Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The NV Champagne Vignes de la Vallée Extra Brut follows the same cépage as the Grand Reserve, with 67% Meunier, 25% Chardonnay, and the rest Pinot Noir, predominantly from the 2014 vintage but including 30% from the perpetual reserve started in 1998. The nose is expressive with honeycomb, rose water, and Mirabel plum and makes a beautiful transition to the palate, with more waxy texture that I find very appealing. It is balanced, with a delicate touch of salinity adding a savory and lightly umami application. Delicious now, it will continue to improve. Best after 2022.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Based on the 2014 vintage and disgorged in October 2020 with only 2.3 grams per liter dosage, Dehours's NV Brut Les Vignes de la Vallee is showing beautifully, wafting from the glass with aromas of crisp yellow orchard fruit, mandarin orange, nectarine, acacia honey and subtle hints of wheat toast and iodine. Medium to full-bodied, seamless and incisive, it's bright and pillowy, its elegantly fleshy core of fruit underpinned by a tangy spine of acidity and complemented by a pretty pinpoint mousse. This is a terrific bottling that's well worth seeking out. Best After 2021. Rating: 92+
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Vinous
The NV Brut Vignes de la Vallée is deep, resonant and super-expressive. Reserve wines in this blend (30%) add notable complexity as well as depth. Lemon confit, hazelnut, dried flowers, earthiness, mint and tangerine oil all grace this wonderfully fleshy, resonant Meunier-based NV offering from Dehours. Dosage is 2.3 grams per liter. Disgorged: October, 2020.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The Champagne Dehours & Fils Les Vignes de Valée Bru is firm and lasting on the palate. This wine shows aromas and flavors of dried earth, ripe fruit, and stones in the desert. TASTING NOTES: Pair this wine with grilled salmon in a tart lemon and raspberry sauce. (Tasted: November 4, 2022, San Francisco, CA)
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.’