Lilbert 'Perle' - Blanc de Blancs - Champagne

The Lilbert family are traditional vignerons in the true sense of the word. All processes are performed by the family themselves. Hand riddling of course, and the final disgorgement is done manually without the use of ice to freeze the dead yeast cell plug in the neck of the bottle – ‘a la volée’. Lovely acidity and elegance. Creamy purity with elegant perfume.Taut and steely with precise structure and minerals – with amazing length.

This, the house’s rarest and most sought-after wine, also comes from all three communes, but is sourced from old vines. Its dosage is now in the 3-4 grams per liter range, and it is bottled with a lower pressure than the non-vintage classic— 4 bars of pressure rather than the normal 6—making it particularly transparent, and almost smoky in its intense chalkiness.

Beginning in 2013, Bertrand began to radically extend the élevage of Perle from eight months in tank to two to three years, and consequently shorten the time on the lees in bottle from four years to 18-30 months (first disgorgement is at 18 months, the last is at 30 months, and there can be as many as six disgorgements). The vinosity in the final wine remained the same, while the change in method allowed him a (relatively) quick transition from an average production of 2,500 bottles annually to an average of 5,000 bottles.