Disgorged after 60 months on the lees, and incorporating 20% reserve wines, the NV Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Enfers (2017) 60 months is based on the 2017 vintage. After the volume and breadth of the 2014 and 2015 iterations, and after the structure of 2016, the 2017 remains impressively vinous and intensely flavored, but it's more charming and immediate in style. Offering up aromas of mango, pear, spices, beeswax, dried white flowers and fresh bread, it's full-bodied, layered and giving, with a deep core of fruit and a resonant, saline finish. Often, it's Les Roises that's the more exotic of Collin's two Congy cuvées, thanks to its virused vines and more southerly exposition, but in 2017, that dynamic seems to have been reversed.

By William Kelley December 2023