Superstars of Champagne
It’s a pleasure to offer some exceptional new releases from the most recognized, beloved houses in all of Champagne.
While we’ve been preaching a “Champagne everyday” philosophy and offering Champagnes you can drink on any average day, these are the gems that you do in fact save for your most special occasions.
Think ahead… who’s having a baby?...who is graduating?...a special birthday or anniversary? First house? Divorced at last? Someone died and you finally get the inheritance? Just kidding.
Best pricing in USA!…..Don’t get caught flat footed! 😇
The 2016 Cristal is a taut, incisive rendition of this benchmark bottling, unwinding in the glass with youthfully reserved aromas of citrus oil, white flowers, wet stones and subtle hints of sweet, buttery pastry. Medium to full-bodied, chiseled and racy, it's almost as electric as the brilliant 2013, with serious concentration, a pure core of fruit, chalky structuring dry extract and a long, intensely mineral finish. Given its tightly wound profile, my advice is to forget it in the cellar for a few years and work on the more open, outgoing 2014 in the meantime.
- Wine Advocate, 97
Bright violet. Pure, focused and energetic on the incisive nose, displaying spice-tinged red fruit and floral scents and a hint of dusty minerality. Lithe and fat-free, offering juicy strawberry and bitter cherry flavors that deepen and turn sweeter as the wine opens up. Shows no tannins on the finish, which lingers with impressive, emphatically fruity tenacity.
- Vinous Media, 95
Surpassing the 2010, the 2015 Extra-Brut Clos des Goisses is gorgeous, evoking aromas of pear, mirabelle, spices, honey, brioche and perfectly ripe orchard fruits intertwined with delicate notes of iodine. Full-bodied, vinous and concentrated, it's layered and dense with remarkable depth at the core combined with racy acids and a structured, perfectly balanced mid-palate. Slightly austere at this stage, it finishes long and sappy with a licorice-inflected aftertaste. This blend of 78% Pinot Noir and 22% Chardonnay, disgorged in March 2024 with a dosage of 4.5 grams per liter, did not undergo malolactic fermentation. Readers eager to experience this superb Champagne at its peak should be patient.
- Wine Advocate, 97+
The 2015 Extra-Brut Clos des Goisses is shaping up to be a jewel of a wine. This sample was disgorged à la volée, in other words with no dosage. What impresses me most about the stage is its density and nascent, embryonic power. In 2015, Charles Philipponnat and his team found that the wood-fermented lots blended best, so this is the first Goisses that was fern entirely in wood. There's a balance of power and finesse that is especially captivating.
- Vinous Media, 93-96
This is a rare single plot offering of 100% Pinot Noir sourced from the central plots of Clos des Goisses. No bottles currently available USA | 2176 bottles produced
From an outstanding vintage, the 2012 Les Cintres extra brut derives from vines planted on two parcels inside the Clos des Goisses walled vineyard planted with Pinot Noir. It possesses a multifaceted, intense bouquet with aromas of pear, spring flowers, cherries, ripe orchard fruits, crushed stones, honey and rose petals, followed by a full-bodied, fleshy and racy palate that’s simultaneously crystalline and pure with a splendid core of fruit, racy acids and a long, endless finish. Presently, it stands as the most exceptional Les Cintres rendition. Dosage was 4.5 grams per liter.
- Wine Advocate, 97
The 2012 Extra-Brut Les Cintres is a small pure Pinot bottling from one of the core parcels in Clos des Goisses. Medium in body and polished, the 2012 is wonderfully sophisticated wine. Crushed flowers, mint, chalk, dried herbs, orchard fruit and chamomile all grace this exquisite Champagne. Most importantly, the balance of wine and oak today is far better than it was in the first ve even if the 2012 is not showing the richness of the vintage just yet. I suspect this will have a lot more to say later on, as it opens beautifully on the mid-palate and finish, offering a glimpse what is to come. Dosage is 4.5 grams per liter. Disgorged: June 2022.
- Vinous Media, 95
The new Krug release, the NV Grande Cuvée 172ème Édition, based on the 2016 vintage and comprising 11 vintages in total (the oldest is 1998), is outstanding. It reveals a complex, slightly spicy bouquet of white fruits, beeswax, marzipan, hazelnuts, dried herbs, ripe orchard fruits and white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, rich and concentrated on the palate, it has a subtly spicy entry, an enrobing and layered texture and a fleshy core of fruit framed around a perfectly balanced, fresh and mineral finish. Crafted primarily from Pinot Noir (44%) and complemented with 30% Chardonnay and the rest Pinot Meunier, it was disgorged in the first quarter of 2023 with a dosage of 4.5 grams per liter. Keep it for 5-10 years.
- Wine Advocate, 95
The NV Grande Cuvée 172ème Édition is a gracious, sublime Champagne. Light citrus notes, white, flowers, spice, marzipan and chamomile inflections all run through this delicate, nuanced Grande Cuvée. The 172eme is a Champagne of understatement and class that is very much a reflection of the base year. Brisk acids pull it all together. The Grande Cuvée is often quite accessible on release, but this is an Edition I would cellar for at least another year or two. It's a fine effort from Krug. The 172ème Édition is a blend of 44% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay and 20% Meunier based on 2016 with reserve wines back to 1998. Disgorged: Winter 2022-2023. Krug ID: 123003.
- Vinous Media, 95
