The latest vintage release from this producer, this is beautifully balanced with white fruits and touches of citrus paralleled by a tight mineral texture and acidity. It is still young, because vintages from this producer age for many years.
94 points, Roger Voss (August 2018)
Light to mid-straw-yellow colour. The bouquet has toast and nuts, the palate is rich and soft and fleshy, with a mélange of cooked and dried fruit flavours, vanilla custard, nuts and quince paste. The liqueur level seems quite high but the wine is balanced and delicious. (60:40 pinot noir/chardonnay)
93 points, Huon Hooke (August 2018)
The 2009 Brut Vintage blends 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay from 20 grand and premier cru villages in the Montagne de Reims and the Côte des Blancs. Fermented in stainless steel with each variety and each village kept separate and malolactic completed, the 2009 aged eight years in the cellars before being hand-riddled and disgorged. Disgorged in October 2017 and tasted in June 2018, the 2009 shows an intense, concentrated, pretty vinous and profound bouquet of ripe fruit, chalk, brioche and nutty/almond notes. Full-bodied and rich but fresh and even refined on the palate, this is a very elegant, round, charming yet well-structured and vinous Vintage Brut with a clear, fresh, structured and remarkably persistent finish. It drinks already very well today, but its aging potential is most probably stunning.
93 points, Stephan Reinhardt (June 2018)
A fullish style with savory aromas of almond cream, nougat and grilled hazelnuts, as well as dried lemon and pastry. The palate is smoothly arranged with layers of savory, lees-fueled pastry flavors.
93 points, James Suckling (September 2018)
This balanced Champagne shows a lovely creaminess, offering a mix of crème de cassis, pastry dough and preserved lemon flavors. Fresh, with light minerality on the open-knit finish.
92 points, Wine Spectator (December 2018)
Located 150 km east of Paris, Champagne is the French wine region renowned for producing the finest, most rich and complex sparkling wines in the world. The elegance, longevity and racy acidity of these wines are attributed to the influence of the chalky soils of the region and the cool, marginal continental climate. The region spans an area of 35,000 ha and has 4 main growing areas, each favouring one of the three noble Champagne varieties; Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. Champagne has a vineyard quality hierarchy based on the soils, aspect and overall quality of the grapes. Like Burgundy, these quality designations are allocated to the vineyards of the village. Of the 319 villages of Champagne, 17 have Grand Cru status and 44 villages are designated Premier Cru. All Champagne is produced by Traditional Method. The vast majority of Champagne is a blend of the three varieties and may also be a blend of several vintages producing the popular Non Vintage (NV) house styles. Top quality blends from exceptional years are sold as Vintage (Millésime) Champagne.
