Winemaker Notes
Charming, delicate and refined, Brut Nature 2018 takes the generous character of the year and turns it into a wave of fruity, saline freshness. It exudes harmony and precision, revealing the exceptional limestone backbone created by these cool terroirs in Cumières.
Fine and delicate yet dense and concentrated, this champagne is a true reflection of its origins. The fragrant nose gives us a velvety, ripe and almost sunny impression, perfectly capturing the year in notes of yellow fruit and toasted almonds. After aeration, sweet floral and red fruit aromas start to come through; the stamp of Pinot Noir is now unmistakable. Behind the lively, fast-rising bubbles, smoothness and finesse intertwine in a harmonious dance of juicy, soft textures. The fruit is bursting with ripeness and saline energy, generously coating the palate while allowing a fresh, vibrant and savory character to emerge. This sensation of freshness persists and leads to a powdery, chalky finish, drawn out by some lovely fine bitter notes. A pure expression of its clay soils and the generosity of the vintage, this champagne leaves an impression of great precision, exquisitely balanced in its fresh, sunny expressions.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Spectator
A mouthwatering Champagne, with generosity to the flavors of juicy pear, nectarine, preserved lemon and grilled nuts. This is sleek and well-meshed, with a satiny mousse, plus an underlying streak of salinity that drives the racy finish. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Drink now through 2043.
-
Decanter
A touch of yellow pear flashes up on the nose, immediately signalling both ripeness and the sense of juiciness that pervades the entire wine. This is accompanied by some ripe Mirabelle plum and only restrained hints of creaminess. The palate is pure, and even juicier than the nose, shining with as much clarity as roundness. The absence of dosage pushes both ripeness and structure centre stage and underlines a sense of clarity, while the finest phenolic frame corrals the fruit. Harvested from a south-facing, concave hillside in the village of Cumières that slopes down to the river Marne, this is clearly ripe, but also still embryonic. Beautifully juicy and clear right now, this will gain with further bottle age.
-
James Suckling
Berries and dried grapefruit with hints of salty biscuits, toast and flint on the nose of this dry Champagne. Very savory yet rich, broad shouldered and textured, too, with a firm,chalky finish. From lieu-dit La Riviere in Cumieres. Drink now or hold.
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.’