Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé Champagne
Agrapart & Fils 7 Crus Extra-Brut Non-Vintage
Product Information: The NV Brut 7 Crus is a very pretty. Bright, mineral and intensely vibrant, the 7 Crus is full of energy and refreshment. 7 Crus is a blend of two harvests: in this case, 60% is 2021 from 1er Cru sites; and 40% is 2020 from Grand Cru sites. The reserve wine was raised in neutral, 600-litre oak casks from François Chidaine and Didier Dagueneau. The breakdown is 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Noir. Even at this first level, the wine is aged for three years on lees. It was disgorged with 6 g/L dosage. This is the most immediately seductive cuvée in the Agrapart range, yet it is still extremely fine. It’s long, deep and saline with some gentle grip. Sadly, we do not get nearly enough. The reviews below refer to a previous disgorgement. Disg. March 2024. The Agrapart range begins with a non-vintage wine called 7 Crus. The name refers to the seven Côte des Blancs villages from which the wine derives. These include Avize (from younger vines aged 20 to 40 years), Cramant, Oger, Oiry, Avenay-Val-d’Or, Coligny and Vauciennes. Like all Agrapart wines, the fruit is from 100% estate-owned and farmed vineyards. Maker: In 1894 at the beginning of France’s lively Belle Époque “the beautiful era” or Europe's golden era between 1871 to 1914. Arthur Agrapart started the family domaine that would become Champagne Agrapart & Fils. The estate has weathered many storms, including World War I, an economic depression, and the German Occupation during World War II, which devastated stock by millions of cases throughout the region. In the 1950s, Arthur’s grandson Pierre set out to rebuild the family business by making wines of quality rather than following the commercial trends of the day. Pierre’s sons Pascal and Fabrice took over the reins in 1990, farming their own vineyards along the prestigious Côte de Blancs, as well as blending and bottling their own wines. By the early 2000s, upon realising the brothers did not have the same goals for the future of the estate, Pascal began the long-term process of dividing the estate in two. His vineyards would become the backbone of Domaine Pascal Agrapart, focusing on the unique single vineyard cuvées that he had championed since the early 1990s and the remaining family vineyards would provide the fruit for the assemblage cuvées, 7 Crus & Terroirs, still bottled under the Agrapart & Fils label today. Pascal has been joined by his eldest son Ambroise and their ultimate goal is to produce only wines bearing the Pascal Agrapart label. Philosophy: The winery is based in the grand cru village of Avize, famous for its cuvees of 100% Chardonnay. Pascal and Ambroise farm 10 hectares from some 60 different vineyard plots in the Côte de Blancs, including Oger, Cramant, Oiry and Avize. They farm using only homeopathic vine treatments, composts, manures, and regular plowing. The Agraparts were one of the first families to bring the draft horse back to the vineyards, and named a cuvee in honour of their first four-hooved friend, Vénus. In plowing the old-school way, they expose the clay and limestone soils to immune-boosting properties of the wind and sun. While they once were the object of ridicule, they now lead a return to authentic, ancestral practices. Their quality control extends to manual harvests, a selective triage of the grapes, and the use of native yeasts during fermentation. Malolactic fermentations are employed to round out the intensity of these mineral-driven Champagnes. The wines age on their lees for an extended period of time, and then are racked to both stainless steel and neutral oak barrels—the latter being a rarity in Champagne before Pascal started using them. All wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered. Nose - Apricots, Pears, Fennel Vibrant fruit here, with peaches, apricots, lemons, pears, almonds and spicy anise notes. Palate - Intense Minerality, Pillowy Palate, Citrus Peel medium to full-bodied, ample and pillowy palate. Finish - Chalk, Lingering Citrus, Saline White flowers, chalk and citrus linger.
Larmandier Bernier Latitude Non-Vintage
Latitude is a 100% Côte de Blancs Chardonnay, predominantly grown, as it always has been, in vineyards on the southern side of Vertus. These are vineyards on roughly the same
Pommery Millesime Vintage
The hallmark of this Champagne has always been elegance and extreme purity of fruit. Still extremely youthful, the chardonnay component gives lovely white floral aromas and tropical citrus flavours. The lingering persistent finish showing toast, grilled almonds and French pastry, Very stylish indeed.
Champagne Barons De Rothschild Concordia Brut Non-Vintage
A very fine blended wine based on a majority of Chardonnay, the Rothschild Family’s take on the Champagne tradition. Reserve wines are used for up to 40% of the blend, an exceptional sign of quality and regularity over time. Pale golden highlights, combined with very fine bubbles that carry an abundant, persistent foam.
Larmandier-Bernier Latitude Blanc de Blancs Extra-Brut Non-Vintage
Larmandier-Bernier Latitude Blanc de Blancs Extra-Brut NV is produced using 100% Côte des Blancs Chardonnay grapes. The vineyards are on the Southern side of Vertus. In the cellar, Larmandier uses mostly large format casks and less and less steel tanks. These are vineyards on roughly the same 'Latitude' and the name also hints at the breadth of texture that the wines from these sites (having more clay in the soil) tend to offer up. In the cellar Larmandier uses mostly large format casks (almost all the wood now comes from Stockinger in Austria) and less and less steel tanks. The alcoholic and malolactic fermentations take place without inoculation, and there is no fining or filtration. Bottle maturation takes place in the underground cellars over a period of more than two years, and each bottle is disgorged manually, six months before being released, and dosed at low, Extra Brut levels. Pure and mineral, the most recent bottling offers cut-diamond precision, citrusy, chalky energy and a succulent, textured core. In short, it is a classic 'Larmandier' wine that is all class. Dosage is 3-4 grams per litre
Delamotte Blanc de Blancs Non-Vintage
Ruinart R de Ruinart Brut Non-Vintage
The blend is 100% Chardonnay from various years (20 to 25% of which are reserve wines from the 2 previous years). A large majority of Premiers Crus from the Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims vineyards for aromatic refinement, supplemented by Sézannais wines known to provide maturity. Finally, several wines from the north of the Vesle valley give a light, fresh touch.
Joseph Perrier Cuvée Royale Vintage
Joseph Perrier Cuvée Royale is one of the standout Champagne's from the 2002 vintage. Conditions in Champagne were simply perfect during the growing and harvest seasons and has resulted in a vintage Champagne with complex bread, toast and honeyed flavours with a long and creamy finish. Divine.