Champagne Vilmart Grande Reserve NV

Vinmøte Are 16.2.12:

Slank, ung og frisk. Fine og ivrige bobler med snev av appelsinskall og grapefrukt. Sitrus, sommerlig og en deilig terrassesak. Flere var ikke i champagne på denne, men jeg sto på mitt ! Noe bittert og "grapey" i ettersmak. Denne bør få ytterligere lagring. Flere synes ikke denne var noe særlig, men jeg likte den slanke pene stilen. 83 poeng.

Fra winedoctor.com:

The key name at Vilmart, in Rilly on the Montagne de Reims, is Champs. The current incumbent is Laurent Champs, who inherited the mantle from his mother Nicole Vilmart and his father René, who was originally one of the vineyard workers. Laurent is thus a direct descendent, a great-great-grandson in fact, of Desire Vilmart, who established the family firm in 1872. Today he extols 11 hectares of vines in premier cru vineyards in Rilly and Villers-Allerand, both villages just a few kilometres directly south of Reims. A mix of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with some vines as old as 50 years, the fruit is harvested by hand, pressed and allowed to settle, before transfer into oak, generally large 50-hectolitre foudres for the entry-level non-vintage Grande Réserve and Grand Cellier cuvées and 225-litre Burgundy barrels for the more exciting single-vintage Grand Cellier d'Or and Coeur de Cuvée.

The Grande Réserve is a non-vintage blend of 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay. Vilmart Grande Réserve Brut Premier Cru has a fine and lightly golden hue in the glass, with a gentle bead. This bottle has been cellared for perhaps 1-2 years although I am unsure exactly how long as it was sourced from a university cellar, so there might be some notes of maturity about it. Indeed, there is a rather fabulous nose, very refined and elegant, redolent of citrus fruits, especially oranges, alongside more developed aromas of honeyed cashew nuts and polished wood. This has a mature, complex and composed quality - not simple at all! A great palate follows, with a fine mousse, ever so slightly creamy, gently fleshy, but certainly fresh and crisply structured. It has a lovely and elegant flavour laid over a good structure, is fine and shows quite a seamless presence in the mouth. A linear, vigorous and yet flattering style, firmly poised and with a delicious herby, polished finish. This is really good; I clearly need to be looking out for more of Vilmart's wines for my cellar. 17+/20 (9/11/09)