Champagne Blend Wines

wines

Very pretty aromas with peach and crabapple character, as well as cotton candy and light nutmeg. Medium-to full-bodied with very fine bubbles that run the length of the wine and persist. Really fine and beautiful. Ultra-complex and refined. Drink now.James Suckling | 96 JSFresh and elegant, the pure salmon-colored 2013 Champagne Belle Epoque Rosé Brut has a lively and large bubbly appearance on opening and is very pretty with aromas of fresh redcurrants, orange zest, and fresh flowers. Made from 50% Pinot Noir (15% of that red wine from Ambonnay), 45% Chardonnay, and 5% Meunier, it has 8 grams per liter dosage. Medium-bodied, it’s elegant and long on the palate, with notes of sherbet and a light spice, while its pillowy mousse balances out its more linear drive. It has a fresh and refined pithy texture with chalk as well as a long, clean finish. Drink 2024-2044.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDThis famed Champagne in its Belle Epoque flower label remains a very fine wine. This latest release is still in its vibrant fruit stage, showing no signs of aging. The hints of strawberries are balanced against the fine texture. The wine is ready to drink.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEThis rich rosé Champagne is aromatic and minerally on the nose, with smoke and oyster shell notes that transition to accent the palate’s baked white peach, grilled plum, toasted brioche and lemon curd flavors. Bright, with well-honed acidity and a crisp, lacy texture. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. Drink now through 2033.Wine Spectator | 93 WSWine is in the early stage of showing Vinous characteristics with fresh girottes, leaves and a touch of smoke. Focused and streamlined, buoyed by racy acidity. Perfect aperitif Champagne.Decanter | 92 DEC

Very complex nose with a wide spectrum of candied citrus, dried peach and mirabelle tart aromas. Bold and rich, particularly on the mid-palate, but with a great deal of subtlety and delicacy for the vintage. This is already delicious, but at the finish you really taste how this has been made for the long term. Great drive and persistence right at the end. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 96 JSThe 2015 Brut Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill shows off the savory side of the vintage to great effect. Hints of dried pear, sage, mint, dried flowers, lemon oil and chamomile open gradually in this mid-weight, lithe edition of Pol Roger’s tête de cuvée. The 2015 unfolds nicely with time in the glass, but I wouldn’t think of opening a bottle anytime soon. Readers will find a nervy Winston Churchill marked by notable freshness and vigor more than size. This is a fine effort in a vintage that has proven to be far trickier than most observers originally envisioned. Dosage is 7 grams per liter. Disgorged September 2022.Vinous Media | 95 VMA tightly meshed Champagne, with an up-front, broad feel that’s quickly reined in and well-defined by racy acidity. Creamy on the palate, with the fine mousse carrying flavors of crème de cassis, lemon-infused pastry cream, smoked almond and oyster shell. Long, harmonious finish. Drink now through 2038. 500 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 95 WSA strong effort in a less-acclaimed vintage, Pol Roger’s newly released 2015 Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill opens in the glass with aromas of confit citrus, ripe orchard fruits and dried white flowers mingled with hints of honeycomb, freshly baked bread and anise. Medium to full-bodied, vinous and concentrated, with bright acids, chalky structuring extract and a pinpoint mousse, this inherently rather rich, gastronomic Champagne is quite tightly wound out of the gates and will reward a bit of bottle age. Stylistically, it is somewhat reminiscent of a modern-day version of the 1985.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94+ RP

Deliciously balanced, this Champagne is impressive. The iconic wine is in its 171st blend, meaning it combines vintages for the best result for each bottling, not a specific vintage. The 171st essence is dry, while also having fine textured fruit. This is a magnificent wine and worth aging for another year. Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEA vivid Champagne, with chiseled acidity and a fine, vivacious mousse creating a buoyant frame for layered flavors of crushed black raspberry, grilled nuts, pink grapefruit sorbet and coffee liqueur, plus fragrant accents of ground ginger and anise, graphite and lime blossoms. Long and expressive on the finish, crackling with a lingering fleur de sel note. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Meunier. Disgorged winter 2022 to 2021. Drink now through 2033.Wine Spectator | 96 WSThe Krug Grande Cuvée “171ème Édition” is from the base year of 2015. The final cépages is forty-five percent pinot noir, thirty-seven percent chardonnay and eighteen percent pinot meunier. It includes fully forty-two percent reserve wines in this iteration, with the wines stretching all the way back to the 2000 vintage. It was disgorged in the first months of 2022 after six years aging sur latte. The wine is supremely elegant on both the nose and palate, with the bouquet wafting from the glass in a beautifully complex blend of apple, pear, fresh apricot, brioche, a complex blend of chalky soil tones, gently musky floral tones, almond, a lovely touch of buttery oak and incipient notes of caraway seed in the upper register. On the palate the wine is pure, precise and full-bodied, with superb depth of fruit, lovely soil undertow, very refined mousse, great balance, snappy acids and a very, very long, complex and utterly seamless finish. Though this is still most emphatically still a young wine, its impeccable balance makes it all too easy to drink today! I would try to leave it alone in the cellar for five to ten years and really let it hit its apogee, but it is not going to be an easy wine with which to exercise self-restraint! (Drink between 2023 - 2085)John Gilman | 96+ JGThe NV Grande Cuvée 171ème Edition is a delightful blend of 45% Pinot Noir, 37% Chardonnay and 18% Pinot Meunier and boasts an attractive and captivating aroma of dried fruits, pastry, lemon oil, marzipan, spring flowers and ginger, with hints of almond and vanilla notes that become more pronounced over time. This medium to full-bodied wine is precise and well-structured, with a fleshy core of fruit and a sapid, incisive finish. Crafted around the 2015 vintage, the blend comprises 131 reserve wines from as far back as 2000 (42% of the total blend) and is expected to age beautifully over the next decade.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPSpanning from 1998 through the 2015 vintage, the NV Champagne Grande Cuvée 171 is lush with a kaleidoscope of aromas including orange marmalade, toasted brioche, almond, and ripe peaches. Full-bodied and rounded, it has a hint of warmth on the finish, but it’s highly attractive, balanced, and long, with outstanding depth and richness. This fantastic expression of the Grand Cuvée is gorgeous right out of the gate and will be a great addition for collectors to enjoy over the coming two decades. Drink 2023-2043.Jeb Dunnuck | 94 JDKrug’s Grand Cuvee 171ème Edition is a 45% Pinot Noir, 37% Chardonnay and 18% Pinot Meunier barrel fermented assemblage of 131 wines from 12 years. The youngest and predominant base wine was from 2015, and the oldest reserve wines from 2000. This 171eme Edition reveals an aromatically complex nose of warm citrus, poached Anjou pear, dried apricots, lemon balm and toast. Medium to full-bodied, the palate balances a beautifully energetic acid frame alongside rich flavors of Meyer lemon, apple crumble and honeycomb with a kiss of vanilla before finishing long, generous and refreshing. According to the Krug iD122014 the bottle tasted was disgorged in the spring of 2020 and released a year later in 2021.The Wine Independent | 94+ TWI

(Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Brut Rosé (Reims)) The 2005 Comtes de Champagne Brut Rosé from Champagne Taittinger is a blend of seventy percent pinot noir and thirty percent chardonnay, with fifteen percent of the pinot being red still wine from Bouzy fruit. All of the fruit for this bottling hails from grand cru villages and is first-press. The wine offers up a deep and utterly superb aromatic constellation of strawberries, blood orange, rye toast, complex, chalky soil tones, plenty of smokiness, a touch of orange zest and lovely spice tones in the upper register, with notes of cumin and clove predominant. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and seamlessly balanced, with a great core, superb complexity, bright acids, superb mousse and great length and grip on the crisp and nascently complex finish. This is still very early days for the 2005 Comtes Rosé, and though it is very easy to drink today, it will be even better with four or five more years of bottle age. Another absolutely brilliant Comtes Rosé from Taittinger. (Drink between 2015-2040)John Gilman | 95+ JGLightly toasty and creamy in texture, this graceful rosé offers a firm backbone of acidity and rich flavors of raspberry coulis, dried strawberry, mille-feuille and graphite. Drink now through 2022. 250 cases imported. — ANWine Spectator | 93 WSThe 2005 Comtes de Champagne Rosé is a wine of contrasts. At first rich and vinous on the palate, the 2005 turns more delicate with time in the glass as its silkier and floral qualities become more evident. Sweet red berry and spice notes linger on the delicate finish.Antonio Galloni | 93 AGThe Taittinger 2005 Brut Rose Comtes de Champagne exhibits a delectable nose of fraise du bois, red raspberry and maraschino discreetly complemented by anise, vanilla, and Ceylon tea. Silken in feel and with exceptionally fine and at once stimulating and caressing mousse, this finishes with luscious abundance of juicy fresh red berries supported by appropriate sweetness, hints of fine, tea-like tannins, crunchy berry seeds, chalk and toasted almond serving for satisfying counterpoint. It should prove rewarding to follow for several years, but don’t miss out on its youthful pleasures!Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RP

The floral bouquet is very fine and elegant but also quite delicate, suffused with touches of slightly candied citrus, but the telltale autolytic note of hazelnuts is less pronounced than usual. There is, however, some almond nuttiness on the palate, as well as racy rectitude and vivacity that give thrust to a long, surprisingly breezy finish. Will benefit from five to 10 years of cellaring. Disgorged January 2020. Dosage: 4.5g/L. Elaborated from 146 wines and 11 different vintages, the oldest of which dates back to 2000. 40% reserve wines. Drinking Window 2021 - 2035.Decanter | 94 DEC

This well-aged wine from a top Champagne vintage is just now ready to drink after 12 years. It has a touch of toast, but it’s the rich, complex texture and fine structure that set it apart. It’s not a dry wine, it feels soft. It is so well integrated, elegant with hints of apples, a layer of minerality and still-fresh final acidity. Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEA beautifully seductive and creamy nose with plenty of honey and clotted cream across lemon and grapefruit. Some white peach too, really alluring. The palate’s nicely orchestrated and balanced; it builds in stages and delivers pithy lemon and grapefruit flavor amid assertive driving acidity, good depth and concentration. Another great ’02. Drink now or in five or more years.James Suckling | 94 JSThe 2002 Cuvée Louise Brut is dressed in an intense citrus colored robe and offers – as if it was a Pfalz Riesling – ripe yellow fruit aromas of pineapples, oranges and ripe peaches along with noble yeasty layers in the background. Full-bodied, rich and fresh on the palate, Madame Louise is a firm and almost mineral structured, persistent Champagne of complexity, finishing with a refreshing citric aroma as well as a stimulating salinity and purity. Good length and balance.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPA lacy Champagne, with ripe apricot and apple fruit layered with a base note of smoky minerality and hints of ground cardamom, berry tart and lemon parfait. Finely balanced and elegant overall. Drink now through 2022. Tasted twice, with consistent notes. 16,666 cases made, 125 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

A well-rounded, easily enjoyable sparkling rosé, this offers a persistent fine-bubbled mousse structure, resulting in an overall smooth drinking experience. You will find nuanced aromas and flavors of citrus blossom, grapefruit, watermelon, white strawberries, dewy morning grass, and a wet stone minerality, with just a hint of those autolytic toasty notes. The finish lingers with additional florals of pink roses and fresh daisies.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEMore savory than sweet and wonderfully complex, the 2019 Brut Rosé North Coast bursts from the glass with toasty notes of fresh baguette and almonds, giving way to crushed apples and gingery spice. This rushes the palate with an elegant bead of silken bubbles. It is creamy yet energetic, and mineral-tinged orchard fruits add further tension. The 2019 leaves the senses wonderfully refreshed through the long, crunchy finale, as white strawberry and spice cookie notes fade. The Brut Rosé is a pleasure bomb, yet it’s wonderfully balanced throughout. - Eric GuidoVinous Media | 92 VMOffers pretty peach and strawberry flavors and a luscious, lingering texture as this takes on spice and orange peel accents on the crisp yet plush finish. Drink now. 19,350 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

Like a stallion out of the gate, this shows an initial explosion of power, in the form of mouthwatering flavors and fine texture, before quickly settling into an elegant gait. The racy acidity is seamlessly knit, buoying the lacy mousse and flavors of cassis, toasted brioche and tangerine, with accents of candied ginger, hazelnut and fleur de sel lingering on the long, creamy finish. Drink now through 2035. 2,000 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 97 WSA gorgeous, yet tight, backward vintage for this cuvée, the 2008 Champagne Rare is based on 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir with around 10 grams of dosage. Beautiful crisp citrus and stone fruits as well as flinty minerality and just hint of brioche emerge from the glass, and it takes hours for this to really unwind and show its potential. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it has bright acidity, terrific concentration, and a great finish. I wouldn’t think about opening another bottle for a solid 5-7 years, but it should have 30 years or more of ultimate longevity.Jeb Dunnuck | 95+ JDA lively first nose of candied lemon, guava, also a hint of lime. With aeration, notes of almonds and almond flowers come to the fore. On the palate, there is a nervy tension that energises its fine, crystalline texture. This is an upright and elegant Champagne whose long, airy finish is mouthwatering. After some time in the glass, it evolves towards notes of smoke, flint and vanilla. A sumptuous Champagne. Disgorged: November 2019. Dosage: 9g/L. Drinking Window 2021 - 2040.Decanter | 95 DECThe newly released 2008 Brut Cuvée Rare is very promising, unwinding in the glass with a youthfully reserved nose of citrus oil, crisp green apple, freshly baked bread, iodine and oyster shell, as well as some rather herbaceous characteristics that depress my score a little, even if I suspect that they will resolve with a bit more bottle age. Medium to full-bodied, incisive and tightly wound, if the 2006 vintage was gourmand and demonstrative, the 2008 is slower to show all its cards. Built around racy acids and complemented by a pillowy mousse, this rendition of Cuvée Rare will reward a few years more on cork.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93+ RP

A firm, fresh Comtes with a tight and composed palate. It’s full-bodied with a racy mid-palate. Long and persistent. Very structured with phenolics and acidity. Minerally. Floral, too. Refreshing and energetic. September 2021 release. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 97 JS100% Chardonnay sourced from five grand cru villages: Avize, Chouilly, Cramant, Mesnil-sur-Oger and Oger. Superb bouquet revealing scents of mirabelle plums, orchard fruits, brioche, pastry, and liquorice, complicated by classy autolytic notes. On the palate, this remarkable 2011 has a tauter and more fine-boned texture than usual, which is enhanced by bubbles of striking finesse and delicacy. This is indeed a very refined, chamber-music-like Comtes de Champagne that ends ethereally with airy harmonics and chalky notes infused with candied lemon. Dosage: 9g/L. Disgorged: April 2021. Drinking Window 2021 - 2040.Decanter | 94 DECAfter the tightly coiled, hyper-concentrated 2008, Taittinger’s 2011 Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne represents a more immediate, charming rendition of this cuvée. Bursting from the glass with aromas of orchard and stone fruit mingled with notions of pastry cream, blanched almonds and mandarin, it’s medium to full-bodied, pillowy and fleshy, with a soft and enveloping profile, lively acids and a pretty pinpoint mousse. Readers might think of the 2011 as a somewhat less reductive and less intense stylistic sibling of the 2006, and as it takes on more toasty complexity with bottle age, it will make for immensely seductive drinking.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPA minerally version, with smoke and saline notes deftly meshed with flavors of glazed apple, lemon-infused pastry cream and marzipan. This is fine and softly creamy in texture, with lemony acidity providing good definition through to the lightly toasty finish. Elegant. Drink now through 2030. 2,800 cases imported. Wine Spectator | 93 WS

The brioche and cooked-apple and cream character really comes through here. Full-bodied and round with fine bubbles. Flavorful and intense. Vivid, bread-dough finish. This is four years on lees. 55% chardonnay and the rest pinot.James Suckling | 93 JSThe latest rendition of Laurent-Perrier’s NV Brut is showing nicely, wafting from the glass with scents of almond paste, iodine, white peach, warm biscuits and mandarin. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, with an elegant, lively profile, displaying a youthfully frothy mousse, good tension at the core and an attractively chalky finish. This is an excellent non-vintage wine that seems to reflect the maison’s efforts to improve their grape sourcing over the last few years.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RPThe nonvintage cuvée from this producer is definitely on the dry side. Like many Champagnes in the range, it has benefited from long aging before release, giving a wine that has richness as well as great fruits, hints of maturity coming through. Drink now.Wine Enthusiast | 91 WE

Lemony richness on the nose, a struck match character that falls in with lemon vanilla note. Toffee apple allure on the palate with chalky coolness & savoury nutty finish. Drinking Window 2020 - 2025.Decanter | 94 DECToasty and generous with lemon freshness, this also has quite some dried-pear and peach aromas from mature elements of the blend, plus a touch of spice at the long, structured finish. The cuvée is based on 2015 and is 50% pinot noir, 30% chardonnay and 20% pinot meunier. Reserve wines make up more than one third of the blend. Drink now.James Suckling | 92 JS(roughly 50% pinot noir, 30% chardonnay and 20% pinot meunier; Lot 14009913): Light gold. Musky orchard fruits and dried fig on the mineral-accented nose. Fleshy and broad on the palate, offering smoky pear and nectarine flavors and a hint of honey. Finishes on a gently spicy note, with very good cling and a touch of bitter lemon pith. Things have definitely begun to turn around for this bottling, which had been lagging behind the winery’s vintage offerings for some time.Vinous Media | 90 VMThis fresh and balanced Champagne is lightly toasty, with snappy acidity and a lively, creamy mousse carrying flavors of white cherry, pickled ginger and Marcona almond. Offers saline-laced minerality.Wine Spectator | 90 WSOne of the most popular of all Champagnes, this is now showing a freshness that wasn’t always there. The crisp texture and green-apple flavors give it an immediate drinkability as well as perfumed acidity and a vibrant aftertaste. Drink this bottling now.Wine Enthusiast | 90 WEBrisk lemon-lime flavors and floral apple clarity lend this wine its freshness and mineral-tinged refreshment. It smells like chalk, then the flavors are enriched by toasty brioche and spiciness from the lees aging. Simple and saturated, finely made in a grand-marque style.Wine & Spirits | 90 W&S

This shows incredible depth of fruit with strawberry, cherry and phenolics. Full-bodied and layered with an incredible, three-dimensional element to the wine. This is so transparent and dynamic with dark fruit, yet it remains vivid and bright. Refined and precise, it goes on and on. Really savory, fresh and incredibly pinot-noir-like. What a wine. 13 years of maturation in the bottle. So drinkable now, but it will age for many years ahead.James Suckling | 99 JSThe newly released 2008 Dom Pérignon Rosé is a dramatic, perfumed wine, bursting with aromas of blood orange, iodine, sweet citrus fruit, peach and pear mingled with hints of buttered toast, smoke and spices. Full-bodied, textural and enveloping, with terrific concentration, racy acids and a pillowy mousse, it concludes with a long, penetrating finish. It derives its intense hue from red wine produced from Pinot Noir grown in lieux-dits Chants de Linottes in Hautvillers and Vauzelles in Aÿ.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPThe 2008 Dom Pérignon Rosé is magnificent. Rich and deep in the glass, the 2008 offers up an exotic mélange of aromas and flavors. Sweet red cherry, mint, orange peel and rose petal all grace this beguiling beauty. Bright acids and a little less still red Pinot (21%) than in most recent editions yields a Rosé that is delicate and light on its feet, with less of the vinous intensity that marked vintages such as 2006. There is a classic feeling of austerity in the 2018 that is mesmerizing. (Originally published in May 2021)Antonio Galloni | 97 AGAn impeccably balanced and graceful sparkling rosé, with a plushly creamy mousse. It’s hard to tell where the firm spine of well-honed acidity and the expressive range of pureed raspberry, candied ginger, tangerine and lemon thyme flavors begin or end. A rich hint of smoky toasted brioche plays on the finish. Drink now through 2033.Wine Spectator | 97 WSOffering up aromas of white flowers, red berries, toast and fresh pastry, Dom Pérignon rosé 2008 is medium to full-bodied, tense and vibrant, with a vinous texture and sapid nuances. Delicately phenolic, this is a pure and racy gastronomic champagne that’s beginning to drink with style. It concludes with a long and penetrating finish. (Drink between 2021-2035)Decanter | 95 DEC

Disgorged October 2016 and will be the first Cristal to be released ten years from harvest when it is offered in 2018. 35 parcels used from a possible 45 in this vintage. The assemblage is 60% pinot noir and 40% chardonnay. This is so fresh and tense and mineral with extremely exuberant chardonnay notes on the nose of white peach, lemon and yellow grapefruit, and hints of almost brambly sous bois aromas. The yeast characters are also super fresh, and there are subtle woody notes, with a hint of vanilla bean and light spices. The palate is super long, and very pure, powerful and focused. It drives deep and taut. Pinot noir is a strong core and the chardonnay sits at the edge offering lemon and white nectarine sorbet flavors. Staggeringly concentrated, yet the balance makes it seem airy and light. Acidity is perfectly positioned, and the power is intense and long. This is an ultra precise Cristal, finishing with a mere suggestion of savoriness and warmth to come. Impressive on release, this will be at its best drinking from 2025.James Suckling | 100 JSThis latest incarnation of the famous brand is a superb wine. It is on par with, maybe even better than, the already legendary 2002. Its balance is impeccable: Apple and citrus flavors working with the tight minerality to give a textured yet fruity wine. Produced from Roederer’s own vineyards which are mainly biodynamic, the wine has its own intense purity and crispness. It has amazing potential and is likely to age for many years. Drink from 2020.Wine Enthusiast | 100 WEThe 2008 Cristal is a perfect wine, and Champagne simple does not get any better. This incredible wine offers a beautiful perfume of clean, crisp fruits, layers of complexity in its toasted spice and white flowers, and an utterly seamless, yet powerful style on the palate. This is a rich, decadent expression of Cristal yet it’s still crystalline and elegant, with no sensation of weight, and it just glides over the palate. Haut Couture at its finest and this majestic, profound, legendary Cristal can be drunk anytime over the coming 2-3 decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JD(Louis Roederer Cristal Brut Millésime (Reims)) As I mentioned in my feature on Maison Louis Roederer a couple of years ago, the 2008 Cristal was the first vintage here to spend fully ten years in the cellars in Reims prior to release. It is a great, great vintage of Cristal and I was very much looking forward to revisiting it this past November, as it is now due for its re-release from the maison. Readers may recall that this is the “rare bird” of Cristal vintages that included some vins clairs that went through malo, as about sixteen percent of the blend underwent its secondary fermentation prior to blending and bottling for aging sur lattes. The wine is brilliant on both the nose and palate, with time not really seeming to have touched it much since I last tasted a bottle. The bouquet is deep, complex and still properly youthful in personality, wafting from the glass in a fine blend of apple, pear, a touch of fresh almond, complex, chalky minerality, incipient notes of caraway seed, citrus peel and lovely floral tones in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and still fairly primary, with a rock solid core, lovely cut and grip, laser-like focus, refined mousse and a very, very long, very pure and still quite youthful finish. As I have noted in the past, twenty percent of the vins clairs for the 2008 Cristal were barrel-fermented and the wine was finished with a dosage of 7.5 grams per liter. It was disgorged in September of 2017. (Drink between 2030-2095)John Gilman | 99 JGThe 2008 vintage in Champagne is one of the most interesting of the last decade, and Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon has made an outstanding Cristal. It’s a blend of Pinot Noir (60%) and Chardonnay (40%) from 36 plots in Grand Cru terroirs, with a dosage of 7.5 g/l. Fresh, delicate and lively, the bouquet is complex and shows elegant aromas of citrus, flowers, mirabelle and spices. The palate is chiseled and precise, with a powerful mid-palate and plenty of freshness supported by a chalky and saline finish.Decanter | 99 DECThe 2008 Cristal is one of the most complete, most dazzling Champagnes I have ever tasted. A stunning wine from any and all perspectives, the 2008 simply has it all. Spherical in construction, with superb persistence. The 2008 takes hold of all the senses and never gives up. One of the many things that makes the 2008 special is a combination of ripe fruit and bright, piercing acidity. Marzipan, lemon confit, dried flowers and orchard fruit all build into the explosive, resonant finish. “We learned from the mistakes of 1996, when we picked more on acid than ripeness, as was the norm in Champagne back then” Chef de Caves Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon told me recently. “In 1996, the best fruit turned out to be the last picks, where the fruit was physiologically ripe. Today, we aim to pick all our fruit with that criteria.”Antonio Galloni | 99 AGDisgorged in September 2017 with 7.5 grams per liter dosage, the 2008 Cristal was produced from 37 of the 45 parcels that are candidates for inclusion in this cuvée—some 40% of which were farmed organically back in 2008—and it’s a blend of 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay. The finest young Cristal in decades, the wine wafts from the glass with a pure and vibrant bouquet of crisp orchard fruit, clear honey, warm brioche, citrus zest and white flowers. On the palate, it’s full-bodied, intense and incisive, with superb concentration, racy acids and a long, searingly chalky finish. Pristinely balanced, there are some 500,000 bottles of this legend-in-the-making.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPThere’s a sense of focus and vibrancy to the overall structure, while the palate is all grace and charm. A fine, lacy texture carries a tapestry of ripe white cherry, toast point, blood orange zest, honey and ground ginger notes, with a minerally, mouthwatering finish. A stunning Champagne with a long future ahead of it. Drink now through 2033.Wine Spectator | 97 WS(Louis Roederer Brut - Cristal Champagne/Sparkling) An ultra-elegant, pure and already highly complex nose speaks of yeast, brioche, Meyer lemon, quinine and green apple. There is equally excellent depth to the utterly delicious and highly sophisticated flavors where the supporting effervescence is very firm yet quite fine while the strikingly long if compact finish makes it crystal clear (pun intended) that this beauty is definitely built for the long haul. I was very impressed with this though with that said, I would observe that it’s presently so firm that at least another 5 years of cellaring will be necessary before this begins to unwind. In a word, excellent. (Drink starting 2028)Burghound | 95 BH

The 2015 Brut Vintage Rosé is generous and demonstrative, bursting with aromas of peach, orange and pear mingled with hints of red berries, fresh bread and ginger. Full-bodied, layered and vinous, it’s rich and enveloping, its textural attack segueing into an ample, fleshy core that’s girdled by bright acids and enlivened by a pillowy mousse. Long and expansive, it’s more generous and gourmand than its racier 2014 predecessor, but just as good.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPPure and pretty notes of wild strawberry and nectarine fruit are enriched by hints of marzipan, chalk and pickled ginger in this graceful rosé Champagne. Lithe and expressive, with a fine, lively mousse, this shows lovely balance and a creamy, mineral-laced finish. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Drink now through 2031. 1,054 cases imported. Wine Spectator | 93 WS(Louis Roederer Rosé Brut Millésime (Reims)) The 2015 vintage of Louis Roederer Rosé is an outstanding wine in the making. The refined and youthful bouquet wafts from the glass in a mix of strawberries, tangerine, a touch of blood orange, rye bread, chalky minerality, lovely spice tones and a nice touch of upper register smokiness. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and nascently complex, with a lovely core of fruit, excellent mineral drive, utterly refined mousse, bouncy acids and a long, seamlessly balanced and vibrant finish. This is approachable out of the blocks, but it is still a young wine and I would opt for tucking it away in the cellar for at least another five years before drinking it in earnest. (Drink between 2026-2055)John Gilman | 93 JGA short maceration with the grape skins adds color and vinous depths of flavor to this earthy wine. It opens to brisk and bold red-fruit flavors that one taster compared to a tibouren rosé from Bandol. Cellar this to bring up its complexities.Wine & Spirits | 92 W&S

Tasted from the same lot as in June this year, the 2008 Cuvée des Moines Brut Millésime is very fine on the deep, ripe and elegant nose where the 31% Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier play the first guitar at the moment. This is a very elegant, refined and intense 2008 with a charming dosage. The finish is pure and persistently salty, well-structured and remarkably intense. Impressive and even a touch finer than the sample I had some months ago. Tasted October 2018.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPDominated by rich Chardonnay, this is a ripe wine. Acidity and a mineral texture are foils to the rich apple and green-plum flavors, giving a balance between deliciously crisp and a fuller style. It is just about ready to drink but will be better from 2018.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEThis soft and creamy Champagne is open-knit and balanced, with citrusy acidity and subtle flavors of peach skin, candied pink grapefruit zest and blanched almond. Minerally finish. Disgorged December 2016. Drink now through 2027. 150 cases made, 75 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

The perfect blanc de blancs. Full-bodied with a lovely framework of acidity and dry fruit, such as apples, pears and peaches. Opulent. Dense and muscular. Yet, it’s balanced and harmonious. Line of acidity at the end. Totally in tune. Superb. Deep and complete. Has everything. One for the cellar. It is the greatest Comte ever. It has everything. A perfect upgrade from two years ago. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 100 JSTaittinger’s 2008 Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne is being released this year, and it will be worth a special effort to track down. I wrote in August 2019 that this is the finest Comtes de Champagne since the brilliant 2002, and this tasting confirmed that. Offering up a deep and complex bouquet of citrus oil, crisp orchard fruit, warm brioche, crushed chalk, blanched almonds and smoke, it’s full-bodied and incisive, with excellent concentration, racy acids and a long, searingly chalky finish. While this is already immensely impressive out of the gates, this 2008 is clearly built for the long haul, and three decades’ longevity won’t be a challenge.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPTaittinger’s 2008 Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne is simply breathtaking. I have tasted it many times over the years in various trial disgorgements and it has never been anything less than compelling. The final, finished wine captures all of that potential. Bright, focused and wonderfully deep, Comtes is a fabulous example of a vintage that expresses so much energy but with real fruit intensity, the signatures that distinguish it from other vintages (1996 comes to mind) that were similarly taut, but more austere in the early going. Although the 2008 impresses right out of the gate, it only really starts to open up with several hours of air. The 2008 Comtes represents the purest essence of the Côtes des Blancs in a great, historic vintage. Readers who can find the 2008 should not hesitate, as it is a truly brilliant epic Champagne that no one who loves the very best in Champagne will want to be without.Antonio Galloni | 98+ AG(Taittinger “Comtes de Champagne” Blanc de Blancs Brut Millésime (Reims)) The 2008 Taittinger “Comtes de Champagne” Blanc de Blancs is a beautiful young wine, with stunning precision on both the nose and palate, a serious girdle of acidity and stellar depth and mineral drive on the palate. This is not anywhere near as accessible and charming out of the blocks as the 2006 was at a similar point in its development, but there is even superior potential here for those with the patience to allow it to truly blossom with some further cellaring. The bouquet jumps from the glass in a vibrant blend of apple, pear, lemon zest, warm bread, chalky minerality, white lilies and just a whisper of buttery oak buried down deep. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and rock solid at the core, with a fine structure and grip, refined mousse, beautiful backend mineral drive and a long, complex and still quite youthful finish. This is a gorgeous wine in the making, but it is realistically still probably a good decade away from blossoming completely and drinking with a semblance of full maturity. (Drink between 2028-2080).John Gilman | 97 JGThe balance between ripeness and acidity that is the hallmark of this fine vintage is expressed well in this impressive wine. Tangy, with a strong streak of minerality, it is crisp and rich at the same time. For its fruitiness, it is ready to drink; for more maturity, it will need to age until 2018.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WE

A prestige Champagne with great density and depth, yet it remains compact and structured, with a combination of fine phenolics, acidity and extract. Lots of flavors of lemon rind, salt, mineral and honeysuckle with an attractive fresh-herb undertone. Then it turns to candied lemons with some ginger. A triumph in complexity and power. A blend of 2008, 2007 and 2006. 60% chardonnay and 40% pinot noir. 7g/L dosage. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 99 JSA blend of the 2008, 2007 and 2006 vintages, with fully 55% deriving from 2008, Laurent-Perrier’s NV Brut Grand Siècle #25 is coming into its own today, bursting from the glass with scents of nectarine, pear, orange oil and confit citrus mingled with notions of buttery pastry, brioche, iodine, dried white flowers and freshly baked bread. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated and incisive, with a fleshy core of fruit girdled by racy acids and animated by a pretty pinpoint mousse, it’s seamless and harmonious, concluding with a long, penetrating finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPThe NV Champagne Grand Siecle Grand Cuvée No. 25 is composed of the 2008, 2007, and 2006 vintages, from nine Grand Crus, and has 7 grams per liter dosage. It is only the second time in Laurent-Perrier’s history that this the cuvée was produced from consecutive vintages. This is the first and most complete of the three expressions I tasted in Tours-sur-Marne in September, as it strikes remarkable balance between richness and tension. The nose is elegant in its ripeness, with perfumed layers of white flowers, honey, and sweet pastry. Meanwhile, the palate is compact, racy, and focused. It all comes together with great length and a long finish. Drink 2024-2044.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDThe NV Brut Grande Cuvée Grand Siècle No. 25 (Magnum) is a Champagne of striking nuance and class. Elegant and restrained in feel, the No.25 is remarkably polished from start to finish. Lemon confit, white flowers, white pepper and citrus oil give the No. 25 brilliant aromatic top notes that add to its chiseled personality. It can be enjoyed now because of its superb balance, or aged for two decades. The blend of vintages - 2008 (60%), 2007 (20%), 2006 (20%) - is especially strong. Disgorged May 27, 2019. (Originally published in August 2020)Vinous Media | 96 VMThe newest release of Grand Siècle is based upon the superb and structured 2008 vintage (65% of the blend), along with the vivacious 2007 vintage (25%), and the creamy, luxurious 2006 (10%). The final blend is 60% Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs and 40% Pinot Noir from the Montagne de Reims. The result at this stage exhibits its Chardonnay character, with toasty notes of ripe pear and spice on the nose and a creamy, silky texture and an edge of citrus. Although elegant and refined at present, the underlying power will doubtless come to the fore with time. Dosage: 7g/L.Decanter | 95 DEC

Just about as good as it gets, the 2012 Cristal Rosé is a magical effort based on 56% Pinot Noir and 44% Chardonnay. It’s a powerful, medium to full-bodied, incredibly textured rosé offering a huge amount of salty, chalky minerality as well as awesome notes of white cherries, orange blossom, caramelized apples, and toasted bread. It shows the ripe, rounded richness of the 2012 vintage yet has bright, racy acidity, perfect balance, and a great, great finish. It opens up nicely with air and will ideally be given 2-4 years of bottle age, and it should evolve for 2-3 decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDThis is a great vintage for Cristal Rosé. The pinot noir finds a band of power and expressiveness. The power here is impressive, very assertive and rich, really mouth-filling and super deep. This is exceptional and has intense, chalky and fresh, white-peach and nectarine aromas, underpinning red flowers and pink fruit. The palate has a scintillating blend of flesh and mineral cut, packed with such sweet, pristine, white-strawberry flavor and texture. This has such incredible potential. So exciting. Will take another two or threw years to resolve. Look out for this! Drink from 2025.James Suckling | 99 JSThe 2012 Cristal Rosé is showing brilliantly, unwinding in the glass with a beautiful bouquet of fresh peach, bergamot, strawberries, tangerine and blanched almonds that’s still quite reserved. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, deep and strikingly complete, its vinous attack segueing into a multidimensional core that exemplifies the ideal of power without weight, built around a racy but integrated spine of animating acidity and complemented by an exquisitely refined mousse. All the concentration of the 2012 vintage is on display, but it’s rendered with terrific finesse. Decidedly youthful and introverted—indeed, I spent several hours with a bottle to compose this note—the 2012 will really come into its own with five or six years in the cellar and displays all the attributes necessary for considerable longevity. It’s a blend of 56% Pinot Noir and 44% Chardonnay that saw no malolactic fermentation, and it was disgorged with eight grams per liter dosage.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPThe 2012 Cristal Rosé is magnificent. When Chef de Caves Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon started to move Roederer towards organically farmed fruit, he started with Cristal Rosé, Roederer’s smallest production cuveé. Because of that, Cristal Rosé is the wine in this range that shows the current Roederer style in its fullest expression. Rich, vivid and crystalline in the glass, the 2012 Cristal Rosé is a Champagne of tremendous gravitas. Chalk, white flowers, sweet red berry fruit, mint and blood orange are all beautifully delineated. The 2012 is 55% Pinot from Ay and 45% Chardonnay from Mesnil and Avize. The Pinot fruit gets a 7-10 day cold soak an is the infused into the fermenting Chardonnay musts. Readers who can find the 2012 should not hesitate, as it is truly magical. Dosage is 8 grams per liter.Antonio Galloni | 98+ AG(Louis Roederer Cristal Brut Rosé Millésime (Reims)) The 2012 Louis Roederer Cristal Brut Rosé is a magical wine in the making. It is composed this year of a blend of fifty-six percent pinot noir and forty-four percent chardonnay, with fifteen percent of the vins clairs having been barrel-fermented in this vintage. None of the vins clairs underwent malo this year and the finishing dosage for the 2012 is eight grams per liter. The wine is superb and just a bit more accessible out of the blocks than the regular 2012 Cristal, wafting from the glass in a very refined constellation of apple, white peach, gentle smokiness, chalky soil tones, a nice touch of fresh-baked bread, caraway seed, incipient smokiness and a topnote of dried flowers. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, racy and bottomless at the core, with lovely mineral drive, refined mousse, impeccable focus and grip and a very, very long, very pure and nascently complex finish. This is not quite as buttoned up behind its girdle of acidity as the regular 2012 Cristal, but it is by no means ready for primetime drinking and still needs a minimum of eight to ten years in the cellar to really unfold. Great juice. (Drink between 2027-2080).John Gilman | 98 JGNo written review provided. | 98 W&SYears in the making, this is the first fully biodynamic Cristal rosé. The very fine 2012 vintage is a good starting point for this new era. The Champagne is just right, beautifully rich and showing some maturity while also having tension and crispness from the golden-apple and spice flavors. The wine could be drunk now but its future is assured. Organic and biodynamic. Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEAn elegant rosé Champagne, starting quietly with a subtle range of white cherry, Marcona almond, pink grapefruit zest and saffron flavors that gain momentum and volume as they expand, gliding across the palate’s fine, raw silk–like texture. This is mouthwatering and minerally, the symphony concluding with accents of oyster shell and chalk that echo on the finish. Drink now through 2032.Wine Spectator | 96 WS

The flagship release is the 2006 Champagne Rare, a 70/30 split of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that’s a cellar selection from 8 different Grand Cru vineyards. Tight, backward, and straight-up structured, it offers brilliant notes of stone fruits, toasted brioche, white flowers, and obvious minerality. Needing plenty of air to show at its best, this beauty has a wonderful mid-palate, a racy mousse, and the balance and class to cruise for over two decades in cool cellars.Jeb Dunnuck | 97+ JDAromas and flavors of toasted brioche and grilled nut enrich the yellow plum, nectarine and grated ginger notes of this rich and creamy Champagne. Finely woven and beautifully integrated, with a firm backbone of mouthwatering acidity providing precise balance for the lush range of flavor. Drink now through 2029. 14,000 cases made, 1,800 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 96 WSPiper-Heidsieck’s luxury cuvée with its beautifully decorated bottle is a well-matured blend of mainly Chardonnay with some Pinot Noir. Great drive and energy comes from the ripe fruit with its hints of almonds and toast. Drink this wine now.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEThe 2006 Brut Cuvée Rare is a rich, gourmand rendition of this prestige bottling, unfurling in the glass with a complex bouquet that mingles aromas of yellow orchard fruit, pears and fresh pineapple with nuances of buttered toast, iodine and smoke. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, broad and textural, while remaining fresh and surprisingly tight-knit at the core, concluding with a long and saline finish. There’s sufficient structural tension here to promise more than a decade’s graceful evolution, and although this is nicely balanced, it’s a generous, sun kissed rendition of the Cuvée Rare that reflects the warm vintage. The blend is 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPPiper-Hiedsieck’s 2006 Cuvée Rare is racy and polished to the core. Baked apple tart, apricot, lemon confit, vanillin and brioche infuse the 2006 with striking aromatic intensity and creaminess that builds with time in the glass. Sumptuous and forward, the 2006 offers tons of near and medium-term appeal.Antonio Galloni | 93 AGCellar master Régis Camus sums up each vintage at this tasting with a single word or phrase. In 2006, ‘sunny’ is the word, reflecting both the warm and sometime humid summer conditions, and also the style of the wine: bold and generous. It has a golden hue and seductive aromas of nutmeg, quince and tropical fruit such as mango and kiwi. He describes it as a vintage ‘gorged with the sun’, going on to outline the ‘ping-pong’ match of the palate which glides effortlessly between generosity of texture and freshness. Opulence abounds. Drinking Window 2019 - 2026.Decanter | 91 DEC

The 2017 Brut Nature Les Hautes Blanches Vignes (Magnum) is a rich, burnished wine. Deep in color and intensity from tiny yields, the Hautes Blanches is a rich Champagne endowed with notable textural breadth and energy. Orange peel, hazelnut, dried flowers, chamomile, tangerine oil and light oxidative notes build in this powerhouse Meunier. The red fruit character of Meunier is so expressive. This is an especially vinous style, even for Christophe Baron. The Hautes Blanches Vignes is just as much wine as it is Champagne. Disgorged: May 2021.Antonio Galloni | 95 AGThe richest, most generous iteration of this bottling to date, Baron’s 2017 Brut Nature Les Hautes Blanches Vignes bursts with aromas of golden orchard fruit, honeycomb, fresh bread, walnuts and dried white flowers. Full-bodied, fleshy and vinous, it’s a touch more oxidative in profile than its more tightly wound predecessors, delivering a generous core of fruit, complemented by a pinpoint mousse, and concluding with a sapid finish. These characteristics make it the most immediately delicious rendition of Les Hautes Blanches Vignes to date, but they’re also likely to render it one of the less long-lived iterations of this cuvée.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPThe 2017 Champagne Les Hautes Blanches Vignes is always one of the deeper hued releases and has a hint of amber in its medium gold color. Toasted bread, brioche, honeysuckle, orange zest, and almond notes define the bouquet, and it’s beautiful on the palate, with a layered, elegant, yet rich style that carries bright acidity and a creamy, supple mousse that makes it a joy to drink. As with all these releases, the finish is clean and dry, and this is a seriously good Champagne that should evolve for a decade.Jeb Dunnuck | 94 JD

This shows incredible depth of fruit with strawberry, cherry and phenolics. Full-bodied and layered with an incredible, three-dimensional element to the wine. This is so transparent and dynamic with dark fruit, yet it remains vivid and bright. Refined and precise, it goes on and on. Really savory, fresh and incredibly pinot-noir-like. What a wine. 13 years of maturation in the bottle. So drinkable now, but it will age for many years ahead.James Suckling | 99 JSThe newly released 2008 Dom Pérignon Rosé is a dramatic, perfumed wine, bursting with aromas of blood orange, iodine, sweet citrus fruit, peach and pear mingled with hints of buttered toast, smoke and spices. Full-bodied, textural and enveloping, with terrific concentration, racy acids and a pillowy mousse, it concludes with a long, penetrating finish. It derives its intense hue from red wine produced from Pinot Noir grown in lieux-dits Chants de Linottes in Hautvillers and Vauzelles in Aÿ.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPThe 2008 Dom Pérignon Rosé is magnificent. Rich and deep in the glass, the 2008 offers up an exotic mélange of aromas and flavors. Sweet red cherry, mint, orange peel and rose petal all grace this beguiling beauty. Bright acids and a little less still red Pinot (21%) than in most recent editions yields a Rosé that is delicate and light on its feet, with less of the vinous intensity that marked vintages such as 2006. There is a classic feeling of austerity in the 2018 that is mesmerizing. (Originally published in May 2021)Antonio Galloni | 97 AGAn impeccably balanced and graceful sparkling rosé, with a plushly creamy mousse. It’s hard to tell where the firm spine of well-honed acidity and the expressive range of pureed raspberry, candied ginger, tangerine and lemon thyme flavors begin or end. A rich hint of smoky toasted brioche plays on the finish. Drink now through 2033.Wine Spectator | 97 WSThe 2008 Champagne Rosé is another elegant expression, offering notes of cardamom, strawberry, and dried flowers. The palate is dry and well-structured and is balanced and long on the finish, with notes of dried orange peel, redcurrant, and fantastic salinity. It has a great application at the table and should continue to improve over the next 15-20 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDOffering up aromas of white flowers, red berries, toast and fresh pastry, Dom Pérignon rosé 2008 is medium to full-bodied, tense and vibrant, with a vinous texture and sapid nuances. Delicately phenolic, this is a pure and racy gastronomic Champagne that’s beginning to drink with style, and concludes with a long and penetrating finish. Drinking Window: 2021 - 2035Decanter | 95 DEC

This is a fantastic and refined Blanc de Blancs. So layered and complex, with lemon curd, chalk, hazelnuts, pastries, baked apples and almond croissants. Structured and tightly wound, with almost imperceptible bubbles. Delicious salty notes at the end. Beautiful. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 99 JSThe 2012 Comtes de Champagne is gorgeous. Warm and resonant in the glass, the 2012 Comtes shows all the allure that makes this vintage so appealing. The combination of bright citrus, mineral and floral notes typical of Comtes, enhanced by the soft contours of the vintage, makes for an inviting, open-knit Champagne that is quite showy right out of the gate. Light tropical accents on the finish add an exotic flair. Usually I recommend cellaring just-released Comtes, but that won’t be necessary here.Antonio Galloni | 96 AGThe 2012 Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne is showing beautifully out of the gates, offering up demonstrative aromas of sweet golden orchard fruit, buttery croissants, peach and hazelnuts. Medium to full-bodied, pillowy and enveloping, it’s a rich, textural, vinous Comtes somewhat reminiscent of the brilliant 2002. If it gains in tension and cut (as the 2002 did and as I suspect the 2012 will) with more time on cork, it will make this initial rating seem conservative.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95+ RPMade from equal parts Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, this still young Champagne is rich in the Taittinger style, with an elegant poise that is impressive. The wine, with its apricot and ripe apple fruit, is generously tempered by bright acidity and a crisp edge. Drink from 2021.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WERipe blackberry, pastry cream and lemon meringue notes are layered on the fine and creamy mousse in this lightly toasty, well-balanced Champagne. Bright and mouthwatering, with a sleek, spiced finish. Drink now through 2027. 7,500 cases made, 450 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

A tightly knit Champagne, backed by racy acidity, this is fresh and harmonious, with a finely detailed mousse and a delicate range of black raspberry, pickled ginger and chalk flavors, offering a touch of salted almond that echoes on the finish. Drink now through 2024.Wine Spectator | 93 WSGosset is the oldest house in Champagne, and is a favourite among wine trade insiders. This non-vintage cuvée is redolent with the aromas of mellow red apple fruit. It has beautifully subtle autolysis on the palate, with creamy apple and plum flavours, and a great precision at the same time. Drinking Window 2022 - 2026.Decanter | 93 DECAromas of crips orchard fruit, pear and apricot, mingled with hints of fresh bread and pastry, introduce the latest release of Gosset’s NV Brut Grande Réserve, a medium to full-bodied, fleshy but incisive wine that’s deceptively generous but also structured to reward some bottle age.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RPThis is very fresh and has attractively flavorful, punchy fruit presence, in a very pure mode. Strawberries and grapefruit and some pastry and spiced-biscuit to close. Drink now.James Suckling | 92 JS(NV Gosset “Grande Réserve” Brut NV (Épernay)) The current release of Gosset “Grande Réserve” is from the base year of 2015, with ten to twenty percent of the cuvée made up of reserve wines. This iteration has ended up with a cépages of forty-five percent each of chardonnay and pinot noir, coupled with ten percent of pinot meunier. It was disgorged in 2019 and finished with a dosage of 8.7 grams per liter. The wine delivers lovely aromatic complexity in its refined blend of apple, fresh-baked bread, chalky soil tones, caraway seed, a touch of hazelnut and a gently smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is crisp, full-bodied and beautifully focused, with a lovely core, elegant, tiny mousse, zesty acids and a long, complex and very precise and classy finish. This is excellent. (Drink between 2020-2045)John Gilman | 92 JG(43% Chardonnay, 42% Pinot Noir and 15% Pinot Meunier; 8 g/l dosage; L318 9123): Pale gold. Expansive, mineral-driven citrus and orchard fruit scents are complemented by anise, honey and buttered toast, along with a hint of peach pit. Packs a solid punch but comes off lithe and precise, with mineral-laced blood orange and quince flavors and a deeper suggestion of fresh fig. Closes on a spicy note, with repeating minerality and very good persistence.Vinous Media | 91 VMHints of yeast and toast add interest to the pretty aromas of lemon, green apple and poached pear nuances. There is again solid volume and mid-palate density to the delicious flavors that pick up some of the toasty character displayed by the nose while culminating in a nicely complex and lingering finish. The supporting mousse is firm without being aggressive and overall, this solidly complex effort is drinking very well now. (Drink starting 2022)0)Burghound | 91 BHGosset’s nonvintage cuvée is a fine example of the richness of this producer’s Champagnes. It is full, laden with Pinot texture and a touch of toast from bottle aging. Drink now.Wine Enthusiast | 91 WE

A driven and serious DP with aromas of chalk, biscuits, apricot stones and lemons. Some spice and dried flowers, too. So sleek and sophisticated. Elegant. Yet, it’s long and powerful, with a sharp minerality. Tight and precise. Reminds me of bottles from the 1980s, such as 1988. It really takes off. Disgorged October 2021. Drinkable on release in January 2023, but better in a couple of years. A DP for the cellar.James Suckling | 98 JSVivid acidity and a chalky underpinning make a crystalline frame for finely detailed notes of ripe melon, mandarin orange, toasted brioche and candied ginger in this harmonious Champagne, which is expressive and expansive on the palate, but with a sense of finesse and restraint. Long and creamy on the mineral-laced finish. Drink now through 2037.Wine Spectator | 96 WSDisgorged in October last year, the 2013 Dom Pérignon is a lovely wine, defined by the long, cool growing season. Offering up aromas of crisp stone fruit, tangerine oil, buttered toast, pear, almonds and clear honey, it’s medium to full-bodied, ample and seamless, with bright acids and a pillowy, enveloping profile, concluding with a long, saline finish. Vincent Chaperon recalls that shatter at fruit set moderated yields and that a drying east wind in the weeks before harvest helped to maintain the good sanitation necessary to wait to pick at full maturity.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95+ RPThe 2013 Dom Pérignon is quite delicate and understated. It reminds me of the 2004, but with a bit more mid-palate richness and a bit less energy. Apricot, tangerine peel, white flowers, jasmine, mint and light honeyed notes all meld together. There’s lovely vinous intensity as well as a feeling of openness that make the 2013 a delight to taste today. The 2013 doesn’t look to be an epic DP, but it sure is delicious right now.Vinous Media | 94 VM

An assemblage of 57% Chardonnay, 29% Pinot Noir and 14% Pinot Meunier, the 2002 Millésime Prestige l’Étincelante (literally: the sparkling one) opens with an exciting bouquet that displays lovely matured yet precise fruit aromas along with brioche, stony and flinty notes. On the palate, the 2002 is intense, firm and vibrantly fresh, showing a juicy, chalky texture and stimulating salinity in the long yet still young finish. This is one of the best vintage Champagnes I have tasted here so far. Tasted in April 2018.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95+ RPThe 2002 Brut Nature L’Étincelante is one of the most restrained 2002 Champagnes readers will come across. And it is absolutely exquisite. Delicate scents of apricot, chamomile, pear, baked apple tart, brioche and yellow flowers all lift from the glass. Medium in body and super-refined, the 2002 has so much to recommend it. This is a tremendous showing from Benoit Tarlant.Vinous Media | 95 VMThe 2002 Champagne l’Etincelante Brut Nature is 57% Pinot Noir, 29%, Chardonnay, and the rest Meunier, and was aged for 15 years on the lees prior to disgorgement in September 2018. It comes from two terroirs of Campanian chalk and Lutetian limestone. A medium yellow hue, its nose is floral with pure red fruits of marasca cherry, rose petal, croissant dough, and chalk. The mousse is refined and adds richness where it is otherwise is driving with mineral persistence. It is quite remarkable in that the texture is so well rounded when it could feel mean. It is still youthful at this stage and will continue to improve over the coming 20 or so years.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDComplex nose of hazelnuts, salted caramel, sourdough brioche, salted lemons and dried fruit. Medium-bodied with tangy acidity with very fine bubbles. Delicious, salty character. Long and persistently sharp. 57% chardonnay, 29% pinot noir and 14% pinot meunier. Dosage 0g/L dosage. Disgorged in September 2020. Drink now.James Suckling | 94 JS