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Wine Description
The Story
"Damas, we need a wine that is as dry as possible, but without rigidity... It should be soft and velvety on the palate... Above all, make sure it has finesse’. This bold request, at a time when sweeter tastes were favoured, was met in 1874, when Victor Lambert, the successor to Pommery's Cellar Director Olivier Damas, created the first vintage brut in the history of Champagne, Pommery Nature 1874.
It was a revolution in Champagne. It was met with sarcasm and disbelief. But it was an unprecedented success. Under Madame Pommery's impetus, the Pommery style became known as ‘full of finesse and cheery lightness’. It can be tasted today in the Brut Royal and Cuvée Louise. It is always different, ever unique after slow ageing in the shadows of the chalk cellars.
Vintage 1981
Champagne: Challenging weather conditions left a small harvest and kept the producers in suspense up until the final moments. The final result was a good but very scarce vintage.
The mild spring woke up the vines from their winter sleep early, and vegetal growth began early in the spring. Unfortunately, heavy night frosts came in April and damaged the young sprouts. The situation only got worse when in May hailstorms damaged the vineyards. After this, the weather stayed cold, and the vines did not flower until July. In general, Chardonnay succeeded better than the red varieties in the flowering phase. August and September brought belief back to the producers, when the weather turned hot and sunny. Grapes matured in record speed, and it was possible to do the harvest right before the late September rains. As a result of previous lean harvest years, producers confirmed the sufficiency of non-vintage blends, and a large part of this vintage’s wines ended up as blend wines.
Thankfully, some of the producers also produced vintage champagnes. The have generally proven to be balanced and even excellent. The wines still have posture, elegance and concentration, even though the wines do not improve further in the cellar. The best experiences this year have been produced by Krug, whose blend exceptionally is half Chardonnay. For friends of Pinot Noir, the best win