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Wine Description
The Story
This wine is produced from various regions, namely 45% of Avize, 40% of Mesnil sur Oger, 8% from Villers-Marmery and 7% of Cramant, Oger and Chouilly.
This wine pleases the eye with its clear robe of bronze highlights, typical of the Chardonnay vintage, and with its dense and smooth effervescence. Delicate and elegant to the nose, this Blanc de Blancs offers a unique aroma, well balanced between elegance, liveliness, minerality and pleasant hints of white flowers and mirabelles. The attack is frank and lively. Then, the wine is elegant to the palate, in perfect harmony with the aromas revealed to the nose. The palate is powerful as well as ripe. A happy mixture of ripe white fruits and pleasant notes of delicate citrus. The finish is expressively pure, with aromas nicely persistent and a subtle hint of brioche. The wine has an interesting cellaring potential.
This Brut Blanc de Blancs, excellent as appetiser, offers a good enough structure to be served with fishes such as Bass, Salmon, Saint-Pierre or even a Saint-Jacques carpaccio or a simple Tuna tartar; could also be grilled or served with a mousseline sauce. This wine could also be the perfect complement of a steamed Sea Bream served on ginger and onions.
Vintage 2002
A cold winter and a mild late spring cued for a perfect June allowing early and fast flowering. Outstanding weather conditions prevailed and the season went on without dramatic turns. Rains in August raised concerns regarding gray rot, but finally sunshine and dry conditions throughout September resulted in an abundant crop of largely healthy fruit (11,930 kg/ha). Dehydration due to wind further aided in achieving perfect ripeness and additional concentration. This, and the cool nights, helped in retaining fresh acidity and, despite the ripeness (10.3% potential alcohol), the wines did not suffer from heaviness or a lack of life. A near-perfect vintage, which produced balanced Champagnes consistently around the region. The best show an impeccable combination of freshness, power, structure and finesse. However, some have matured aromatically quicker than expected and are already past their peak. 2002 produced an abundance of spectacular champagnes, such as Dom Pérignon (the entire range), Krug Vintage and Clos du Mesnil, Piper-Heidsieck Rare, Louis Roederer Cristal and Cristal Rosé, Ruinart Dom Ruinart and Dom Ruinart Rosé, Salon Le Mesnil and Taittinger Comtes de Champagne, to name a few.
