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Wine Description
The Story
Dosage: 8 grams/liter of sugar MCR (moût concentré rectifié or concentrated grape must)
Terroir: Only grapes grown exclusively on our estate are used in our wine. Our vineyard is cultivated according to the regulations drawn out by viticulture raisonnée practices. This refers to sustainable and reasonable agriculture practices which avoid chemical use in the vineyard. The house has been given the certification of Haute Valeur Environnementale (HVE) or High Environmental Value.
Elaboration:
-Manual Harvest
-Quality certified pressing (4,000 kg pneumatic press)
-Alcoholic fermentation takes place in temperaturecontrolled stainless steel vat, which helps preserve the individual character of each terroir
Tasting Notes: The 2012 Special Club is of a light golden color, characterized by tiny, lively bubbles. This effervescence expands luxuriously throughout the glass. Scents of white flowers, almonds, and brioche are the first to present themselves. Over time, honey, anise, and fresh fig take form. On the palate, the champagne is round and ample sharpened with a wonderful cut of acidity. It is delicately wooly on the tongue, softened with hints of almond and cream. This vintage of Special Club is perfect to kick start any meal, though it would also be heavenly with a fish in a butter/cream sauce.
Vintage 2015
A wet winter and mild spring gave way to an exceptionally dry summer from mid-May onwards. Hot weather prevailed until mid-August, when the skies opened again. Rains gave way to fine, cool, yet sunny weather for the first two weeks of harvest, which commenced on August 29th. The 2015 vintage has a lot of common denominators with the 2003 vintage but the 2015s are showing a better balance of weight and freshness with their average potential alcohol level of 10.5% and total acidity of 6.9 g/l. The quality and ageing capacity of the vintage has been questioned because of the low acidity, but to me the structure of the wine is not the problem; the aromatics are. Initially as vins clairs, I found the wines to come with ample, attractive fruitiness. The vegetal, particularly ash-like aromatics were subdued but have since then become amplified, especially in the vintage bottlings. Drought issues are considered to be the culprit to these widely spread aromatic issues of the year. I have come notably down from my initial assessment. However, most vintage and prestige cuvées are yet to surface from the cellars and their quality will make or break the vintage.
