Grand Cuvée is more tense and fresh in its current late 2011 disgorgements than I have ever seen it. In spite of its profound maturity and inimitable complexity, it sings with a youthful definition that Krug has progressively refined in recent years. A zesty, crunchy amalgam of apple, pear and every form of citrus you […]
Even toward the end of its release, this wine is staggeringly youthful, somehow mustering even more pristine freshness than it revealed when it first landed. It sings with the zest of lemon and lemongrass, the crunch of pear, the spice of quince and the tang of granny smith apple. The bottle I tasted at the […]
The 2004 Comtes brings back all the innocence of a joyful childhood, of scaling lemon and lime trees to plunder their tangy fruits, of a free-as-air dash through fields of daisies in endless blue daylight, of freshly roasted cashew nuts mounded in market baskets, and of a breathless plunge into an icy mountain rock pool. […]
Veuve Clicquot has the resourcefulness to set aside a respectable allocation of every vintage release for its late-disgorged Cave Privée. A bold venture, not least because vintages that don’t age well will never surface. Twenty-three years post-vintage and five years post-disgorgement, 1990 is a grand testimony to the enduring power of a vintage that has […]
There’s a gentle and calm demeanour to Krug 2000 that belies its tumultuous season. In spite of its glowing generosity it’s somehow transfixed in time, held in suspended animation and astonishingly unchanged from its release two years ago, yet somehow even more expressive than I have ever seen it. The sheer endurance of even a […]
Veuve Clicquot’s Vintage Rosé’s ideal is for the grapes to speak, and La Grande Dame Rosé’s ideal is for the soil to speak. And speak it does, with an avalanche of tumbling fury of chalk minerality from the five loftiest grand crus of the Montagne de Reims and Côte des Blancs. Clos Colin delivers a […]
Dom Pérignon Oenothèque 1996 is not only one of the greatest Dom Pérignons of all, ranking among the top few champagnes on the shelves this year, but it’s on the rise. Scoring it 99 points on its release in 2011, I wrote, ‘Most profound of all, it’ll get even better’. This year, impossibly, fresher still, […]
Grande Cuvée is no more, but one of the great champagnes of recent times has not gone quietly into the night. Its final vintage just keeps getting better, returning for yet another rousing encore this year. At a full 15 years of age, Grande Cuvée has grown into an iridescent gleam of yellow straw. Its […]
There is classically a luxurious decadence to Dom Pérignon Rosé, exuding a warm amplitude built around ripe pinot noir red wine. The 2002 delivers a cunning twist to this recipe, an enchantingly refreshing take on savoury, charged with the confidence of high-strung acidity. Breathtakingly youthful at 11 years of age, its hue is a striking […]
The ultimate juxtaposition between breathtaking finesse and glorious concentration, showcasing the rumbling power and mouth-storming chalk minerality of Aÿ pinot noir (60%). Consummate definition, exacting poise and undeterred persistence are reinforced by the tension of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger chardonnay (40%), propelling the remarkable cherry definition, red berry concentration, violet perfume and long-lingering spice of pinot to […]