Armand de Brignac Ace of Spades Brut Gold (1.5 Liter Magnum)
- Decanter
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Robert
Parker -
Tasting
Panel -
Wine
Spectator -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Jeb
Dunnuck
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Peach, apricot and red berry aromas are followed by crystalized citrus, orange blossom and hints of brioche. The palate is rich with cherries, exotic fruits and a touch of lemon, vanilla and honey. The mouth feel is soft and creamy, with a hint of toastiness, from the unique Armand de Brignac dosage which is aged for one year in French oak barrels. Drinking beautifully now or can be rested under ideal cellaring conditions, until 2025.
Ideal as an aperitif or pairs perfectly with seared scallops, roasted quail and fresh water fish.
Blend: 40% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay, 20% Pinot Meunier
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
This is a three-way assemblage: three grape varieties – and equal percentage of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with 20% of Pinot Meunier – and a blend of 3 vintages, 2009, 2010 and 2012. The nose is full of flavours and rich with notes of white flowers and crème patissière. However, the palate is crisp, fresh and delicate with a lovely creamy texture. It is elegant, refined and very stylish (unlike the bottle!). It’s a pleasant combination of power and concentration blended with finesse and elegance. While the dosage is 9g/l, it feels much drier, more like a 5g/l and this probably due to the spinal cord of acidity.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted from magnum, the NV Brut (Gold) opens with lovely matured brioche, toast and ripe fruit flavors. Fresh, pure and elegant on the palate, with beautifully matured flavors and an elegant creaminess I don't find in the other cuvées, the "Gold" is a blend of 40% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Meunier as well as the vintages of 2009, 2010 and 2012. The wine reveals good grip and mineral tension and drinks well as an aperitif or with seafood and fish.
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Tasting Panel
Smooth and elegant with lovely balance; complex and fresh with round, rich flavors and great finesse; long and refined. 40% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Meunier.
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Wine Spectator
An elegant, creamy Champagne, with pretty apple blossom and spice notes leading to finely meshed flavors of ripe white cherry, whole-grain toast and spun honey, framed by fresh, citrusy acidity. Drink now through 2021.
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Wine Enthusiast
A blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir, this ripe, well-balanced wine has some toast that adds complexity and richness to the apple and lemon fruit, indicating a mature bottling. The wine in a gold-foil bottle is one of five made by the Cattier house for rapper and entrepreneur Jay Z's Armand de Brignac Empire brand with the “Ace of Spades” logo.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A medium straw color, the NV Champagne Gold Brut is mostly Pinot Noir with 40% Chardonnay and 10% Meunier, and in this release, the base is from the 2018 vintage. Forward with notes of orange and citrus blossoms as well as fresh bread dough, it’s medium-bodied on the palate and offers a leaner style.
Learn about Champagne Armand de Brignac – the producer of Ace of Spades Champagne –
History of Armand de Brignac
Known popularly as the “Ace of Spades”, Armand de Brignac was founded in 1763 by the Cattier family in a tiny Champagne village in the Montagne de Reims. Today, the house remains independently owned and run by the family with a staff of less than 20 people. Patriarch Jean-Jacques Cattier oversees the Chateau's wine production; with strictly limited annual yields, Cattier and his staff can ensure that the family's artisanal winemaking traditions are kept alive in each bottle of Ace of Spades champagne.
The Cattier cellars are among the oldest and deepest in Champagne, with three styles of architecture represented in the caverns: Gothic, Renaissance, and Roman; Armand de Brignac Ace of Spades champagne is aged in a special, gated section of the deepest part of these cellars, 119 steps underground.
Critical Acclaim for Armand de Brignac
Robert Parker's Guide of French Wines rates Cattier as "excellent – among the best producers of Champagne." Centuries spent perfecting the art of Champagne are put to use in each Armand de Brignac cuvée.
Armand de Brignac Brut Gold
The Ace of Spades Brut Gold is the Armand de Brignac’s first release and most iconic cuvée. Rich with the old-world tradition of champagne blending, it is a trio of vintages from some of the most lauded terroirs of the region, resulting in a cuvée expressing vibrant and fresh fruit character with a soft texture.
Armand de Brignac Pronunciation
arh-mon de bree-nyak
A term typically reserved for Champagne and Sparkling Wines, non-vintage or simply “NV” on a label indicates a blend of finished wines from different vintages (years of harvest). To make non-vintage Champagne, typically the current year’s harvest (in other words, the current vintage) forms the base of the blend. Finished wines from previous years, called “vins de reserve” are blended in at approximately 10-50% of the total volume in order to achieve the flavor, complexity, body and acidity for the desired house style. A tiny proportion of Champagnes are made from a single vintage.
There are also some very large production still wines that may not claim one particular vintage. This would be at the discretion of the winemaker’s goals for character of the final wine.
Associated with luxury, celebration, and romance, the region, Champagne, is home to the world’s most prized sparkling wine. In order to bear the label, ‘Champagne’, a sparkling wine must originate from this northeastern region of France—called Champagne—and adhere to strict quality standards. Made up of the three towns Reims, Épernay, and Aÿ, it was here that the traditional method of sparkling wine production was both invented and perfected, birthing a winemaking technique as well as a flavor profile that is now emulated worldwide.
Well-drained, limestone and chalky soil defines much of the region, which lend a mineral component to its wines. Champagne’s cold, continental climate promotes ample acidity in its grapes but weather differences from year to year can create significant variation between vintages. While vintage Champagnes are produced in exceptional years, non-vintage cuvées are produced annually from a blend of several years in order to produce Champagnes that maintain a consistent house style.
With nearly negligible exceptions, . These can be blended together or bottled as individual varietal Champagnes, depending on the final style of wine desired. Chardonnay, the only white variety, contributes freshness, elegance, lively acidity and notes of citrus, orchard fruit and white flowers. Pinot Noir and its relative Pinot Meunier, provide the backbone to many blends, adding structure, body and supple red fruit flavors. Wines with a large proportion of Pinot Meunier will be ready to drink earlier, while Pinot Noir contributes to longevity. Whether it is white or rosé, most Champagne is made from a blend of red and white grapes—and uniquely, rosé is often produce by blending together red and white wine. A Champagne made exclusively from Chardonnay will be labeled as ‘blanc de blancs,’ while ones comprised of only red grapes are called ‘blanc de noirs.’