VILMART & CIE GRANDE RESERVE 750ML

The Vilmart NV Grande Reserve Disg. 09/2012 represents a blend of relatively young vines of Chardonnay with around 20% Pinot Noir. These are from vintages 2009 and 2010, though the result displays a surprising degree of lees autolysis in the nose, joined by smoky and chalky nuances that come out more emphatically on the silken, finely effervescent palate. Suggestions of jellied red currant along with apple and lemon – as well as a faint aura of barrel – put me a bit in mind of Chassagne-Montrachet. This finishes with bursting brightness, ringing clarity, mouthwatering salinity, cheek-pinching piquancy, and consummate refreshment. It should fare deliciously for at least the one or two years. If a visit with the articulate and passionately quality-conscious Laurent Champs – or even “just” the tasting of his wines – doesn’t leave you inspired about the future of Champagne, then I don’t know what that would take. I can recall having been slightly disconcerted at the impression left by oak on some of the wines I tasted from Vilmart in the younger Champs’ early days in charge here, but recent wines are a model of how to integrate wood and Champagne which, granted, is made much easier by the fact that most of Vilmart’s wine nowadays sojourn in large Alsace-style foudres that Champs has been amassing for long enough that there is little (if any) overt, resinous “oakiness” to extract. Rather, we have the same sort of subtle influence – here too, with wine that doesn’t “do malo” – as you can experience at many a top, tradition-minded Riesling address. And even the minority Vilmart wine that sees smaller barrels or a bit of new wood is by no means overly marked by that stay. No advocate of low dosage for its own sake, Champs’ wines tend to harbor 8-10 grams of residual sugar that is almost invariably well-judged, lending support without overt sweetness. It’s worth bearing in mind that Rilly is hardly the most prestigious among Champagne’s premier cru-rated villages, and were it not for Vilmart – only a small share of whose acreage spills over into neighboring Villers-Allerand – we would be largely ignorant of this terroir’s solo potential. (The classifications themselves were rendered from the perspective of value as blending components.) I tasted most of the Vilmart wines reviewed here twice – once in June, and once in September – and have amalgamated by tasting notes where applicable. Importer:Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

The NV Grande Réserve, a blend of 2013 and 2012, is striking in its beauty and overall resonance. This is the one wine at Vilmart that is Pinot Noir based, and that is exactly what comes through in the wine's textured, enveloping personality. Dried pear, flowers, red berries and lifted, minty notes meld into the creamy finish. All the elements simply fall into place. In other words, this is classic Vilmart. Dosage is 10 grams per liter.