Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Produced with 50% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay, and the rest Meunier, the 2018 Champagne Millesime Extra Brut was vinified and raised for 9 months in barrels. It sees 3 grams per liter dosage and was disgorged in March 2023. It pours a rich, youthful yellow hue and is forward in its expressive notes of toasted oak spice that are very assertive and joined by notes of toasted croissant, orange marmalade, white pepper, and ripe red berries. Full-bodied, it has a lush and pillowy mousse and a fantastic texture, filling the palate with ample fruit, a chalky texture, and a rounded and fleshy personality. Although at first it feels as if its oak is not well-integrated, it impresses me more as it opens and is approachable in its ripe fruit now. It’s long on the palate and is a very well-made wine, but I’d like to see how this harmonizes over time. Rating: 94+
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Wine Spectator
A lively Champagne, showing a crisp frame and a lacy mousse, with bright acidity buoying notes of raspberry, white cherry, salted almond and elderflower. Lightly chalky on the finish. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 50% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay and 15% Meunier, the 2018 Extra-Brut displays a bright, perfumed bouquet with aromas of blanched almond, fresh bread, spring flower, menthol and licorice. Medium to full-bodied, elegant and seamless, it’s vinous with bright acids and a lingering, saline finish. Il should age well over the next five to eight years.
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.’