Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A graceful blanc de blancs, with vibrant acidity that's well-meshed with the velvety mousse and flavors of toasted brioche, apple puree, lemon confit and pickled ginger. Spring blossom and spice hints linger on the chalky, mouthwatering finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
Just getting to maturity, this is hinting at toastiness while also retaining all the bright apple and citrus fruit flavors. The taut and steely texture brings out great freshness and a concentrated final acidity.
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Wine & Spirits
Chardonnay takes on a cool, almost red-fruited ripeness in this wine. It’s rich and substantial in the middle, with frank scents of peach skin, Mandarin orange and strawberries. Chalky acidity dries the finish, lasting on minerals and spice. Serve it with a rich fish, such as miso-glazed rock cod and hon-shimeji mushrooms.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Another low-pressure bottling, Gimonnet’s 2006 Brut Blanc de Blancs Fleuron reflects some of his best sites in Chouilly, Cramant, and (to a lesser extent) Cuis and Oger. Piquancy of raw hazelnut meets sweetly, minerally savory mussels garnished with fennel and tinged with saliva-liberating salt. The subtlety and distinctiveness of this broad, rich, and soothing – though, to be sure, also refreshing – cuvee grows in the glass.
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.’