Matthew Jukes (19+)

The latest release of R.D. – Bollinger’s iconic ‘Recently Disgorged or Récemment Dégorgé’ wine is something completely out of the ordinary. My one-word description for this sensational wine is ‘controlled’. I say this because what I adore about every single vintage of R.D. which I have tasted (and there have been many – see below) is the seeming lack of control in every sip. R.D. should be and usually is an absurdly decadent and unpredictable wine, firing off ostentatious flavour and extraordinary detail in every direction. This is why I love it so much and also why I only open it on very special occasions! What is remarkable about this particular vintage is its restraint and levity coupled with the extraordinary length of finish. After 14 years on lees, this wine is as power-packed and energised as it could possibly be and with the extra edge and vivacity coming from a fulsome percentage of Verzenay Pinot fruit (29%) added to the usual heartbeat coming from the Aÿ Pinot core (26%) this is a dynamic red fruit-dominant cocktail. The overall blend is 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay coming from 14 Crus with 91% Grands Crus in this vintage. The dosage is a keen 3 grams per litre and all disgorgement is done by hand, as usual. But in 2007 the result is atypical, enchanting, surprisingly refreshing and amazingly delicious. I opened this bottle at 11.00 am and did not stopper it for a full 12 hours. I even sneaked half a glass with a chicken curry at supper time and it worked like a dream. This is not a massive firework of a wine that explodes gloriously and then is gone. Instead, it is a blazing torch of flavour with phenomenal persistence and balance and this makes it unmissable in every serious Champagne lover’s cellar.

Wine Advocate (100)

Disgorged in September 2020 with four grams per liter dosage, Bollinger's 2008 Blanc de Noirs Vieilles Vignes Françaises is one of the monumental wines of this great vintage. Soaring from the glass with a generous, honeyed bouquet of pear, orange rind, dried fruits, mocha and toasted bread, it's full-bodied, textural and enveloping, with huge concentration, racy acids and a pillowy mousse. Vinous, rich and sumptuous, it concludes with an immensely long, resonant finish. Bollinger waited until the grapes of these ungrafted vines attained 11% potential alcohol before harvesting, and they have produced the most powerful wine of the vintage—as well as one of the most profound.

Wine Spectator (96)

A textbook blanc de blancs in a relatively opulent style, with ample grilled nut, brioche and spice character alongside classic flavors of poached apricot, kumquat, oyster shell and lemon blossom. This rich profile is well-defined by racy acidity, sleek and well-cut, driving the long, lacy finish. A beauty. Drink now through 2035. Tasted twice, with consistent notes. 4,500 cases made, 185 cases imported.

Wine Enthusiast (97)

Aged for 10 years on its lees before disgorgement, this impressive vintage Champagne is perfectly mature. The touches of maturity have moved the wine into richness, the fruit and acidity filling out and deepening. This is a great Champagne from a great vintage, ready to drink.

Andreas Larsson (96)

Bright light golden colour with fine and lively bubbles. Nice purity on the nose, chalky and flinty with ripe but fresh yellow fruit like peach, passion fruit, lemongrass, fresh butter, brioche and floral notes. The palate shows a nice bite and precision, lovely freshness, fine extract, rounded creaminess with layers of succulent stone fruit, crushed nuts and pastry notes. Very long and lingering finish, still in a youthful stage but great potential here.

Essi Avallen MW (94-97)

Charles Heidsieck’s racy 2013 vintage is a blend of ten Grands and Premiers Crus: Oger, Vertus, Chouilly, Cuis, Verzy, Aÿ, Ludes, Ambonnay, Tauxières and Avenay-Val d’Or. Usually appreciated for the richness and toast-enriched complexity of its Vintage cuvées, Charles Heidsieck 2013 plays on totally different assets, cool refinement and silky linearity. Despite excellent ripeness of the grapes, the October harvest brought about a tight acid line and fine aromatic restraint to it. Toastiness is subtle for the time being, but remarkably elegant, perfectly lining the sweet orchard fruit profile. Its best quality is the prism like radiance and purity of fruit. Showing highly youthful, this wine promises to be slowly but gracefully ageing. Suitably dosed at 9g/l.

Vinous (94)

The NV (2016) Brut Nature Blanc de Noirs ADN de Foudre Meunier emerges from vines in Festigny and Le Breuil planted in 1976. Weightless and yet powerful the 2016 possesses tremendous nuance and complexity. Lifted floral notes lend brightness throughout. Lemon confit, marzipan and dried flowers add the closing layers of complexity. No dosage. Disgorged: August, 2021.

Vinous (98)

The 2002 Dom Pérignon is unforgettable. Rich, sumptuous and flamboyant to the core, the 2002 captures all of the radiance of a year in which ripeness in the Chardonnays was pushed to the edge. The 2002 is oily and viscous on the palate, with tremendous textural resonance in all of its dimensions. Tropical fruit, pastry and exotic floral notes all build as the 2002 opens up with air. I can still remember the first time I tasted the 2002, here in the Hautvillers cloister, with former Chef de Caves Richard Geoffroy. It was thrilling back then, and is every bit as memorable today.

Vinous (98)

The 2008 Dom Pérignon is once again stunning. More than anything else, I am surprised by how well the 2008 drinks given all the tension and energy it holds. Then again, that is precisely what makes 2008 such a unique vintage namely that the best wines are so chiseled and yet not at all austere. Lemon peel, almond, mint, smoke and crushed rocks are all finely sculpted, but it is the wine’s textural feel, drive and persistence that elevate it into the realm of the sublime. The 2008 will be even better with time in the cellar, but it is absolutely phenomenal even today, in the early going. Three recent bottles have all been nothing short of magnificent.

James Suckling (98)

A firm and vivid Champagne with a precise, focused palate. Full-bodied and dry. It’s very layered and bright with light pineapple, peach, praline, cooked-apple and stone aromas and flavors. It’s very subtle and focused at the end. Integrated with richness and high acidity. Good depth. Reminds me of the 1995. Very clean. Solid. Lovely to drink already, but will age nicely.

Decanter (98)

What a magnificent bouquet for this Dom Pérignon 2012! Pastry, a hint of smoke and autolytic notes provide a compelling counterpart to eager yet elegant aromas of citrus (lime, tangerine and kumquat) joined by those of fresh fruit, herbs, liquorice, and menthol. There is even a refreshing note of ivy. The palate is tense, vibrant, and very fresh despite its impressive density, which meets its match with an unending finish. This 2012 incarnates the very essence of Dom Pérignon with such a concentrated degree of intensity, along with a capacity for ageing, that it is surely destined for a second life in a P2 edition.

James Suckling (98)

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 (100)

This shows amazing freshness and depth of fruit while remaining agile and very clean. Full body, dense and layered on the palate. Goes on for minutes with each sip. Lots of mineral and chalk character too. A fabulous Champagne. A blend of half Pinot Noir and half Chardonnay.

Decanter (99)

And so from P1 methuselah to P2, which for Geoffroy ‘goes beyond Champagne’. P2, he continues, must be ‘deeper, richer, longer…better than P1' - otherwise why release it? Well, they haven't yet, although it's pencilled in for later in 2019. Here we have drive, vinosity and incredible length. The sweet and savoury balance indulges with a seductive embrace. Gustav Klimt in a glass maybe. Outstanding.

Decanter (99)

And so from P1 methuselah to P2, which for Geoffroy ‘goes beyond Champagne’. P2, he continues, must be ‘deeper, richer, longer…better than P1' - otherwise why release it? Well, they haven't yet, although it's pencilled in for later in 2019. Here we have drive, vinosity and incredible length. The sweet and savoury balance indulges with a seductive embrace. Gustav Klimt in a glass maybe. Outstanding.

Vinous (98)

Dom Pérignon’s 1996 Rosé P2 is rich, vertical and explosive, with that combination of structure and inner perfume that makes it so alluring and so flat-out delicious.

Jancis Robinson (20)

Magnum. Pungent and composed with massive energy. Lovely edge of freshness. Long and nuanced. So clean and pure. Long and lovely!

Vinous (96+)

A wine of pure and total pleasure, the 2004 Dom Pérignon Rosé is explosive and hedonistically rich, with tons of pure texture from the 28% still Pinot in the blend. In this tasting, the 2004 Rosé is especially fine. I imagine it will reward readers lucky enough to own it with several decades of exceptional drinking. In a word: sublime.

Vinous (98)

The 2009 Dom Pérignon Rosé marks a return to a richer style of Rosé following the more ethereal 2008 Rosé. Sweet red cherry, blood orange, spice and pomegranate all build in a creamy, sensual DP Rosé that hits all the right spots. Over the last few years, Chef de Caves Vincent Chaperon and his team have lowered the still Pinot portion of the Rosé down to about 10% from a high of 28% or so, reached around 2004 and 2005. In 2009, the Rosé gains considerable textural presence from the generosity of the year. It is a superb Champagne. I preferred it to the 2008, which was also part of this tasting.

Vinous (97+)

The 2006 Dom Pérignon Rosé is every bit as captivating as it was last year, maybe even more so. At times powerful, but in other moments finessed, the 2006 constantly changes in the glass, revealing a different shade of its personality with every taste. Perhaps most importantly, the 2006 seems to have gained a level of precision and pure sophistication it did not show last year, when it was quite a bit less put together. Back then, the 2006 was a wine of tremendous potential; today that potential is starting to be realized. Quite simply, the 2006 Dom Pérignon Rosé is a magical Champagne. Don’t miss it.

Wine Advocate (100)

Francis Egly and I tasted a bottle trial disgorgement of the 2008 Brut Grand Cru Millésime that saw six grams per liter dosage, and the wine surpassed even my high expectations. Wafting from the glass with scents of crisp orchard fruit, Meyer lemon, praline, warm bread and walnuts, it's full-bodied, deep and multi-dimensional, with an immensely layered, concentrated core that cloaks its racy but ripe spine of acidity, abundant but refined structuring dry extract and an incredibly long, precise and sapid finish. It represents the confluence of a great vigneron at the peak of his powers with a historic vintage, and it's unquestionably the finest 2008 Champagne that I've tasted to date. Egly and I agreed that it might be even better with only five grams per liter dosage, but we'll see what he finally decides when he disgorges the wine later this year. What is clear is that the the 2008 Brut Grand Cru Millésime will be worth any and every effort to seek out once it arrives on the market.

Wine Advocate (99)

Broad and powerful, Egly's 2012 Brut Grand Cru Millésime is a serious, vinous Champagne somewhat reminiscent of his brilliant 2002. Delivering complex aromas of pear, honeycomb, orange oil, sweet stone fruits, praline and freshly baked bread, it's full-bodied, deep and muscular, with a multidimensional core of fruit, racy acids and a long, resonant finish. Complex and compelling, readers will have a hard time choosing between the power and texture of 2012 and the quintessentially elegant, seamless 2013. Both are benchmarks for what contemporary Champagne can achieve.

James Suckling (99)

This is an extraordinary, hand-crafted Champagne with aromas of strawberries, spice, dried apples, clementines and subtle bread dough. Dried oranges, too. Full-bodied, yet so tight, compact and powerful with a solid core of fruit and a finish that goes on forever. 90% pinot noir and 10% chardonnay, all from the village of Ay and fermented and aged in new wood for 15 months. Then aged in bottle. Superb structure and complexity. One for the cellar.

Wine Advocate (97+)

The 2013 Brut Grand Cru Aÿ Argonne is the latest in a series of superb releases from Giraud. Unwinding in the glass with notes of buttered toast, crisp yellow orchard fruit, honeycomb, warm spices and ripe stone fruits, it's full-bodied, deep and vinous, with a layered core of concentrated fruit, incisive acids and an elegant pearly mousse. Long and penetrating, it's finer-boned than its richer, more muscular 2012 predecessor; but like that more structured wine, it will reward bottle age.

Decanter (96)

An undramatic, cloud-filled season came right in a late harvest in October. A textbook cool vintage of great ageing potential. The perfect 50/50 balance of mineral-stamped Chardonnay and powerful, masculine Pinot makes this a champagne for patient drinkers, as it will take time to reach its peak. Vibrant acidity is joined by notes of white flowers and that magnificent mineral structure.

Highly recommended by William Kelley and recognised as one of the region's most enigmatic and experimental winemakers, today we have the pleasure to offer his multi-vintage blend, Réseve Extra Brut. This is Manu's expression of the quintessential joie-de-vivre of Champagne, and the current release is based predominantly on 2012 with reserve wines from 2010 up to 2014.

 

This is a pure Chardonnay oozing tremendous class. Sourced from exquisite plots across Montgueux, these vineyards are cultivated organically with the harvest took place at perfect maturity. All cuvées, including the rare Réserve Extra Brut, are disgorged without dosage.

Vinous (94)

The Extra-Brut Cuvée No. 742, based on the 2014 vintage, is a gorgeous wine. In this release, the Cuvée seems especially marked by Pinot in both its flavor profile and texture. Dried pear, hazelnut, mint, chamomile and dried flowers all grace this rich, beautifully resonant Champagne from Jacquesson. Best of all, the 742 will drink well with minimal cellaring. The 700-series Champagnes are often superb; the 742 is an especially fine edition. The blend is 59% Pinot Noir (from Aÿ, Dizy and Hautvillers) and 41% Chardonnay (from Avize and Oiry). Dosage is 1.5 grams per liter.

Vinous (99+)

Light gold. Remarkably perfumed nose projects an exotic bouquet of deep, leesy yellow fruit, minerals, honeycomb, smoked meat and flowers, with Asian spices building expanding in the glass. Almost painfully concentrated, offering a surreal parade of orchard and pit fruits, smoked meat, toasted brioche and marrow braced by intensely salty, stunningly incisive minerality. Imagine a Frankenstein's monster of Chablis Le Clos and Clos Ste. Hune-but one with perfect balance, of course-and you get an idea of what I found in my bottle. The energetic, stony character builds exponentially on the finish, which didn't seem to, well, finish. The best analogy I can come up with for the intensity, focus and clarity of this Champagne is liquefied barbed wire. Utterly hallucinatory and one of the most amazing wines I've ever been fortunate enough to drink. At the risk of sounding completely out of touch with reality, this is a value.

Vinous (99+)

Light gold. Remarkably perfumed nose projects an exotic bouquet of deep, leesy yellow fruit, minerals, honeycomb, smoked meat and flowers, with Asian spices building expanding in the glass. Almost painfully concentrated, offering a surreal parade of orchard and pit fruits, smoked meat, toasted brioche and marrow braced by intensely salty, stunningly incisive minerality. Imagine a Frankenstein's monster of Chablis Le Clos and Clos Ste. Hune-but one with perfect balance, of course-and you get an idea of what I found in my bottle. The energetic, stony character builds exponentially on the finish, which didn't seem to, well, finish. The best analogy I can come up with for the intensity, focus and clarity of this Champagne is liquefied barbed wire. Utterly hallucinatory and one of the most amazing wines I've ever been fortunate enough to drink. At the risk of sounding completely out of touch with reality, this is a value.