Coutier is a family-owned grower-producer based in Ambonnay, the Grand Cru village on the eastern flank of the Montagne de Reims that is celebrated for producing Pinot Noir of exceptional weight, depth and mineral character. The village’s Grand Cru classification is among the most justly earned in the appellation, with Ambonnay’s southerly-facing chalky hillsides producing Pinot Noir of a quality that rivals the great red wine villages of the Montagne. Coutier has farmed in Ambonnay for several generations and produces a focused range of wines that prioritise the village’s distinctive character above all other considerations.

Le Bout du Clos Pinot Noir is a Blanc de Noirs cuvée, a white sparkling wine vinified entirely from Pinot Noir using gentle whole-bunch pressing to minimise colour extraction and maximise the delicacy of the resulting white wine. Blanc de Noirs from Ambonnay Grand Cru represents one of the most compelling propositions in grower Champagne: the combination of the village’s exceptional Pinot Noir terroir with the precise, mineral-inflected style of the Coutier house produces a wine of unusual depth and structural complexity that can age beautifully for a decade or more. The 2017 vintage in Champagne was difficult, with early flowering issues and heat events during the growing season, but the finest producers who managed the season carefully produced wines of genuine quality and longevity.

Blanc de Noirs from Grand Cru Ambonnay has attracted increasing critical and collector attention over the past decade, as the unique quality potential of this specific combination of variety, terroir and vinification style has become better understood. Coutier is among the most respected of Ambonnay’s small grower-producers, and the Le Bout du Clos cuvée reflects the estate’s most careful single-parcel selection from within the village’s Grand Cru vineyard holdings. For collectors who seek the very finest expression of Ambonnay Pinot Noir in a white wine format, this is an essential reference.

Pale straw with golden highlights and a fine, creamy mousse. Delicate nose of white cherry, strawberry, toasted brioche, chalk and an earthy mineral depth from the Ambonnay Grand Cru Pinot Noir terroir. Medium-bodied on the palate with excellent freshness, a silky mousse and a long, complex, vinous finish with a distinctive Pinot character. Drink now through 2030.