A very special date with Pascal Agrapart’s Vénus - one of the most prized cuvées of Côte des Blancs –– in the company of the owner and winemaker Pascal Agrapart and our friend and one of the world’s leading Champagne experts Peter Liem.
It will be a great pleasure to enjoy 8 different vintages of Vénus as well as a surprise selection of other Agrapart’s cuvées accompanied with the stories of Pascal and Peter. The exact list of champagnes TBA.
We do hope to see you on March 8 at newly re-opened Biblioteka No.1 restaurant!
Shortly on Champagne Agrapart from Peter Liem’s champagneguide.net:
“Founded in 1894 by Arthur Agrapart, this outstanding estate in Avize acquired much of its present vineyard land during the 1950s and ’60s, thanks to Arthur’s grandson Pierre. Since 1984 it has been run by Pascal Agrapart, who has taken the domaine to ever-greater heights, emphasizing natural viticulture and the expression of terroir.
Agrapart's vineyards are spread over 70 parcels, the majority of which lie in the grand cru villages of Avize, Cramant, Oiry and Oger. Average vine age is about 35 years, with the oldest vines in Avize over 60 years.
Agrapart’s wines are of uniformly excellent quality, with a naturally vibrant and vinous character that makes them feel grown rather than made. They are marked by a vivid, intense expression of terroir, and they always demonstrate an impeccable sense of balance: the wood is never intrusive, and the dosage, which is done with a traditional liqueur d'expédition of cane sugar, is always expertly judged.
In 2000, Agrapart began working one of his best parcels in Avize by horse instead of tractor. This wasn’t for publicity reasons, but rather because plowing by horse doesn’t compact the soil as much, keeping it better aerated. Roughly one-third of a hectare of vines in the vineyard of La Fosse, planted in 1959, was worked by his Boulonnais mare named Vénus, who also lent her name to the resulting wine; she has since passed away, but today, other horses continue to carry on her work. This is a very terroir-specific wine, but in addition to the difference in the method of plowing, another difference is that this section of La Fosse lies largely on the chalky portion of the slope, contrasting the clay soils of the Avizoise vineyards. Vénus is aged under cork and released without dosage, and is usually the top wine of the cellar, showing an uncommon dimension, complexity and soil expression.”
