Champagne Collector

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The NV Extra Brut Sous Bois (base 2017) is creamy and quite generous in the glass. Dried pear, chamomile, passion fruit, spice and crushed flowers build nicely in the glass. There is a very slight suggestion of botrytis that adds character. I would choose to serve this at the dinner table with suitably rich fare, given its body and slightly phenolic edge. This release is based on 2017, with 34% reserve wines. Dosage is 5 grams per liter. Disgorged: June 2023.Vinous Media | 92 VMCrafted around the 2018 vintage, the NV Champagne Le Sous Bois is a blend of 33% Meunier, 39% Chardonnay, and the remainder Pinot Noir, with 37% reserve wine, the oldest part from 2006. A copper straw color, entirely barrel-fermented in cask, it reveals notes of smoky wet stones, toasted croissant, orange citrus, baked peach, almond, frangipane, and salty earth. Full-bodied yet savory, it offers a mouthwatering and brothy character while remaining fresh and youthful, without transitioning into oxidation. It’s very appealing now but should have no problem showing its best over the coming 10 years. 3 grams per liter dosage.Jeb Dunnuck | 92 JDHeavily based on the 2017 vintage (with 34% reserve wines dating back to 2006), fermented at low temperatures and entirely vinified in oak, the NV Le Sous Bois blends fruit from vast areas of Montagne de Reims, Vallée de la Marne and Côte des Blancs (notably Oger, Chouilly and Cramant). Disgorged with a dosage of five grams per liter in spring 2023, after five years of lees aging, it reveals aromas of green apple, vanilla, peach and toasted nuts, mingling with hints of caramelized sugar. On the palate, it is medium to full-bodied, precise and fine-boned, featuring a youthful fruit core supported by vibrant acidity, with subtle bitter phenolics asserting themselves on the finish. Given the challenges of the growing season, it incorporates a higher proportion of Chardonnay than usual.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RP

Beautifully balanced and refined in texture, this displays exotic ground spice and floral accents to the flavors of poached white peach, Meyer lemon and candied ginger, with hints of pastry and honey. Offers a lasting, mouthwatering finish. Drink now through 2023. 2,917 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 93 WS(full malo; 9 g/l dosage; LAH9T): Light yellow-gold. Smoky citrus and orchard fruits on the deeply perfumed, mineral-tinged nose. Offers broad, toasty orange and pear skin flavors with an undercurrent of dusty minerals. Picks up floral and ginger nuances with air, along with hints of iodine and tarragon. Rich yet lively blanc de blancs with powerful back-end lift and finishing grip.Vinous Media | 92 VMWith its 100% Chardonnay, this Champagne is finely textured, elegant with minerality and the freshest crispest apple flavors. It does have some weight and certainly has intensity—a satisfying, textured wine that is ready to drink.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WEIf chardonnay could be a red wine, it might have the red fruit flavors of this blanc de blancs. Perhaps it’s the floral aspects that turn its chamomile and yellow flower notes toward violets, or the deep earth tones adding color to the flavor. The fruit is persistent, sunny in the middle, then shaded by an almost tannic character to the lees that places the wine with food, particularly roast veal. Moët Hennessy USA, NYWine & Spirits | 92 W&SThis blanc de blancs (100% Chardonnay) is sourced mostly from the Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims, including a portion of premier cru vineyards. It has a lean, lemon and apple bite backed up by some smooth creaminess. It’s fuller in body than stablemate Veuve Clicquot, displaying good acidity and power. Dosage 9g/l.Decanter | 91 DECSuper curated reduction here, heading into slightly meaty territory with grapefruit, toasted lemon peel and hazelnuts. The palate is delivered in a smooth, sweet-fruited style with approachable peach flesh. Drink now.James Suckling | 91 JS(NV Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs Brut NV (Reims)) The current release of Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs non-vintage Brut is fermented in stainless steel, goes through full malolactic and was finished off with a dosage of nine grams per liter. The bouquet wafts from the glass in a bright blend of lemon, apple, warm bread, a touch of smokiness, dried flowers and a lovely base of soil. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, crisp and focused, with brisk acids, frothy mousse, good cut and grip and a long, still fairly youthful finish. This has plenty of acidity, so its dosage comes across as lower than its nine grams. This will have no difficulty aging gracefully, but is already quite tasty. (Drink between 2016-2035)John Gilman | 91+ JGThis is a fabulous version of Ruinart’s NV Brut Blanc de Blancs. The wine seems fresher, more vibrant and less obviously sweet than in the past, all of which makes this a far more interesting wine. The trademark profile of lemon, jasmine and green apples is very much in the forefront while the wine’s textural finesse and length are both first-class. This release of the NV Brut makes a great introduction to the wines of Ruinart, Champagne’s oldest house. This is Lot LAGJSAF. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2014.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 90 RP

This great rosé combines texture with bright fruit and a bit of age. It is poised between a ripe dosage and a crisp texture, with red fruits and toastiness marking the flavors. It is a fine bottling to enjoy now. Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEFragrant wafts of smoke and spice accent the steeped raspberry and mandarin orange peel flavors of this tightly meshed rosé Champagne, which is backed by a vivid spine of mouthwatering acidity and is silky on the palate, with hints of dried herb, licorice and toasted almond playing on the finish. Drink now through 2025. 9,000 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 93 WSA rich rosé Champagne, offering seamlessly woven flavors of baked black cherry, candied pink grapefruit peel, brioche and pastry cream. Vibrant acidity and a finely detailed mousse send this dancing across the palate. Drink now through 2024...Wine Spectator | 93 WS(NV Laurent-Perrier Brut Rosé NV (Tours-sur-Marne) American Cuvée) I am not sure that there is any difference between cuvées for this bottling on each side of the Atlantic, but as there has been some history of this being the case with several Grandes Marques, I figured that I would post notes on examples tasted both here and in France. As readers may already be aware, Laurent-Perrier’s Brut Rosé is made up entirely of pinot noir and is produced in the saignée method, where the wine’s color is produced by a short maceration period on the skins- in this case from forty-eight to seventy-two hours. The new release here in the states is superb, offering up a beautifully vibrant nose of cherries, strawberries, rye bread, a very complex base of soil, rose petals and a gently smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and very refined, with a lovely core, elegant mousse, crisp acids and outstanding length and grip on the focused finish. I do love this bottling! (Drink between 2013-2025)John Gilman | 93 JGThe latest iteration of Laurent-Perrier’s NV Brut Cuvée Rosé is showing brilliantly, bursting from the glass with notes of smoky red berry fruit, apples, blood orange, pomegranate and warm biscuits. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, broad and vinous, with a delicate mousse, good depth at the core and ripe acids, concluding with a sapid, gently phenolic finish. This is a sophisticated, gastronomic rosé that would work well at table.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RP(100% saignée Pinot Noir): Vivid orange-pink. An expressive, spice-accented bouquet evokes fresh raspberry, orange pith, white flowers and ginger, with a hint of rhubarb adding an earthy flourish. Sappy and broad in the mouth, offering intense red fruit and bitter citrus flavors underscored by chalky mineral and white pepper notes. Rich yet lively rosé with excellent closing thrust and floral persistence.Vinous Media | 92 VMThe latest opus of Laurent Perrier’s non-vintage Brut Cuvée Rosé offers elegant and fresh aromas of red berries, blood orange, pomegranate and pastry. With ripe acids, the palate is tense, fine and chiselled, with a vinous texture with iodine and a salty finish. Dosage: 7g/L. Disgorged spring 2020. Drinking Window 2021 - 2025.Decanter | 92 DECShows a linear line of crisp acidity and vivid fruit of dried strawberries and orange peel. Full-bodied, tight and focused with a bright finish. Fruity yet vivid. Commanding. Drink now.James Suckling | 92 JSIntensely floral, this wine has a copper-pink color that’s reflected in the coppery and salty edge of its raspberry and mineral depths. It’s ripe, savory and clean, and hard to resist if there are duck rillettes nearby.Wine & Spirits | 92 W&S

Year after year, Egly’s NV Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru Les Crayères remains one of the most compelling and reliable wines from the Montagne de Reims. Sourced from a south-facing lieu-dit in Ambonnay that was planted between 1946 and 1947 on shallow chalk soils with just 30 centimeters of topsoil, it was disgorged in October 2024 with a dosage of one gram per liter. This release blends the richer 2017 vintage with the taut, incisive character of 2016. Notably, prior to 2000, Francis Egly produced this cuvée as a single-vintage expression, only later opting for a two-vintage blend to buffer against the variability of any given season. The wine ascends from the glass with a bouquet of remarkable complexity—aromas of acacia, ripe pear, orange zest, toasted nuts and patisserie elements unfurl. Full-bodied, concentrated and layered, with ample chalky structuring extract and mouthwatering acidity, it concludes with a long, saline finish. While I often vacillate between Les Crayères and the Millésime as to which I favor, this year, Les Crayères stands as the most captivating wine in the cellar. It offers immense youthful appeal yet promises to evolve beautifully with age. Readers would be wise not to hesitate—it fully lives up to its reputation, and I’d gladly secure bottles for my own cellar.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RP