Winemaker Notes
The Sainte Anne cuvée expresses the character of wines from the various soils of Merfy, with each plot contributing its identity to the blend, revealing opulent textures on the palate that evolve into a salivating bitterness from the sandy soils and concluding with a tight, structured finish that reflects the origin of Champagne.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Spectator
This vibrant Champagne leads with an enticing floral note, opening on the raw silk–textured palate to reveal a finely meshed range of salted Marcona almond, ripe white cherry, blood orange pith and lime blossom flavors that echo through the lingering finish. Classy. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier. Disgorged April 2023. Drink now through 2028.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
Pouring a straw yellow hue, the NV Champagne Sainte Anne Extra Brut is sourced from the family's vines in Merfy as well as in the Côte de Blancs in Avize and is a blend of 50% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir, and the rest Meunier, raised in barrels for nine months before bottling. It’s a non-vintage wine, but it’s entirely from the 2022 vintage. It offers a good deal of depth for an entry range wine, revealing savory notes of crushed stones, chamomile, orchard fruit, and musky floral perfume. It fills the palate with a creamy mousse that lifts it cleanly, and it has a delicate, silky texture and a haunting finish with notes of raw almond.
-
Vinous
The NV Brut Cuvée Ste.-Anne (base 2022) is terrific. I tasted it in the middle of the range after many of the single-vineyard Champagnes, but the wine did not suffer at all from its placement. If anything, this tasting reinforced my long-held view that the Ste.-Anne is one of the very finest grower Champagnes in its price range. This release, based on 2022, is brisk and energetic to its core. Citrus, white pepper, chalk and floral top notes are finely cut. This is an especially brisk edition of the Ste.-Anne. Chardonnay planted on chalk increasingly plays a leading role in this bottling.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Based on the 2018 vintage and disgorged in March 2021 with five grams per liter dosage, Chartogne's newly released NV Brut Sainte Anne reveals inviting aromas of pear, white peach, fresh bread and white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and charming, it's seamless and enveloping, with a generous core of fruit, lively acids and a pillowy mousse. It's a lovely wine that wears its heart on its sleeve.
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.’