Winemaker Notes
Its robe composed of a straw yellow color with light green reflects. It's fine and delicate effervescence are revealing a fine and ample wine. On the nose its intensity and strength open up with notes of jasmine, orange and peppermint. This bouquet is revealing an aromatic combination of subtle vanilla bourbon notes, pastry cream and apple crumble. On the palate, the attack is expressing nuances of marmalade and lemon pie that are brought together to deliver the full complexity of this champagne. A silky and delicate texture of pear and white peaches on your portrays the real character of this chiseled wine. This cuvée, elaborated from vineyards of 60 years of age, on a limestone soil, is revealing a great intensity of minerality, with a beautiful final chalky texture.
This champagne can be enjoyed as an aperitif or as an accompaniment on a Saint-Jacques dish, sweetbreads or seafood such as oysters or caviar.
Professional Ratings
-
Vinous
The 2013 Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Blanches Voies is every bit as captivating as it was last year. It remains very young, intensely saline and full of promise. I would not dream of touching a bottle anytime soon. Dried lemon peel, marzipan, white flowers and chalk stain the palate with notable intensity. What a wine! Dosage is 4 grams per liter. Disgorged: April 2021.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Sourced from the lieu-dit Les Blanches Voies, a single parcel in the premier cru of Rilly-la-Montagne planted in 1960, Vilmart’s 2013 Blanc de Blancs Les Blanches Voies was disgorged in April 2021 with a dosage of four grams per liter—the lowest in their range. Matured in entirely new 228-liter barrels from Tonnellerie Rousseau, this Champagne has largely absorbed the oak influence during its seven years sur lattes, followed by four additional years post-disgorgement. It soars from the glass with a vibrant bouquet of lemon zest, pear and honeysuckle mingling with a hint of exotic fruit. On the palate, it is medium- to full-bodied, layered and ample, with an incisive core and a saline signature, concluding with a persistent finish. This Champagne is poised to evolve beautifully over the next 10 to 15 years, unfolding even deeper layers of aromatic complexity with time.
-
Wine Spectator
This is like white Burgundy, with finely detailed bubbles. Opulent and creamy while expanding on the palate yet refined, refreshing and graceful throughout. Offers a long and persistent range of white peach, apple, vanilla and toasted hazelnut notes, with savory hints of quinine and salinity echoing on the finish. Disgorged April 2021. Drink now through 2043.
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.’