Tasting notes

Color Golden yellow. Bouquet The wine shows lovely aromas of tropical fruit, citrus, spice and yeast. Palate This elegant, complex, crisp and balanced wine features fine, persistent mouthfeel as well as lingering flavors of fresh apples and lemons

Rating

Wine Spectator 90 points (Nov 30 2010) A toasty version, displaying a polished texture and flavors of Golden Delicious apple, pastry and spiced orange peel. This is lively, with a pretty floral note running throughout. Drink now. –AN

Wine maker notes

The wine is aged in modern, stainless steel tanks which allow for perfect temperature control. Once all the base wines are fermented and racked, Chef de Caves Hervé Deschamps meticulously tastes from over 300 wines to choose the most outstanding lots. In addition to grapes from the current vintage, between 10% to 20% of reserve wines from previous vintages are blended into the final cuvée. The bottles are aged in the house’s historic champenois aging cellars, which are tunneled directly into the chalky soil of Champagne. The Champagne caves run 50 feet deep and remain at a constant temperature of 52° F.

Food pairing

Pairs well with game hen or duck, also pomme frittes with subtle horseradish aioli, mushroom tarts with truffle crème sauce, salt baked king salmon and roasted turkey with chestnut stuffing.