Champagne Ulysse Collin Les Maillons Blanc de Noirs (Base 19. Disg. Feb 2024)

The current release is based on 2019, with 60% reserve wine from 2018. It was disgorged in February 2024 after 48 months on lees. This intense, perfumed, driven Blanc de Noirs comes from a site in Barbonne-Fayel in the Côte de Sézanne. Les Maillons is six hectares with powerful soil that is rich in clay. Collin farms almost half of this site, and he is the only grower to work the soil here (i.e., not using herbicides) and to make a site-specific wine. By the way, Collin’s commute by tractor takes a good two hours from the cellar in Congy, but the wine is worth it! The Ulysse Collin parcel was originally planted with mass-selection vines in 1971. 

Les Maillons is a superb Pinot terroir that comfortably ripens grapes north of 12% potential alcohol—something very rare in Champagne. Despite the power of the soil, the site's location helps conserve serious acidity and freshness thanks to its windy, east-facing exposure. 

This is the same wine we offered at this time last year—2019 base—but with an extra 12 months on lees before disgorgement. In short, Collin was so excited by this release that he decided to hold back a significant portion for later disgorgement. As before, the wine was aged in three- to six-year-old barrels (including some foudres) for the first seven months of its life, and Collin only uses the free-run juice for Les Maillons to keep the wine as refined as possible. This bottling was disgorged with less than 2g/L dosage.