Grand Vintage 2015

The 2015 vintage is historically significant for Moët & Chandon as it marks the house's 76th Grand Vintage release. The growing season was defined by a hot, bone-dry summer, resulting in a remarkably low-acid and high-phenolic harvest. To maintain structural balance, Chef de Cave Benoît Gouez crafted an unusual, Pinot Noir-dominant blend (44% Pinot Noir, 32% Chardonnay, and 24% Meunier) and slashed the dosage to a lean 5 g/L Extra Brut after six years of cellar aging.

The 2015 Grand Vintage is a bold, highly characterful, and fascinating release that beautifully reflects the warm, solar intensity of its growing season while leaning into a savory, intellectual maturity. In the glass, it pours a deep, bright golden-yellow color with soft amber glints, animated by an active, creamy, and fine-grained stream of persistent bubbles.

The bouquet is instantly expressive, rich, and highly original, immediately stepping away from simple fruit markers to showcase an array of warm, autumnal aromas. It opens with complex notes of baked yellow apples, dried apricots, and candied orange peel, layered with an intriguing whisper of honeyed white flowers and light aniseed. As it breathes, its six years of lees maturation takes center stage, unveiling comforting, savory secondary layers of roasted almonds, dark chocolate powder, toasted brioche, and a distinctive twist of white pepper and light pipe tobacco.

On the palate, the wine delivers a substantial, full-bodied presence with marvelous volume and a fleshy, vinous texture. The high percentage of Pinot Noir brings a muscular, structural weight to the mid-palate, flooding the mouth with flavors of ripe orchard fruits, nougat, and blackcurrant oil. Because the 2015 vintage yielded naturally low acidity across the region, the wine achieves its freshness not through sharp, piercing citrus notes, but through an imposing, chalky mineral dryness and a sophisticated touch of phenolic bitterness. Dry and beautifully integrated due to its low 5 g/L Extra Brut dosage, it glides into a long, warming, and distinctly savory finish highlighted by notes of grapefruit rind, sea salt, and toasted nuts.

Drinking Window:

Having already developed a highly complex, mature aromatic profile, the 2015 Grand Vintage is completely "open for business" and is giving immense pleasure today. It is a highly gastronomic Champagne that performs at its best when served alongside food. While it has the structure to hold beautifully in a cellar over the next 10 to 15 years, its approachable, soft-acid nature suggests it is a vintage to enjoy sooner rather than later. Peak drinking window: 2026–2038.

Medium intense, green yellow colour. Rich, intense, toasty and creamy nose with  density. Dry, intense and supple palate with gentle mousse and round mouthfeel. Long and lingering finish with apples, roasted coffee and brioche. – JL 94p. (3/2023)