NV  Trois Puits

Trois Puits -- 40% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay, and 20% Pinot Meunier also Trois Puits and Rilly la Montagne. This is release is primarily from 2013 and was on the lees for 4 years, disgorged in July 2018. -- Pierre Baillette - Perine (Pierre's daugher) is Alexandre Chartogne's wife, from Chartogne-Taillet. The Domaine and vineyards have been in her family for generations and she took over everything around 2009. Her production is much smaller than Alexandre, at only 600-1000 bottles per cuvee, other than the Le Village, which is about 3000 bottles. Stylistically, the wines are very similar to Alex's wines - vinous, slightly oxidative, very mineral and (at the top end) based on single vineyard expressions. All the wines accept Le Village are on the lees for 4-6 years prior to release and dosage is relatively low, usually between 4-6 grams depending on the vintage. In terms of the vineyards, Perine has three sites - Trois-Puits (1er Cru), Rilly la Montagne (1er Cru), and Verzenay (Grand Cru). All three locations are south and south east facing, predominantly sandy limestone and chalk, and old vines. All the vineyard work is manual and are plowed by horse. The only spraying done in the vineyard is copper and sulphur is only added minimally at bottling.

1997  

"(65% pinot noir and 35% chardonnay) Light yellow-gold. Expansive, smoky aromas of dried citrus fruits, peach, poached pear and honey, with a slow-building spiciness. Open-knit and gently sweet on entry, then tighter and more mineral-driven in the middle palate, offering lively orange and orchard fruit flavors and touches of nougat and praline. Smoothly melds richness and vivacity, finishing with superb clarity and nervy persistence. Here's yet another impressive 1997, a vintage which seems doomed to live in the shadow of 1995 and 1996. This was disgorged after aging for eight years in its bottle under cork." - 94pts Vinous & 94pts WA

2002  

1990  Charles Heidsiek Blanc de Millenaires

2008  

Future Arrival -- "The 2008 Dom Pérignon is fabulous, but quite remarkably, it was even more open when I tasted it a year ago. Bright, focused and crystalline in its precision, the 2008 is going to need a number of years before it is at its best. Lemon peel, white flowers, mint and white pepper give the 2008 its chiseled, bright profile. Several recent bottles have all been magnificent. What I admire most about the 2008 is the way it shows all the focus, translucence and energy that is such a signature of the year, and yet it is also remarkably deep and vertical. In other words, the 2008 is a Champagne that plays in three dimensions." - 98+ points, Antonio Galloni

2000  

"The 2000 Dom Pérignon is a gorgeous wine to drink now, as it is already showing quite a bit of aromatic and flavor complexity. Although the 2000 doesn’t have the multi-dimensional personality or structure of the very best DPs, it does offer tremendous drinking pleasure today. Hints of pastry, baked apple and mint add nuance, with a touch of reduction that lends an added kick of freshness. Ultimately, the 2000 is a very drinkable and delicious Dom Pérignon." - 94pts Vinous

2003  

"As always, the 2003 Dom Pérignon has a lot to say. Bold, powerful and intensely phenolic in feel, the 2003 packs serious energy to match its explosive personality. The combined effects of a spring frost that decimated yields and a unrelentingly hot summer combined to produce one of the most powerful young Dom Pérignons I have ever tasted. The heavy presence of Pinot (62%) is felt in the wine's volume and breadth, making it one of the most vinous Dom Pérignons in recent memory. Given its structural depth, I imagine the 2003 will drink well for many, many years. Interestingly Chef de Caves Richard Geoffroy adds that the 2003 was lower in sugars than the 2002, but richer in phenolics." - 95pts Vinous

NV  "Cuvee Prestige"

The Duc de Romet Brut is a Blanc de Noirs of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. It’s 75% Meunier and 25% Pinot Noir. The vineyards are entirely from the village of Vandières which is along the Marne River, a few villages west of Cumières. Vandières has the same rating as Merfy, where Chartogne-Taillet is located, but the parcels here are situated in a south-eastern facing amphitheater around the village, much like Oger, which allows the grapes to become very ripe. The Duc de Romet is a delightfully balanced Blanc de Noirs made from purchased grapes from small growers in the village. This is a ND (Négociant-Distributeur), which means this is a blend from the different growers in the Vallée de la Marne who do not produce their own Champagne. The grapes are sent to the local co-op where they are fermented; one of our producers does the final blend.

NV  Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru

Disgorged July 2018 -- 100% Pinot Noir, 50% 2011 and 50% 2010, all from 70 year old vines in the single vineyard Les Crayeres in Ambonnay Grand Cru. Fermented and aged in barrel, no malo, 72 months sur latte. -- "Dense, full-bodied and voluptuous, with all of the richness of the old-vine coming through, the Crayères is fabulous. Red cherry, Mirabelle plum, dried flowers and spice notes fill out the wine’s ample frame effortlessly. Ample and creamy on the palate, with soft curves, the Crayères, also has more than enough vibrancy to develop beautifully in bottle for many years to come. These old vines date back to 1946 and 1947 and confer notable gravitas." - 95pts Vinous

NV  

"Was there ever a better vintage of this wine? Much more than the usual fruit-bomb, this is a panolply of complexity and flowers, especially roses and groseille. It should take us to the Fall, but it would avail you to be, well, grabby. I did taste a 2014 without dosage and had no reason to doubt it would be effective. But ’13 is stunning" - Terry Theise

NV  

100% Grand Cru, particularly satisfying Pinot Noir here. Fresh, bracing red-grape Champagnes with long, swollen midpalate flavors. Just 5 hectares in size, so availability is scarce! The vineyards are spread over 18 different mid-slope parcels in Ambonnay. The position of these vineyards are considered some of the best sites in Ambonnay and expressive of the classical character of this village. All his vineyards are grand cru and Serge Billiot says that the high degree of maturity from these sites doesn’t require malolactic. That makes them very frisky and reductive when they’re first disgorged, and occasionally a Billiot bottle will show a slightly metallic aroma for the first few minutes. That’s rare and nil if you hold the wines six months after disgorgement. Powerful and vinous, but also elegant and fine is the way that Laetitia Billiot describes the wines. Billiot does not filter his wines, fermentations take place in enameled stainless steel tanks. Billiot seems to want liveliness most of all, as he can presume upon lavish and deep fruit flavors. If you know the wines of Egly-Oriet (Billiot’s friend and neighbor) they couldn’t be more different. Egly pulls you down into its mealy-ripe depths; Billiot lifts you up on a billowing fountain of fruit. His wines have marvelous stamina and brightness. They’re hedonistic but not sloppy. Too firm and impeccable to be sloppy!

NV