Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
You can tell that Pinot Noir dominates this wine. It is big, powerful, hinting at raspberries as well as delicious richness. There are white peach and pink grapefruit flavors, but the yeast and the layers of structured toast are just as intriguing. The final is a play on richness and structure.
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Wine & Spirits
David Pehu established a “solera” for his reserve wine in 2005. He pulled from the solera for 30 percent of the latest Sélection blend, the rest from the 2011 vintage. It’s 70 percent pinot noir, 30 percent chardonnay, a brisk and luscious wine with lots of savory bass notes underpinning the treble scents of orange blossom and ginger. It delivers layers of fragrant, floral fruit in a tightly focused finish.
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Wine Spectator
Bright and focused in an elegant style, with bread dough, graphite and spice notes underscoring the glazed apricot, almond and lemon parfait flavors. Well-knit, with a fine bead and a chalky finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tart crabapple accented by hazelnut, almond, piquant apple pit, and mouthwatering salinity make for a vivacious and invigorating performance; yet there is lovely polish to the texture that engenders an almost soothing aspect. Hints of crushed stone add to the interest of a lingering finish.
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.’