Vanessa

9.4

Depth & personality abound as this wine gives a sensory voice to the left bank (‘rive gauche’, south side) of the Marne River, which meanders its way through the Vallée de la Marne region of Champagne…

It’s not very common to find a mono cru (single village) from this part of Champagne, so it was exciting to sip & explore it with intention🥂

It was made exclusively from Meunier (the king of the Marne Valley), grown on old vines (54+ years in age) in the village of Mareuil le Port, made into a blend of the ‘Maisoncelle’ & ‘La Côte aux Châtaigners’ vineyards, in particular.

As a vintage wine, it aged 36 months (disgorged by hand in November 2023), adopting quintessential autolytic notes of pastry, graham cracker pie crust, bread dough, almond paste, nougat, and toasted hazelnut.

The aromas & flavors have notably autumnal characteristics resembling apple cider, cinnamon apple crumble, red apple skin, baked pear, nutmeg, cardamom, white blossom, lemon zest, fruit cake, & cherry preserves. These are balanced by a chalky, mineral spine of wet stones, saline, & oyster shell.

Despite its confectionery qualities, this wine is totally dry; it’s extra brut with only 2 g/l of dosage (added sugar) with a mouth-watering acidity, adding lift, cutting through the creamy mousse, with a persistent & polished finish, performing a series of pirouettes before its final plié.

Cheers to wines with soul & authenticity! — 3 months ago

with Deked1

Jeremiah Glazer

9.4

Love this red. Velvety smooth, tannic, subtle licorice. Excellent. — 4 years ago

James Everhart

9.0

Definitely smoothed out and improved six years after harvest. Gold and rich. purchase for $19 in 2021.  — 3 months ago

Guillaume

9.0

Très Bon ! — 3 years ago

Mario Vaillancourt

9.3

Le nez prend un peu de temps à se placer, nez assez classique de rive-gauche par la suite, ne montre aucune fatigue, superbe texture, une finale longue et savoureuse, très beau. 92-93

The nose needs some air, the cork was wet with some aromas of wet cardboard at first but things got for the better after with no apparent defect and a classic left bank nose. Gorgeous balanced Cos, not the most powerful at this point but gracious, showing no fatigue also with a long delicious finish.

— 3 years ago

John Kartunen

8.9

Good acidity up front, toast and Granny Smith apples. A bit austere. — 5 years ago

Double Pound

9.5

Love it! As much as 11 years ago! — 3 months ago

Ira Schwartz

9.4

50/50 Pinot Noir / Chardonnay blend disgorged Oct 2022. This a champagne where the grapes of the blend each had the opportunity to strut their stuff. Scents of almonds , croissant, baked apple and lemons put a smile on my face. On the palate berries show up to fight the citrus. Young , with the acid levels I like. If I had to bet, this is a champagne that will benefit from age and gain in complexity. — 9 months ago

Peter van den Besselaar

9.0

Vintage 2020 — 4 years ago

Chad Brewer

9.3

Always a favorite — 5 years ago