Winemaker Notes
Grand Cru vines in Cramant (60%) for its dominant expression of creaminess and mineral chalk salinity; Chouilly (30%) for fruitiness and elegance; Avize (10%) for steely acidity and freshness. The vines come from 21 parcels averaging 50 years of age and 80% of the wine comes from one vintage, with the remaining 20% coming from a perpetual cuvée system of the domaine’s grand cru Chardonnay. It’s bottled in July after the harvest and rests on its lees for around 3 1/2 years before disgorgement. The name comes, of course, from the tale of the knights of King Arthur’s court, of which Lancelot was prominent. In real life, Gilles Lancelot married Céline Perceval, and Perceval was another legendary knight in the myth, so it seemed fitting for them to have a Holy Grail wine. Such is The Round Table.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
From the Chardonnay heartland of Cramant on the Côte des Blancs, this Champagne is textured, beautifully fresh while with some bottle aging. It is a beautiful wine that is ready to drink.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Based on the 2016 vintage—complemented by 20% solera-aged reserve wines—and disgorged with 3.5 grams per liter dosage in July 2020, the latest rendition of the NV Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Table Ronde is showing nicely, delivering aromas of pear, warm biscuits, white flowers, spices and dried fruits. Medium to full-bodied, pillowy and precise, with a pretty core of fruit and brisk acids, it concludes with a saline finish. It's drinking well out of the gates.
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Wine Spectator
Firm and minerally, this is lacy in texture, with flavors of ripe white raspberry, poached apricot, mandarin orange peel and chopped nut. Delicate hints of herbs and smoke show on the finish. Disgorged September 2021. Drink now.
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Wine & Spirits
Gilles Lancelot maintains a perpetual reserve of chardonnay from his Côte des Blancs grand-cru village parcels that provides 20 percent of this blend. The 2017 base wine for this current release (disgorged January 2022) includes fruit from Cramant (60 percent), Chouilly (30 percent) and Avize (10 percent). A clean and fragrant young wine, its tense acidity enriched by the broader tones of the reserve, this lasts on smoke, toast and perfumed scents of walnuts.
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.’