Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
With a pale golden-straw hue, the 2014 Champagne Millesime Brut takes things up a notch, with a lovely floral and pastry-noted bouquet of vanilla cream, lemon curd, marzipan, and peach puree aromas. Pillowy and inviting, the medium-bodied palate feels supple and rounded, with a savory note of saline on the finish. It is a fantastic and decadent wine from Deutz that takes things to the next level.
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Wine Spectator
Bright and harmonious, with a fine, creamy bead and finely woven flavors of currant, biscuit, preserved lemon and pickled ginger. The plush finish echoes a note of smoke-tinged minerality. Drink now through 2029.
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James Suckling
A tangy and linear vintage with a tight, fresh and clean palate. Compact and lovely. Crunchy.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Charming and expressive, Deutz's 2014 Brut Millésimé bursts from the glass with aromas of fresh peach, citrus oil, ripe green apple, clear honey and pastry cream. Medium to full-bodied, elegantly fleshy and fine-boned, it's bright and lively, with a pinpoint mousse and a long, nicely defined finish.
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.’