Eric Urbani

8.9

Reasonably priced P-F with decent balance. 13.5% abv — 6 years ago

Zack Hall

9.3

Opened 12 hrs prior. Payed off. — 7 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.4

Every champagne lover should get to know Fabrice Gass! His tiny estate in Damery, Alexandre Filaine, was a great discovery for me this year. Age-old story of minuscule production, biodynamic farming, and upholding tradition. This older bottling of his NV was stunning and perhaps one of the best I've had recently.

2012 base, with some 2011 blended in as reserve. 2/3 Pino, the rest Chard, and a touch of Meunier. No dosage, no malo, and fermented in old Bollinger barrels - Fabrice's keepsake from his last gig.

Elegant, with laser focus but impressive body. On the nose, super chalky, floral, green apples, pears, and brioche. The palate's incredibly vinous. A complexity that ebbs and flows, with a length that matches. Quite rich and showing some oddly fresh grassy tones. Citrus pith and really mineral on the back notes. What a joy to sip on! — 8 years ago

Michael Greene

9.3

Drinking wonderfully. Mushrooms and earth balanced with red fruit. — 8 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.5

Exceptional balance. Rich, but so fresh. Pears, orange, flowers, lemon curd, cream, brioche, nut. Long, powerful palate, underlined by a driving acidity.

Some thoughts: In my eyes, RMs tend to fall into "extreme" categories e.g. Laherte - austere, Egly - rich (lees), Agrapart - rich (oak), Selosse - oxidative; but this wine doesn't fit here. NM-like, but not (I think of Chartogne-Taillet when I say this). Compare to Krug's Grand Cuvee, the Grands Vintages is definitely richer and broader (fair comparison, given how both wines are constructed).

From Chain Bridge Cellars:
As the name suggests, Eric Rodez’s Grand Vintages is a rich, powerful and very much “grand” wine in the tradition of Krug (where Eric learned his craft). This year's release is a blend of 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay from seven great vintages going back to vintage 2000. Eric ages all of these base wines in used oak and blocks malolactic fermentation to maximize freshness and vibrancy. Then the carefully crafted blend spends 8 full years on the lees before being disgorged this October. The dosage is ultra-low - 2 or 3 g/l - so this could be labeled "Extra Brut," but there's so much richness and depth here that "Brut" seems more appropriate to Eric.

Past releases have earned plenty of critical praise, including 17.5/20 points from Jancis Robinson, 93 from Vinous, and 92 from Wine Advocate. This year’s release is explosive on the nose and palate, pumping out big notes of lemon curd, caramel, toasted nuts, baking bread, crushed chalk, and more. The flavors just balloon out to fill your entire palate and finish with layer upon layer of mouthwatering pie crust, lemon curd, hazelnut, crushed stone and salty caramel flavor. Try holding some for even more richness! — 9 years ago

Berg

8.9

This is quite a bit better than the last bottle...toast, lemon tart, good backbone, nice mousse. Solid bottle, but doesn't have the complexity and depth of the big boys. — 10 years ago

Drew DiMatteo

9.1

Beautiful #Chardonnay from #SaintVéran from the #Mâconnais subregion #Burgundy #Bougogne — 11 years ago

Adam Plotkin

9.2

Great producer in a great vintage. This wine was destined for greatness... — 12 years ago

Jen Ganda

9.8

Friend of Fabrice only 8-10 hectares in champagne. Working with his brother. — 13 years ago

Sara Beer

9.2

Beautiful texture, gorgeous nose of red fruit, earth and minerality — 6 years ago

with Jonah

Benjamin Tan

8.9

Nice and light.. — 7 years ago

Jean-Francois Brunelle

9.2

Je me suis tout le temps demandé pourquoi mettre plus d’argent pour du Champagne...merci Agrapart j’ai maintenant compris 👌 — 8 years ago

Steve Pollack

9.3

A rare bird. — 8 years ago

Scott Petrus

8.9

A nice balanced wine. Lighter red perfect for summer — 9 years ago

Dirk Brinckman

9.0

Refined, buttery with balanced touch of citrus, win the lengthy finish — 10 years ago

Said Medina

9.3

Méthode Traditionnelle — 10 years ago

Chip Hughes

9.1

Alive, electric, engaging. Lush texture, raspberries, superb ripeness. All young Chinon should be like this! — 11 years ago

Alex Mcmahon

9.5

The perfect amount of barnyard funk and cheery — 11 years ago

Matthew Cohen

9.6

Wow. Yeasty focused fruit explosion. Wow. A great wine. Internal llaromatics lagging but this will be sick in time. Ig — 12 years ago

Drew DiMatteo

9.0

Soft and elegant. — 13 years ago

Daniel McCullough

9.1

‘14 Base - sharp and fresh accented by citrus / acidity. — 6 years ago

Chip Hughes

9.4

Not a fan of most Chinons Blanc, as they often start life lean and mean, then go absolutely nowhere. This, however, is that rare exception: already tender and alluring, showing acacia, melon, honeysuckle and wet gravel, with an unctuous texture and a fair dash of residual sugar (albeit perfectly balanced by massive acids). Fabulous. — 7 years ago

Neil Cornish

9.4

Smokey sexy dark fruit. Rasselberry pie. Amazing balance. — 8 years ago

Michael Piaker

9.1

2 December 2017. Moore Brothers, Brooklyn, NY. — 9 years ago

Brendan Rea

9.5

Mineral, beeswax, citrus, incredible bottle, very complex and just delicious. — 9 years ago

Tom Kobylarz

9.1

Quite nice as well, working in the opposite direction on the palate as the Agrapart...tight and packed up front this fans out on the finish gaining weight, complexity and breadth. — 10 years ago

Rob Owen

8.9

Very decent. Great with oysters and mac&cheese! — 10 years ago

with Doug

Kevin Cahill

9.0

Full Bodied, cherry and leather notes. — 11 years ago

Yota Ohtahara

9.1

値段の割には…
もっと重い方が好き。 — 12 years ago

Chuy Galvan

Sommelier & Educator Titan Wines

9.5

2010 and outstanding! — 12 years ago