La Matinale Brut Nature

45% Pinot Noir/28% Chardonnay/27% Pinot Meunier. Hand-harvested very early in the morning (hence the “Matinale” moniker) in this very warm vintage, from multiple estate parcels with vines averaging forty-five years old on chalky soils. The fruit was gently pressed and the juice fermented with natural yeasts in Burgundy barrles. The wine was aged in barrel with no malolactic fermentation before being bottled in May 2004. Aged sur lattes for ten years before being disgorged in July 2014 and finished with no dosage.
It is worth noting that the Tarlants distinguish between terroir wines and vintage wines. This can be a little tricky to discern at first. The terroir wines--Antan, Vigne d'Or, and Vigne Royale--feature those names prominently on the front label, while the vintage is is tucked on the back in tiny type. The vintage-focused bottlings--of which there is a single one made annually from a blend of parcels most reflective of the personality of the vintage--feature the vintage in large type on the front with the whimsical name in much smaller type below the vintage.