Winemaker Notes
After 10 years of handcraft, 2012 Grande Sendrée is mature but can still wait for many years. The Pinot Noir is still dominant with its Napoleon cherry notes. Chardonnay is also very present on the palate with its fresh vanilla and with flower notes. In mouth, it is still very tonic with subtle bitters while the low dosage leaves a tense and long finish with mineral and slightly spicy notes. A great Champagne for ageing.
Blend: 55% Pinot Noir, 45% Chardonnay
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
In 2012, severe weather conditions posed significant challenges for the Drappier family; hail impacted almost 70% of their village, and frost hit 20% of the La Grande Sendrée plot. This resulted in a limited yield of the 2012 Brut Grande Sendrée, which has a delicate, deep bouquet with aromas of pear, peach, orchard fruit, baked bread and spices. Medium to full-bodied, dense and concentrated, it’s a layered and structured, tension-filled but ethereal Champagne with racy acidity. Although already thoroughly enjoyable, it should age well over the next 10 years. This is a blend of 55% Pinot Noir and 45% Chardonnay.
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Wine Enthusiast
Fermented and aged in wood before bottling, this is an impressive Champagne. It is a ripe, well-matured wine, blending Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. With a yeasty aroma and a deep sense of contentment
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Wine Spectator
A tightly meshed Champagne, slowly revealing layers of ripe black cherry, blood orange granita, blanched almond, crystallized honey and oyster shell flavors as they ride the fine, creamy, satiny mousse. Reveals saline tang that works in tandem with finely knit acidity to create a mouthwatering finish. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Drink now through 2032. 500 cases imported.
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.’