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Wine Description
The Story
Blend: 80 % Chardonnay and 20 % Pinot Noir
Vineyards: Premier Cru sites
Age of vines: 50 years old
Ageing: 10 months in oak barriques (228 litres), 42 months months on lees. No malolactic fermentation.
Dosage: 7 g/l
Tasting notes: Intense, golden, lemon and yellow in colour with very fine persistent bubbles. These small pearls give birth on the surface to a beautiful white cord. Melted butter, custard, candled pineapple, cardamom and with pepper are the notes that reach us directly. Then after a few moment, another round of flavors arrives, nuts aromas at first (pralines, hazelnut) followed by mineral notes (chalk, roasted shellfish). The wine is mature, complex with a lot of personality. It still evolves in the glass with cinnamon and gingerbread aromas. The imperceptible dosage and the frank acidity give us a sharp acid / sugar balance extra brut type. The vinosity is expressed through bold and wood. The finish is very long around 10 to 12 seconds and clean, with a nice conclusion on grapefruit and pralines notes.
Vintage 2017
A very weak year for most Pinot Noir. First, severe April frosts caused significant crop loss. After a hot summer, unexpected rain in July and August caused rot in the vineyards. Overall, a fifth of the crop suffered from rot, with Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir hit the worst. A normal-sized harvest (10,057 kg/ha) was picked from August 26th onwards. Despite attempts at intense selection in the vineyards, the quality was simply not there in the red grapes.
Although 2017 wont be widely declared, some individual successes may be found. For example, several iconic prestige cuvée Blanc de Blancs were made, including Taittinger Comtes de Champagne and Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs.
Fortunately, the following 2018 vintage was a success in both quantity and quality, enabling winemakers to discard unwanted reserve wines from 2017.