Arriving ETA November:
Pierre Gimonnet et Fils Blanc de Blancs Gastronome, Champagne 2014 750ML ($69.95) $54.50 pre-arrival special
Terry Theise note “Deg 11/2017 and back to the prevailing assemblage: 28% Chouilly (all Montaigu), 34.5% Cuis, 18% Cramant, 10.5% Oger and 9.5% Vertus, and as always it has lower pressure (4.5) in order to be more food-friendly. The aroma is enticing; the palate is stylish and oriented toward Chouilly, the finish is charmingly toasty, lithe and curvaceous; white tea notes, it’s like mixing Chablis and Riesling in the same glass; a potentially classic edition of this.”
Pierre Gimonnet et Fils Blanc de Blancs Cuis Premier Cru Brut, Champagne NV 750ML ($59.95) $45 pre-arrival special
Pierre Gimonnet et Fils Blanc de Blancs Cuis Premier Cru Brut, Champagne NV 375ML ($37.95) $27 pre-arrival special
Gilbert & Gaillard 92 points “Light yellow with green tints. Delicate nose opening up to notes of white flowers, fresh hazelnut and a subtle menthol touch. Wonderful fresh, silky attack leading into a very refined mid-palate then a mineral finish. Extremely pure style.”
Wine Spectator 90 points “Racy acidity drives this minerally Champagne, creating a firm frame for the subtle mesh of crunchy white peach, biscuit, lemon pith and spring blossom notes. Offers a clean-cut, lacy finish.” [Review is for Sept 2017 Disgorgement]
Pierre Gimonnet et Fils Cuvee Fleuron Millesime Premier Cru Brut, Champagne 2009 1.5L ($189.95) $159 pre-arrival special
Antonio Galloni 95 points “The 2009 Brut Fleuron is round, voluptuous and racy. Explosive and spherical on the palate, the 2009 exudes richness, with plenty of the radiance of the year on display. Tropical inflections abound in a deep, boisterous Champagne that feels very ripe by Gimonnet standards. Still, there is so much to like, especially the way the wine maintains so much freshness given its intensity. Vineyard sources are 42.5% Cramant, 30% Chouilly, 18.5% Cuis and 9% Oger. Dosage is 4.5 grams/liter.”
Pierre Gimonnet et Fils Cuvee Special Club Brut Millesime, Champagne 2012 750ML ($99.95) $79 pre-arrival special
Wine Spectator 92 points “Fresh and refined, with a delicate range of Honeycrisp apple, spring blossom, chalk and citrus flavors, this elegant Champagne is more about precision and fine texture than power and bold flavor. Disgorged May 2017. Drink now through 2028.”
Champagne Hebrart
Jean Paul Hebrart has transformed his family domain from a reliable producer of tasty Champagne to a true powerhouse in very top tier of quality in the region. These are wines that have a generosity and power that make them obviously great, in the best way possible. They shake you by the shoulders and say “hey buddy, over here, this is what you should be paying attention to.” From the bottom to the top, Hebrart makes wines worthy of extra attention.
Arriving ETA November:
Champagne Hebrart Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru Brut, Champagne NV 750ML ($59.95) $49 pre-arrival special
Wine Spectator 91 points “Crushed cherry, slivered almond, pomegranate and lemon curd flavors are underscored by a streak of salinity in this creamy and balanced blanc de blancs Champagne.” [Review is for March 2017 disgorgement]
Champagne Hebrart Cuvee Reserve Premier Cru Brut, Champagne NV 750ML ($49.95) $39 pre-arrival special
Wine Spectator 92 points “Pretty floral and spice aromas lead to ripe crushed cherry and peach fruit flavors on the palate of this mouthwatering, elegant Champagne. Well-knit and lacy in texture, with toast, citrus and chalk accents lingering on the finish.” [Review is for Sept 2017 disgorgement]
Terry Theise note “At first quite Pinot before it breaks out into whorls and eddies and rivulets of almost indescribable complexity, paragraphs’ worth, as the osmanthus-scented Chard steps into the light. Only a slight—believe me, slight—brevity in the finish precludes the third plus. Another 100% Mareuil, and if you want to know why many people think this commune should be Grand Cru, you need only taste this one wine. The blend is, as always, complex. 55% CH from 2015 (zero grassiness!), 38.5% PN from 2014-2013, and 6.5% still PN made in cask, from 2014. I don’t repeat my “horny librarian” trope any more, apt though it was, but this is a wine that’s crazy-sexy and wants to show you how smart it is, or else crazy-smart and wants to show you how sexy it is.”
Champagne Hebrart Selection Premier Cru Brut, Champagne NV 750ML ($59.95) $49 pre-arrival special
Champagne Hebrart Selection Premier Cru Brut, Champagne NV 375ML ($29.95) $26 pre-arrival special
Wine Spectator 91 points “Rich and creamy in texture, with mouthwatering acidity providing a firm frame for flavors of glazed apricot, lemon pastry cream and candied ginger. Elegant and balanced, offering spice and floral accents on the finish.” [Review is for March 2017 disgorgement]
Champagne Hebrart Special Club Millesime Brut, Champagne 2013 750ML ($99.95) $79 pre-arrival special
Wine Advocate 92 points “The 2013 Brut Premier Cru Special Club Millesime offers a fresh and intense bouquet of ripe and stewed white fruits with a hint of butter. Pure, fresh, fine, ripe and intense on the palate, this is a very fruity but also pure and tensioned blend of 55% Pinot Noir from Aÿ and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ and 45% Chardonnay from Oiry and Chouilly. It has a fresh and aromatic but somewhat reductive finish. It needs time. Disgorged in August 2017 with a dosage of 6.5 grams per liter.”
Aubry
“The essential point of Aubry is to limn the very fine line between a kind of country classicism and an absolute embrace of the avant-garde… When I first introduced the wines I was thrilled to highlight all the heirloom varieties, and the many ways Aubrys were true originals. I still am, and they still are. But what’s striking me more and more of late is the dignity these wines have been showing. My marketing side—as pathetic as that is—keeps wanting to be playful about the novelties of the wines, but my human side keeps pausing before them, noticing their basic and unfussy truths.” –Terry Theise
Arriving ETA November:
Aubry Premier Cru Brut, Champagne NV 750ML ($44.95) $36 pre-arrival special
Terry Theise note “Meunier expresses here as barley, rusks, crackers, and so the wine tastes rusky, coppery-saline, iodé, mineral and appetizing. It’s beautifully expressive of a corner of Champagne and tastes as though it were fined with sel gris. This edition is a 2015-base with 50% perpetual reserve. No grassiness! 40% Meunier, 25% CH, 30% PN and 5% “other. Deg early 2018—as were all the wines tasted – , dosage a little less than usual. It’s a frisky version of this, with lots of fruit and salt and quite forthcoming even so freshly disgorged. It’s almost suave. It’s less briny than usual, less brassy, more “fine.” Less Malpeque and more Fanny Bay.”
Aubry Cuvee ‘Aubry de Humbert’ Premier Cru Millesime Classique, Champagne 2008 750ML ($79.95) $59 pre-arrival special
Antonio Galloni 94 points “The 2008 Brut Nature Aubry de Humbert is one of the standouts in a range full of exciting wines. Dried lemon peel, chamomile, dried flowers, yellow orchard fruits and a kiss of French oak all inform this resonant, deeply expressive Champagne. The Aubrey de Humbert is one of the more extroverted and overly powerful wines in the Aubry range but it has plenty of the freshness, verve and detail that makes these Champagnes so compelling. The blend is 30% each Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, with dollops of Arbanne and Petit Meslier that round out the blend. Disgorged in June 2016 with no dosage.”
Antonio Galloni 95 points “The 2012 Brut Ivoire et Ebène is another fabulous wine in this range. Powerful, ample and resonant in the glass, the 2012 is superb from the moment it is first poured. Baked apple, pear, smoke and spice fill out the wine’s voluptuous frame, with a hint of French oak that add complexity without being overpowering. The combination of bright flavors and rich textures is compelling. Disgorged: June 2016. Dosage is 3 grams per liter.”
Importer Note “50% Chardonnay 25% Pinot Noir 25% Meunier from Premier Cru vineyards in Jouy-lès-Reims. Fermented and aged in Stainless Steel, it ages 48 months sur latte before disgorgement.”
Terry Theise note “There used to be very few Rosés like this in Champagne, very dry, deliberately not “for the ladies,” tasting like ripe blackberries from which the sugar had somehow been extracted. Remember next time someone tries selling you on the spurious notion that the young hipster growers are “revolutionizing rosé” (or whatever they’ll insist upon) that a couple old geezers in Jouy were doing it thirty years ago. Meanwhile, this is 2015, and a good one. It’s 40% CH—40% PN—10% Meunier and 10% still Meunier. A fine year for this, typical profile, leads by fruit but quickly curves away, yet in ’15 it’s more forthcoming than usual, and quite a riot of blueberries.”
Bereche is a nearly universally beloved Champagne producer—a testament to the absolute quality emanating out of their cellars. Deep, resonant and vinous, Vincent and Raphael (the brothers Bereche) seem to spare no expense to turn out the best possible wines, whether aging under cork before disgorgement or fermenting in a mixture of stainless and old, large barrels to give the wines extra vinousity. Everything Bereche produces oozes class and this is one of the strongest set of wines they’ve ever made.
Arriving ETA November:
Bereche et Fils Brut Reserve, Champagne NV 750ML ($49.95) $39 pre-arrival special
2015-base
Wine Advocate 92 points “The NV Brut Réserve Vieilles Vignes Cuvée Non Filtrée is a blend of all the four different terroirs cultivated by the Bérêche family—35% Ludes (chalk), 30% Ormes (sand), 25% Mareuil-sur-Port (clay) and 10% Trépail (chalk), which adds up to seven hectares for this cuvée. The current release of the non-vintaged unfiltered Réserve is based on the 2015 vintage and, as usual, includes 35% of reserve wines from a solera. Fermented in oak barrels and small cuves, the assemblage of Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir (from vines averaging 40+ years old) is pure and fruity on the nose, very elegant and spicy, with red fruit and cherry aromas. Pure and elegant on the palate, with intensity, remarkable finesse and complexity, the Brut Réserve reveals a still tight but long, salty, promising finish.”
Wine Spectator 92 points “Lemon curd, delicate herb and spice notes lead to flavors of crushed white cherry, toasted brioche and honey, with a streak of salinity, in this firm, focused Champagne, showing a lacy mousse. Offers a long, mouthwatering finish.” [Review is for the Jan 2018 disgorgement]
Antonio Galloni 92 points “The 2014 Campania Remensis offers notable tension and along with a good bit of vibrancy that livens up the red berry, tobacco and floral notes. Deceptive in its pale color, the 2014 is beautifully persistent, not to mention impeccable in its balance, with terrific underlying structure. The 2014 is wonderfully alive in the glass. I loved it. Disgorged February 2018. Dosage is 3 grams per liter.”
Bereche et Fils Reflet d’Antan Brut, Champagne (2013) NV 1.5L ($299.95) $249 pre-arrival special
Antonio Galloni 95 points “The NV Reflet d’Antan is weightless, airy and gracious. Graphite, crushed rocks, petrol, smoke and licorice infuse this super-refined, polished Champagne. Intensely mineral, chalky and savory, Reflet d’Antan is a model of total precision. The current release is based on the 2013 vintage, with 30% perpetual reserve wines. Reflet d’Antan is 35% Pinot Noir, 35% Meunier and 30% Chardonnay. I tasted two bottles of the same wine; the first aged on crown seal and the second (the commercial release) aged on cork. The version aged on cork was noticeably more complex, and that is for a wine that had just been disgorged about a month before this tasting. Dosage is 6 grams per liter.”
While grower bubbles get all the attention, the grand marques have quietly started doing all of the things that get so much attention among smaller producers. Growing their own fruit, moving vineyards to organic and biodynamic farming and lowering the dosages on their wines have become commonplace among the best houses.
Arriving ETA November:
Louis Roederer et Philippe Starck Brut Nature Millesime, Champagne 2009 750ML ($89.95) $79 pre-arrival special
Antonio Galloni 94 points “Roederer’s 2009 Brut Nature is compelling. Powerful, ample and creamy, the 2009 has more than enough natural richness and texture to carry the wine with no dosage. The Brut Nature emerges from vineyards in Cumieres, where the wines are naturally tense, which creates a fascinating push and pull with the ripeness of 2009 and no dosage approach. Of all the grand marque Chefs de Caves, Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon is the closest to his vineyards and the most artisan in spirit. That comes through loud and clear in this fabulous Champagne. The Brut Nature is also the single best value within the Roederer range today.”
Wine Advocate 93 points “The bright golden Roederer & Starck 2009 Brut Nature assembles two-thirds Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier with one-third Chardonnay. The grapes come from various parcels in Cumières and were harvested the same day and then pressed together all at once. The idea here is that the place is stronger than the expression of the varietals. Regarding the place, it’s a deep and marly clay soil that gives a big expression of fruit in a continental and sunny year such as 2009. Indeed, the wine delivers very intense and creamy fruit aromas to the nose that combine the vinosity and structure of Pinot Noir with the ripeness of Pinot Meunier and the floral finesse and freshness of Chardonnay but doesn’t represent the varieties as such. The 2009 was partly fermented in oak (at roughly 30%), but there was no malolactic fermentation. Disgorged in May 2016, the 2009 is now better than ever and reveals a fascinatingly pure yet delicate and elegant bouquet with iodine, lemon zest, hazelnut, herbal and very fine spicy notes, all perfectly interwoven. The palate is predestinated for the Brut Nature style because it’s rich, ripe, round and fruity by the nature of the vintage and is also pure, fresh and salty, with just the right creaminess and mineral tension. The finish is long and chalky and reveals great mineral purity, tension and stimulating salinity. The 2009 has developed enormously in the past few years and is now very fine and elegant as well as perfectly matured. Tasted May 2018.”
Wine Spectator 93 points “Like a racehorse at the gate, this is full of power and energy, and the firm, minerally frame finds its stride thanks to the cloak of fine and creamy mousse carrying flavors of crunchy white peach and pear fruit, grated ginger and pink grapefruit zest. Best from 2019 through 2029. 609 cases imported.”
Louis Roederer Brut Premier, Champagne NV 750ML ($59.95) $41.90 pre-arrival special
Wine Spectator 92 points “An elegant Champagne in an aperitif style, with flavors of crushed blackberry, biscuit, spring blossom and Meyer lemon zest riding the finely detailed bead, underscored by a streak of salinity that emerges on the fresh finish. Drink now through 2022.”
Deutz Brut, Champagne NV 375ML ($24.95) $21.90 pre-arrival special
Wine Spectator 91 points “[Reviewed Nov 2018] A harmonious and mouthwatering Champagne, with a lovely mix of white cherry, pastry, grated ginger and smoky mineral riding the elegant mousse. Racy finish. Drink now through 2021. 3,000 cases imported.”
Wine Spectator 92 points “[Reviewed Nov 2018] Apple blossom and apricot notes are fresh and aromatic in this elegant rosé Champagne, which offers a light plushness to the fine mousse, mouthwatering acidity and accents of candied ginger, lemon biscuit and mineral. Drink now through 2021. 500 cases imported.”
“Chiquet’s Champagne tastes focused, refined and friendly. Even at their ripest they’re slim and even at their tallest they’re willowy. They taste like the wines of a man who respects his land without fussing about it. They split the difference between the adamantly mineral Champagnes and the overtly fruity ones. They are classical, not romantic—or not often. They are thoughtful but not aloof, like Nicolas Chiquet himself.”-Terry Theise
Arriving ETA November:
Gaston Chiquet Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs d’Ay Brut, Champagne NV 750ML ($59.95) $49 pre-arrival special
Wine Spectator 92 points “A graceful Champagne, with a pleasantly round creaminess, finely balanced by the vivid acidity. The lacy mousse carries a delicate mesh of poached apricot, madeleine, ground ginger and chalk-tinged mineral.” [Review is for May 2017 disgorgement]
Gaston Chiquet Millesime Carte D’Or, Champagne 2008 750ML ($79.95) $59 pre-arrival special
Wine Spectator 92 points “Bright and lacy, this harmonious Champagne offers a minerally, chalk-tinged underpinning and a delicate bead, with a crowd-pleasing array of nectarine, lemon sorbet, ground ginger and spun honey flavors. Drink now through 2028. 150 cases imported.”
Wine Spectator 89 points “Pretty floral and ripe cherry notes waft through this creamy Champagne, backed by vibrant acidity and layered with lemon curd, pastry dough and grated ginger accents.” [Review is for May 2017 disgorgement]
“At best, Vilmart’s wines are grandiose and resplendent. With sufficient bottle age these can take you up and up into rare altitudes of complexity. Even at ground-level they’ve got lots of flavor, as though the flavors were stated in BOLD CAPS. A further key to quality is the large proportion of pre-clonal Chardonnay vines… Wood-aged base wines give these Champagnes distinctly mealy and Burgundian flavors. They’re often described as the best grower in Champagne or “the poor man’s Krug.” Vilmart’s wines can offer a resonance and majesty unique among small estates.” – Terry Theise
Arriving ETA November:
Vilmart & Cie Grand Cellier d’Or Premier Cru Brut, Champagne 2013 750ML ($119.95) $89 pre-arrival special
Wine Spectator 92 points “With an intense spine of rapierlike acidity, this sleek Champagne is fleshed out by rich, up-front spice, lime blossom and minerally oyster shell accents and dried white cherry and candied kumquat flavors set on the creamy mousse. Drink now through 2028. 400 cases imported.”
Wine Advocate 92 points “The 2013 Premier Cru Grand Cellier d’Or is an assemblage of 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir (mass selections from a single vineyard named Les Blanches Voies), both vinified in four- to six-year-old 228-liter barrels for ten months (no malolactic fermentation). It offers a deep, intense, fresh and elegant nose of white fruits with just a spicy kiss of oak. Full-bodied and pure on the palate, this is a still sharp, citrus-flavored cuvée with great elegance, complexity and freshness. The finish is very elegant and fine but firmly structured, displaying concentrated lemon and grapefruit flavors. Disgorged in December 2016 with a dosage of seven grams per liter, the 2013 was still terribly young when tasted 16 months later, in April 2018. “2013 was a pretty cool year, but the end of summer and beginning of the harvest (which started on the 21st of September) was very good. The grapes had nice maturity and balance between sugar and acidity,” says Laurent Champs. His Grand Cellier d’Or will surely improve over the years, and there are many years ahead of the 2013…”
Antonio Galloni 95+ points “The 2010 Coeur de Cuvée is marvelous. Deep, dense and powerful, the 2010 packs a serious punch. Slate, crushed rocks, white pepper, orchard fruit, mint and green pear give the 2010 its bright, vibrant personality. A hint of reduction adds freshness and complexity without being dominating. Laurent Champs nailed the vintage with this superb Coeur de Cuvée. The long, persistent finish is a thing of beauty. I can’t wait to taste the 2010 with a little more bottle age. Even today, though, it is impressive, especially within the context of a year that had its share of challenges. Dosage is 7 grams per liter.”
Wine Spectator 94 points “This elegant version offers seamless integration, draping a vivid frame of acidity with a fine, satiny texture and layered flavors of black currant, chopped almond, candied lemon zest and biscuit. Focused and graceful throughout, with a lasting, spiced finish. Drink now through 2028. 200 cases imported.”
“As many of you discovered these are blow-your-mind Champagnes; you sold them out in a flash! Crystaline, jewel-like firmness and immense mealy depth give these a Krug-like profile nearly unique among Blanc de Blancs.
“This is the guy to catch right now in the Côtes. I can’t remember a more consistently galvanic and scintillating collection, and if you already thought Péters was outstanding, you’d better buy the air-rights for your palate, because it’s about to soar up to the sky. I think there’s a harmonic convergence going on now, having to do with an alignment among several excellent vintages, Rodolphe Péters’ consolidation of his regime, and some other imponderable thing. After many years doing this “wine” thing, you know when someone’s in the zone, just like you know it with a musician or an athlete. Péters is showing a virtuosity that only looks easy, but that actually arises out of years of smart hard effort.
“There are a lot of good growers in Mesnil, among whom Péters is—at the very least—first among equals. His wines are firm and starched and profoundly vinous. They aren’t soft or fluffy. They’re Champagnes for people who love wine”– Terry Theise
In Stock Now:
Pierre Peters Cuvee Speciale ‘Les Chetillons’ Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Brut, Champagne 2011 750ML ($149.95) $125 special, 8 bottles in stock now
Pierre Peters Cuvee Speciale ‘Les Chetillons’ Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Brut, Champagne 2011 1.5L ($349.95) $299 special, 2 magnums in stock now
Wine Advocate 94 points “The 2011 Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Les Chetillons Cuvée Speciale shows a clear and spicy bouquet with earthy and vegetal notes at the moment. There are also some white nougat and pignon flavors. On the palate, this is a firmly structured, fresh, elegant and, right now, lightly austere Chétillons that should be cellared for a decade, as Rodolphe Péters recommends. The long and mineral finish is very clear, fresh, firm and highly complex. This is a very promising Blanc de Blancs from three plots in Les Chétillons that were fermented separately. By the way, 50% of the wine is kept aside as reserve, while 5,000 to 11,000 “vintaged” bottles are produced from the 2.5 hectares Péters owns in the extraordinary cru whose sélections massales date back to 1981 and 1936. The 2011 Cuvée Speciale is dosed with four grams per liter and was disgorged in January 2018. Tasted at the domaine in April 2018.”
Arriving ETA November:
Pierre Peters Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Brut, Champagne NV 750ML ($59.95) $49 pre-arrival special
Wine Spectator 92 points “Vibrant, almost buoyant acidity enlivens this graceful blanc de blancs Champagne, while the creamy mousse offers a finely woven mix of glazed apricot, lemon curd, pastry cream and dried papaya flavors. Smoke and spice accents linger on the finish.” [Review is for Dec 2017 disgorgement]
Antonio Galloni 93 points “The 2013 L’Esprit once again shows just how compelling this vintage is. Bright acids play off a core of rich, textured fruit laced with tropical overtones. Beautifully layered and resonant, the 2013 possesses fabulous depth and tons of character. The Esprit is a terrific choice for readers who want to get a look at the quality of 2013 in the Côtes des Blancs, or who want to explore the Pierre Péters Champagnes without splurging on one of the prestige bottlings. Don’t miss it. Disgorged December 2017. Dosage is 4.2 grams per liter.”
Wine Advocate 92+ points “The 2013 Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Millésime L’Esprit de 2013 has a clear, fine, fresh and precise bouquet of white flowers, spices and citrus fruits—lemon peel, lemongrass and even a touch of rhubarb. Dense and intense on the palate, with lots of energy and expression, this is a well-structured, highly elegant and finessed, remarkably pure and fresh 2013 with a long, complex, greatly tensioned and salty finish. Disgorged as Brut in November 2017 (dosage: 4.5 grams per liter). Tasted April 2018.”
Importer note “4 selected parcels from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger Grand Cru, Oger Grand Cru, Avize Grand Cru and Cramant Grand Cru”
Terry Theise note “There is a droll and touching story about the label concepts, which entail a series of pastiches of various “famous” works of art in the style of Takashi Murakami. Think Manga graphics meet Pop-Art style; they’re funny and vivid. The wine is “based on a blend of our best Perpetual Reserve’s vat and our best Vin Clair’s vat, aged on a natural cork while on the lees, it matures for more than five years before disgorgement.” As you would expect, production is tiny.”
Importer note “50% best tank of Chetillons 2011 + 50% Oubliee 2010 base. From Le Mesnil-sur-Oger Grand Cru, Cramant Grand Cru, Avize Grand Cru and Oger Grand Cru. Aged sur latte for 72+ months.”Pierre Peters ‘Reserve Oubliee’ Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut, Champagne NV (’12) 750ML ($149.95) $119 pre-arrival special
Terry Theise note “The wine answers a challenge presented to Péters by a British wine writer, to loosen the wines up by permitting casks to be used. What he did instead was to age the wine an extra year in tank before tirage, to create a “mature but not oxidative” Champagne. It’s aged agrafé on the lees, also for longer than the regular NV. The wine can be wonderful. They make their own dosage from must-concentrate they do themselves (does anyone else in Champagne do this???) and age it in a 60-liter barrel of old wood from Cognac, so the Champagne has a sly bit of bois after all. After a short hiatus to let the 2011-base to slip into the mists, we’re back and with a vengeance. This is 2012-based, deg 11/2017, and it’s a wild beast, extreme biscuits and rye crackers; balances the power of ’12 with the herbal notes from ’11 and ’10; raw pizza dough, sorrel, this wine is crazy in the best way.”
Importer note “2015 base with 15% reserve wine from perpetual reserve. 55% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Meunier saignee. Aged sur latte for 24+ months. From Le Mesnil-Sur-Oger Grand Cru and Cumieres 1er Cru.”
Winemaker’s note “An innovation and small revolution for our family house which produced exclusively Blancs de Blancs Champagnes prior to 2007, this Cuvée is a blend of Chardonnay from Le Mesnil and a wonderful “Rosé de Saignée” giving birth to a Rosé Champagne in keeping with the Pierre Peters style: full of freshness, purity and elegance.”
Arriving ETA November:
Terry Theise note “All CH and 100% malo, 25% was aged in wood, deg 12/2017, this is an absolute Margaine classic. High tones like ’08 but roasted corn like ’09; a great slender power here, a regal assertive wine, blatantly chalky; it wants years but man it’s hard to resist right now. The vampiest Margaine wine in some time.”
Wine Spectator 89 points “A firm, chalky rosé Champagne, offering fresh acidity and a lacy mousse, with flavors of white raspberry, cantaloupe, pink grapefruit sorbet and ground ginger.” [Review is for Oct 2017 disgorgement]
Terry Theise note “Arnaud’s energetic daughter Mathilde hinted she might wish to change the label on this wine, whereupon we all made Edvard Munch Scream faces and pleaded with her to leave it be. In any case the wine, after suffering from 2011’s predations, is strongly back in form the past two years. Base of 2014, it’s 75% CH, 13% PN and 10% still red PN. Disg 12/2016, this is a sheer version of this dewy-fruited being, all class and spring water purity. It’s as pretty as strawberries you never forgot because they were so divine.”Philippe Glavier La Grace d’Alphael Grand Cru Extra Brut, Champagne NV 750ML ($59.95) $49 pre-arrival special
Chartogne-Taillet Cuvee Sainte Anne Brut, Champagne NV 750ML ($49.95) $39 pre-arrival special
Wine Advocate 94 points “The 2009 Brut Premier Cru Volupté is composed of 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir (the wine is blended differently every year), with all the grapes sourced from the chalky soils of Cumières. The 2009 opens with bright and fresh fruit on the excitingly clear, elegant and seductive nose. The palate is rich and intense but also reveals fascinating purity, elegance and finesse as well as an expressive, mouth-wateringly salty and tensioned finish. Seventy percent of the Volupté was aged in oak, the rest in enamel. The 2009 is the last Volupté that will include Pinot Noir; from the 2010 vintage onward, it will be a Blanc de Blancs (like it was before the 2004). This is an ideal aperitif but goes very well with fine fish and even cheese, especially when evolved. Tasted April 2018.”
Wine Spectator 94 epoints “A graceful, seamlessly knit Champagne, with a refined, creamy mousse and a light juiciness to the flavors of baked melon, slivered almond, candied lemon peel and spring blossom, imparting a mouthwatering quality overall. Echoes with a streak of salinity on the long finish. Drink now through 2030. 250 cases imported.”