Pinot Blanc may be little seen in Champagne these days, but Fleury’s “Notes Blanches” makes an airtight case for its worthiness. From parcels in Courteron’s Charme de Fin and Valverot vineyards, this 2016 was bottled for secondary fermentation in July 2017 after being fermented and aged entirely in used oak barrels; it was disgorged after 5 ½ years of lees aging in December 2022 without any dosage. Pinot Blanc’s relative neutrality allows the Kimmeridgian limestone to deeply imprint the wine; compared to a Chardonnay-driven Champagne, “Notes Blanches” is sleeker in profile and more savory in its mineral flavors, with an overall drier and less dessert-like impression. This is a fascinating wine particularly well suited to aficionados of the region but certainly accessible to all.