Winemaker Notes
Sophisticated and elegant, the aromas jump out of the glass expressing baked red apple, ginger, lemon curd, wildflowers, apricot, and biscuit notes. Bright lemon-driven acidity and very fine mousse leave a creamy mouthfeel with exquisite length.
Blend: 55% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir, 5% Pinot Meunier.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
A dramatic wine with a lively mousse, this smells of fresh apples and bread crust. The flavors attack with impressive breadth and depth—baked apple, pear and melon—only to finish with abrupt and edgy acidity, a mineral line that gives the wine its invigorating cut and length.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Brut is a 55/40 blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir (with 5% Pinot Meunier) coming in with eight grams of sugar, 9.73 of total acidity and 10.8% alcohol. This was disgorged in January 2021, which date is on the back label, after about 34 months on the lees. Beautifully done, this seems fresh and balanced. It tastes great, but the acidity supports the fruit and always makes this seem dry and serious, not just fruity. There's a crispy finish with slight nuances of toast. Mostly, this is not about complexity, but it is vibrant and lovely overall, a middle-of-the-road sparkler that still has notable distinction at a rather nice price.
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.
As the most historic wine-producing region in New York state, winemaking in the Finger Lakes area dates back to the 1820s and today as a region, accounts for 90% of the state’s total wine production.
Its narrow and deep lakes created by the movement of Ice Age glaciers create an environment similar to the classic Riesling-loving regions of Europe, namely Germany and Austria. The Finger Lakes retain summer heat that incidentally warms up cold winter air, making it fall down from the lakes’ steep slopes. When spring comes, the lakes, already cooled by cold winter weather, stave off vine budding until the danger of frost has subsided. The main lakes of the zone, that is those big enough to moderate the climate in this way, are the focal points of prime vineyard areas. They include Canandaigua, Keuka, Seneca and Cayuga.
While Riesling has fueled most of the region’s success, today Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc enjoy some attention.