Winemaker Notes
Champagne which by virtue of companion planting of five Champagne grape varieties expresses the identity of a locality that is dear to the Geoffroy family. With a pale yellow robe with golden highlights, this cuvée offers a luminous and dynamic effervescence. On the nose, a delicate and airy fragrance of white flowers, citrus fruits and white-fleshed fruit.
First impressions on the tongue are masterful: aromas of bitter almond, vanilla biscuits, sponge cakes being brought out of the oven, even a hearth fire, summon back childhood memories, as they rise to the surface. All the more surprising in Champagne that while it was ageing has never been close to an oak barrel. The mouth is precise, clean and energetic. The absence of dosage provides a pleasantly pure finish and above all, lengthens the minerality and the fine bitters.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The NV Champagne Premier Cru Cumières Les Houtrants Complantes Brut Nature was aged for six years sur latte and includes the vintages of 2008 through 2017 in this release. A bright medium straw color, it was raised without oak. It’s shy upfront, but as it opens, it reveals restrained but attractive notes of white peach and stone fruit, candle wax, and elegant citrus blossoms and oils. It has an ultra-fine mousse with a sparkling spice on the palate, and it’s medium-bodied but more approachable, with a stony texture that defines this wine for me. It has good length and a snap of minty lift.
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Vinous
The NV Brut Nature Les Houtrants Complantés is a wine of seduction and class. Bright, bold and punchy, the Houtrants offers beguiling complexity from the blend of Pinot Noir, Meunier, Chardonnay, Petit Meslier and Arbanne. The current release is very fine, airy and light on its feet, with terrific freshness and plenty of cut. I loved it.
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James Suckling
Pretty peach and grapefruit aromas mingle with wildflower honey and candied citrus. It’s bright, fresh and fruity, with a light honey character despite the bone-dry style. Silky finish. Pinot noir, meunier, chardonnay, petit meslier and arbane.
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.’