Winemaker Notes
Étoile Brut embodies sophisticated elegance with classic complexity. In the glass, it reveals a delicate light gold hue with an elegant bead. The palate offers refined flavors of brioche, brown spices, baked apple, toasted almond, hazelnut, and a touch of honey. This sparkling wine is exquisite on its own or paired with rich, creamy, or intricate dishes. Ideal food pairings include seafood such as oysters, caviar, scallops, and crab cakes, as well as triple cream cheeses. For dessert, it complements apple crisp, pear mille-feuille, and vanilla ice cream beautifully.
Blend: 52% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir, 3% Meunier
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Flinty nose, butter, yellow stone fruit, toasted bread. Very refreshing on the palate with fine knit mousse. Very classy. One for the long haul.
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James Suckling
Multi-vintage blend that ages five years in the bottle on the yeast lees. Was blended from eight or more different vintages of reserve wines dating back to 2006, then aged five years in the bottle before disgorging. While light-bodied, almost delicate in texture, it is layered, complex and intricate, with toast, ginger, brioche, spiced apples and citrus zest.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The Domaine Chandon Étoile Brut is demonstrative and persistent. TASTING NOTES: This is one of the New World's finest sparkling wines. Its aromas and flavors show complex notes of ripe apples, toasted nuts, and earth. Pair it with veal medallions and wild mushrooms. (Tasted: July 18, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Spectator
Distinctive and sleekly styled, with pear and strawberry aromas that show hints of yeast roll and apple cider. Finishes with a rich mousse.
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Wine Enthusiast
Fragrant butter and almond aromas lead to a nicely rounded texture, lively bubbles, green-apple and ginger flavors in this light-bodied, elegant wine.
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.
Reaching up California's coastline and into its valleys north of San Francisco, the North Coast AVA includes six counties: Marin, Solano, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake. While Napa and Sonoma enjoy most of the glory, the rest produce no shortage of quality wines in an intriguing and diverse range of styles.
Climbing up the state's rugged coastline, the chilly Marin County, just above the City and most of Sonoma County, as well as Mendocino County on the far north end of the North Coast successfully grow cool-climate varieties like Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and in some spots, Riesling. Inland Lake County, on the other hand, is considerably warmer, and Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc produce some impressive wines with affordable price tags.