, with raspberries, alpine strawberries, and red cherries melded with black pepper, clove, and nutmeg. Similar berry and cherry notes are found amongst the flavors, with complementary notes of fresh-baked brioche, Tahitian vanilla, and more black pepper. The mouthfeel is creamy, rich, and velvety – a supple elegance carries the wine into a long and refined finish. The flavors will linger long after you swallow your sip, and carry perfectly into a bit of roast duck with cherry sauce.
This would seamlessly slide into a line-up of high-end Champagnes in the $250+ range, so how about you bring the Selosse, and I’ll bring this beauty and we’ll make a night of it! Deal?!? Only about six cases of this beauty to go around – do not miss out!
Fizz Meter
Technical Details
Champagne Petit & Bajan