The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.
Wine Description
The Story
A glittering, golden Champagne, twinkling with amber highlights and an endless cascade of shimmering, festive bubbles.
The wine shows depth and refinement on the nose, revealing an exquisite bouquet of perfectly ripe fruit (pears and Mirabelle plums) and crystallized citrus (lemons and mandarins) blended with delicate hints of almonds, sweet pastries, honey and caramel.
These flavours linger deliciously on the palate, highlighting the wine's dense substance and length. There is a fine balance of fullness and freshness as subtle notes of butter and spice create a wonderfully mellow flavour. A lasting, mineral component, a signature characteristic of this Champagne, underlines the wine's radiance and purity to create a lingering palate profile.
When France was still a monarchy, ‘échanson’ was the title bestowed on the court official charged with serving wine at the king’s table. As the officer of the royal cellars, the échanson was also responsible for selecting, tasting and generally promoting the appreciation of wines. This cuvee is dedicated to his modern-day counterparts : the sommeliers who are the ambassadors for our Champagnes and have helped to establish Les Echansons as the jewel in our crown for nearly half a century.
Vintage 1999
A difficult start to the year led to early budbreak. There were some damaging hailstorms in early May, but the frost ultimately stayed away. The summer was overall warm and thanks to the hot and dry August, the grapes looked promising for the harvest. However, a damp September challenged producers and dilution was an issue for some. The 1999 harvest that started on September 15th produced a large yield (12,989 kg/ha) of sweet grapes that resulted in soft wines, low in acidity, which produced Champagnes that, in many cases, miss linearity and structure. Voluptuous and enjoyable with ripe, fruity, even exotic characters but in most cases for the medium-term only, even if the best seem to be maturing better than initially expected. The red wines of the year were exceptional and resulted in some outstanding prestige cuvée rosés, such as Louis Roederer Cristal Rosé, Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Rosé and Bollinger La Grande Année Rosé.