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
With an exceptional ageing period on the lees of more than 10 years in our cellars, Castelnau Blanc de Blancs Vintage is created for gastronomy : the power of the aromas and a hint of iodine from the soil make a perfect marriage.
Comments of the Chef de Cave :
This characterful « assemblage » has been resting quietly in our cellars, acquiring wisdom and maturity.
Today it will surprise the taster with its haunting perfume and a rare freshness on the palate.
The rich creamy notes lend a nobility and a vivacity to the whole wine.
For a large part the Chardonnay comes from the Montagne de Reims and takes time, quietly, to develop and open up. Blended with Chardonnay from the Cote des Blancs, the whole is more than the sum of the parts, and we see a superlative blend, rich in aromatic complexity yet keeping a youthful freshness.
100 % Chardonnay principally put together from the very di erent Montagne de Reims and Côte des Blancs base wines.
Description: This Blanc de Blancs vintage is a match made in heaven for expressive cuisine: the power of its aromas combined with a hint of earthiness makes it the perfect partner to many dishes. The bouquet is rich and complex: an explosion of flavours with hints of eucalyptus and aniseed which are accompanied by creamy autolytic notes. The palate expresses roasted almonds and hazelnuts while figs, candied lemon and biscuit notes combine to form an intense and lingering finish.
Food pairing: The elegance of this Blanc de Blancs goes beautifully with crayfish ravioli and a corral sauce, and with scallop tartare with truffles.
Wine Information
Blending is fundamental to the production of any Champagne and totally dependent on the skills and experience of the chief winemaker and his team.
Our Winemaker's comments :
The colour is a brilliant pale gold. The nose combines a creamy character with the stone fruit aromas of plum and mirabelle, typical of a Blanc de Blancs from the 1999 vintage. The aromatic style follows through to the palate adding scents of other fruits used for eau-de-vie, alongside vanilla to give a wonderful lift of fruit preserve flavours on the finish. The depth and roundness of this cuvée will surprise some lovers of Blanc de Blancs Champagnes who would be accustomed to more restraint in their wines.
Food and Wine matching :
A natural choice as an aperitif, this Blanc de Blancs 1999 Vintage also goes perfectly with dishes with a cream sauce such as partridge with morilles or desserts such as an almond blancmange.
Blend :
100% Chardonnay sourced mainly from the Montagne de Reims, the Mont de Berru, Montgueux and Côte des Blancs.
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.
