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$105.00
The avowed aim is to achieve finesse, elegance and balance through very cool ferments in stainless steel, an approach pioneered by Billecart-Salmon. A feature of the house is low dosage levels (here 8g/l), and the wines are fragrant and elegant. 96 points James Halliday’s Top 100 2023
Dried lemon, grapefruit, croissants and salted almonds here, with a flavorful palate. Creamly bubbles. Layered and delicious. – James Suckling, 92 Points
Billecart-Salmon’s ever reliable Reserve Brut is made from a blend of 30% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Meunier and spends 30 months ageing on its lees. 50-60% of the blend is made up of reserve wines.
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Growers since the early 1800’s, the Dethunes began bottling their own Champagne in the 1930s. It’s a tiny estate, 7 hecatres in total, planted to 70% Pinot and 30% Chardonnay, a typical varietal split for Ambonnay. Ambonnay is a grand cru village, producing some of the richest and most powerful Champagnes. Almost all the vineyards lie on south facing slopes, but the ground and exposure is uneven and more varied, contributing to greater complexity and a finesse not found in Aye or Bouzy. The soils are 93% chalk, the highest in the entire region, but the top soil is rich clay and silex. Power, richness and finesse.
Vinification and ageing is in oak sourced locally, either in the traditional Champagne 205 litre barrels and/or 34 hectolitre foudres. Coming from a grand cru village means that all fruit is 100% grand cru and, in the Dethune’s case, has the highest level HEV, High Environmental Value certification for sustainable viticulture. Up to 50% reserve wines are used for the Grand Brut NV from a perpetual solera begun over 40 years ago.
One cannot escape the richness and power of Ambonnay’s fruit, and why would you want to. Paul Dethune’s Champagnes are nothing if not classic Ambonnay, with a level of finesse, refinement and freshness almost unequalled in the village. Krug sources the bulk of their fruit from this illustrious village, including their rarest and most expensive wine, Clos d‘Ambonnay. If we take the Krug as a reference point, Dethune is brighter, fresher and more vivid. They are Champagnes of incredible width, long palates and soft bubble. Deep, vinous and gourmand, for drinking and pairing with food.
Based on the 2019 vintage and disgorged in April 2022, Agrapart’s NV Brut 7 Crus wafts from the glass with scents of crisp green apple, freshly baked bread, white flowers and buttery pastry. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, it’s an ample, incisive wine, with racy acids and a saline finish. When the range begins […]
Add to cart Producer: AgrapartThis is arguably the greatest rosé wine of Champagne. Why is it so good? Well, the first reason is that the fruit comes from 100% Grand Cru estate vines grown by one of the most meticulous vignerons in the region. Then there is the five percent of Egly’s 2015 Coteaux Champenois Rouge—the finest red wine […]
Add to cart Producer: Egly-OurietThis is simply a staggering release of this wine. As always, it’s made exclusively from low-yielding Grand Cru vines, predominantly located in Ambonnay, but also Bouzy and Verzenay. Again, as always, it’s 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay. The old cliché—Egly starts harvesting when everyone else has finished—still holds true and it’s obvious from the first sip that […]
Add to cart Producer: Egly-OurietGrower Champagne Tote Bag – Black. Champagne not included.
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