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! — 2 months ago

with Deked1

John Kartunen

8.9

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

James Everhart

9.0

Definitely smoothed out and improved six years after harvest. Gold and rich. purchase for $19 in 2021.  — 2 months ago

Peter van den Besselaar

9.0

Vintage 2020 — 4 years ago

Chad Brewer

9.3

Always a favorite — 5 years ago

Justin Farrar

8.9

Buy this for the nose - pineapple yogurt, candied ginger, white flowers, honey. Very sweet as you can guess - will need some spicy food or most likely a dessert to match. Can be dessert on its own. Long finish. — 5 years 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

Jeremiah Glazer

9.4

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

Armando Klein

10

Gorgeous depth of fruit. Great stuff! — 5 years ago

Fredybeans

8.9

Robe jaune clair
Nez légèrement exotique et poire
Bouche fraîche et mûre simple et finale ne basculant pas dans le lourd et moi grâce à une pointe d amertume — 6 years ago