The Dhondt family have worked with a perpetual reserve since they began estate bottling in 1986. After drawing off 30% of his reserves for the new year’s tirage, Adrien replenishes the loss with wine kept back from the new vintage and racks the resulting blend to barrel—accompanied by the fresh lees of the latest vintage—in May. Come harvest time, when empty barrels are needed, the perpetual reserve is returned to tank. Each year, the process is repeated, ensuring the domaine’s barrels are never empty.

Dans un Premier Temps NV Extra Brut

This the first cuvée of Adrien's range and the largest; he intends it to be an expression of all 6 hectares of his holdings spread across Sezanne, Cuis, and Avenay val d'Or. Vines are an average of 45 years old.

The blend is 50% Chardonnay (Sezanne) - 1/2 fermented in barrel, the rest in tank & 30% Pinot Noir tank-fermented (Avenay Val d'Or in Vallée de la Marne), and 20% tank-fermented Pinot Meunier (from old vines in Cuis). The base vintage is 70% of the blend with the remainder a perpetual reserve started in 1986. In a few years all of it's vins clairs will be barrel fermented. Dosage is between 2g/l to 2.5g/l.