Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A subtle and refined champagne with such beauty and satisfaction. Flint and apples with lemon aromas follow through to a medium body with fine bubbles, pie crust and oyster shell. Dry finish. Hints of salt. Mostly 2021 base wine with about 40% reserve wine.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A 100% Chardonnay, sourced 50% in the village of Aÿ and the rest from Louvois, the NV Blanc de Craie Brut offers up aromas of mirabelle, anise, licorice, herbs and ripe orchard fruits. Medium to full-bodied, vinous and textural, it's perfectly balanced, with a round, supple mid-palate that segues into a saline, long and ethereal finish. Based on the 2021 vintage complemented with 40% perpetual reserve, it was bottled in 2022 and disgorged in December 2023 with a dosage of six grams per liter.
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Wine Spectator
Juicy nectarine and blood orange sorbet flavors are set on the creamy mousse of this bright and balanced Champagne, accented by hints of orchard blossom, smoked almond and pickled ginger. Drink now.
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.’