NV (2020) Ulysse Collin Champagne les Maillons Blanc de Noirs Extra Brut 48 months (Pre-arrival)

“Collin’s recently unveiled NV Blanc de Noirs Les Maillons (2020 base), following 48 months of aging in the cellar, confirms that his strong run of recent releases continues unabated. Slightly fresher in style than its 2019-based counterpart (even as it incorporates considerable proportions of reserve wines from 2019 as well as some from 2018), both renditions—built on high-maturity years—naturally share common ground in the aromatic range and texture that distinguish this cuvée. Disgorged in January 2025 with a dosage of 2.4 grams per liter, the wine unfurls in the glass with a bouquet of mirabelle plum, Anjou pear, orange peel and spice, followed by a deep and concentrated palate built around a generous core of fruit, underpinned by ripe yet racy acids and defined by ample chalky structuring extract that imparts a compensatory sensation of freshness. That he has devoted his career to what was once an obscure terroir, and that he himself was an unknown producer only 15 years ago yet today serves as a standard against which others are measured in Champagne, is extraordinary.”