Winemaker Notes
A perfect accompaniment to first courses such as seafood and shellfish.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 1996 Comtes de Champagne is awesome, but it, too, is all about potential, and there is no shortage of it here. Austere and very youthful, the 1996 is dominated by bright, piercing acidity and formidable structure. Readers who can wait will be rewarded with a magical bottle of Champagne, but today patience is the word. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2036.
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Wine Enthusiast
Hugely toasty, nutty, mature, this is a delicious wine. The richness of the apple and the cream flavors gives way to a finely balanced wine that keeps lightness in play with intense flavors.
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Wine Spectator
There's richness to offset the vibrant structure of this 1996. Shows toast, candied berry, lemon zest and mineral flavors. Balanced, ending with a chalky sensation around the gums. Still very youthful, with a long life ahead. Drink now through 2018
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Wine & Spirits
As concentrated and fully oaked as a grand cru Burgundy, the sweet ripeness of this wine is cut by its earthy chalk-infused structure. Scents of caramel and chamomile take it out of the context of Champagne, while the fine bubbles bring it back. The flavors are powerful and sophisticated, and will need years to fully mature.
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.’