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Wine Description
The Story
Cuvée HORS CATEGORIE is so named to demonstrate Champagne Castelnau's absolute mastery of the heights to which great Champagnes can rise.
Every release of a Cuvée HORS CATEGORIE is a limited edition of a unique blend. It won't become a model for any future wines under the same label. Instead, each cuvée will be put together to bring out the best of the very individual components selected from only the most exceptional wines in the cellar.
- A very specific winemaking process
- A blend of remarkable vintages
- Selected Crus
- 15 different base wines
- Argonne oak barrique ageing,
5 years' bottle ageing on lees - 3500 bottles limited release
- Lower bottle fermentation to produce a
very fine, gentle effervescence
Wine Information
HORS CATEGORIE édition C.T 2115
Because this winemaking frame brings us new surprises and pioneering oenological challenges, we have named this series HORS CATEGORIE in honour of the top classification of the legendarily tough mountain passes.
Since it was climbed in 2011, the same year as this cuvee was bottled, we named it after the Col du Tourmalet - altitude 2115m - one of the most famous Hors Catégorie passes.
Tasting notes by cellarmaster Elisabeth Sarcelet (Jan 15, 2016):
“Initially, the subtle oak influences give the nose a delicately spicy, vanilla, toasty lift. Beneath it, a deeper aromatic profi le opens up with an attractive minty undertone. As the wine breathes, the oak from our local forest of Argonne adds further tones of baking fresh bread, cherry stones, smoke and cacao. The taster now begins to appreciate what each of the three vintages, 2008, 2009 and 2010, brings to the wine. The gentle mousse helps wonderfully to present all the fresh nuances of the wine’s bouquet. On the palate, the first impression is citrus: lemon and orange rind, showing the purity and incisiveness of the wine’s character. The tannins are fully resolved in the mouth as the subtle oak notes marries perfectly with the stone fruit fl avours of mirabelle and apricot. Lightly buttery hints soften and round out the minerality to give a truly sensual texture. Overall, this is a Champagne of fi nesse and elegance where its gently toasty style only adds to the highly distinctive savour of the finish."
