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Wine Description
The Story
As the custodian of the house's high standards, the Beaumont des Crayères' cellar master lavishes utmost care and attention on wine making and blending of his Champagnes. Must from each grape variety, individual batches and the various single-vineyard selections are fermented separately. This technique gives him an extensive array of wines to marry during blending.
Fermenting the wines separately also means that wine making can be tailored to suit each cuvee. To ensure the highest level of proficiency, racking and the various types of fermentation are conducted in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. For the prestige cuvees, some of the wines are aged in oak, imparting greater aromatic intensity, substance on the palate and length.
A few weeks after the harvest, the blending season begins with a series of blind tastings involving all the wines from the current harvest and reserve wines. For the house's team of wine makers, this is another stage of selection designed to identify the wines that will, or will not, be used in blends of Beaumont des Crayères Champagne. Over the course of several months, the tastings for blending occur: this long, painstaking process is designed to define the exact proportions of each wine in each of the cuvees.
Blending is a key stage in the making of a great Champagne. For Beaumont des Crayères, blending is imbued with a sense of magic such are the astounding results of this fusion of cuvees in terms of smell and taste profiles.
Vintage 2004
A great example of how large yields do not necessarily mean poor quality in Champagne. As a reaction to the previous year's low yields, the vines produced one of the largest crops on record. The growing season proceeded without major difficulties but the bumper crop called for bud thinning. August brought about cooler weather and some rains, increasing the risk of rot. The massive crop, averaging 13,990 kg/ha, was picked from September 18th onwards. The quality was a pleasant surprise; vibrant wines with appropriate intensity, refined charm and refreshing lightness. This vintage impresses me more and more, and I feel tempted to give it the full five stars. It comes with a rare balance of freshness, lightness, yet fine aromatic intensity. Post-release, this vintage has proven to be slow to age, and elegant wines are likely to keep on ageing gracefully. Dom Pérignon and Louis Roederer Cristal both excelled.
