Ployez-Jacquemart Liesse d'Harbonville 2000

It has been fifteen months since I last tasted the 2000 vintage of Ployez-Jacquemart’s Tête de Cuvée, Liesse d’Harbonville. The wine is made up of a blend of two-thirds chardonnay and one-sixth each of pinot noir and pinot meunier. The vins clairs for this prestige cuvée are barrel-fermented and do not go through malo, with the dosage here a very low three grams per liter. Laurence Ployez does not rush this wine to market, as it spends fully ten years aging sur latte prior to its disgorgement. The wine has continued to blossom beautifully since I last tasted it, offering up a deep and very complex nose of apple, white peach, a lovely touch of hazelnut, gentle smokiness, a fine base of soil, warm bread and a whisper of buttery oak. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, focused and vibrant, with lovely generosity now on the attack, an excellent core of fruit, bright, zesty acids, elegant mousse and a very long, complex and beautifully balanced finish. This is one of my favorite examples of the 2000 vintage, not to mention the best-kept secret in the world of Tête de Cuvées! Drink between 2019-2045