Delamotte Blanc de Blancs 2004
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Wine Enthusiast
This is the best Delamotte vintage since 1996, a ripe and rich wine that brings out the chalky soil character with a strong mineral content. It has weight along with a relatively high dosage that gives softness. It is balanced, fruity and ready to drink.
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Wine Spectator
Vibrant, with an airy mousse and a chalky underpinning to the subtle flavors of fresh-cut apple, crunchy pear, minced ginger and Meyer lemon zest. Lithe and elegant, this makes a fine aperitif. Drink now through 2025.
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Wine & Spirits
This drinks like a refined and focused white Burgundy, creamy, toasty and smoky in its flavors. There’s juicy density to the wine, but rather than fruit, it’s centered on the mineral pallor of limestone. Pour it with something equally rich, like lobster and cream in a puff pastry shell.
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Wine
The House of Delamotte is the fifth-oldest Champagne house in the region, founded in 1760. It is located in the heart of the Côte des Blancs in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. Delamotte is small (just 25,000 cases annually) and one of Champagne's best-kept secrets. It is the sister winery of the legendary House of Salon. The two wineries sit side-by-side and are both run by Didier Depond.
"Delamotte has always been somewhat of an insider's house, producing high quality at realistic prices. One of the best buys in exquisitely crafted Champagne."
- Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
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.’