Champagne Esterlin Brut Éclat NV

Champagne Esterlin was founded in 1948 by three pioneering families, with the aim to produce exceptional, well-priced Champagne. Today they encompass 200 family growers, tending just over 100 hectares of vineyards in the prime subregions of the appellation. They pride themselves on the high proportion of reserve wine they include in each cuvée – 70% in the case of the Brut Eclat. Unusually none of the wines go through malolactic fermentation, thereby retaining a firmer core of mineral freshness, balanced by long ageing and the addition of reserve wine, the oldest elements of which go back to 1972. Pinot Meunier is the star of the Brut Eclat, a forgotten hero that covers over a third of Champagne's vineyards and is slowly regaining favour.