Winemaker Notes
100% Chardonnay. Village/vineyard: 43.5% Cramant Grand Cru (Bateau, Buissons, Bauves, Champ Prévôt), 24.5% Chouilly Grand Cru (Montaigu), 2% Oger Grand Cru, 30% Cuis 1er Cru (Roualles and Croix Blanche). Chalk soils. Elevage in stainless steel. aged sur latte for 45+ months.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Champagne Cuvée Gastronome Brut has a bit sunnier feel, with primary fruit aromas of Williams pear, lime blossoms, candy, and green apple. The palate is full and rounded, with a coarser mineral texture throughout compared to the other cuvée. It has wonderful salinity and takes on a more savory expression that I find quite attractive. This feel slike it has the structure to carry on for 2-3 decades to come. Best after 2022.
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Vinous
The 2018 Brut Blanc de Blancs Cuvée Gastronome is a dense, powerful wine. I would give it a few years in bottle to soften, as some of the edges are pretty angular at this point. I very much like the depth and vinous intensity of the Gastronome in 2018. Pear, dried flowers, chamomile, mint and spice build into the deep, potent finish. Dosage is 5 grams per liter. Disgorged: April 7, 2022.
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Wine Spectator
A fresh, focused Champagne, with smoke and oyster shell notes serving as a minerally overtone for the fine, lively bead and flavors of nectarine, salted almond, white blossoms and Meyer lemon peel. Disgorged September 2022. Drink now through 2028. 150 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.’