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Vilmart & Cie Coeur de Cuvee 1999 Champagne Brut Premier Cru (750ml)

L 09 06 = Disgorged in June, 2009

An exclusive Champagne from a top-rated grower, which has achieved cult status.

* Technicalities of Vilmart Coeur de Cuvee Vintage:

- Composition: 80% Chardonnay, 20% Pinot Noir, from 50-year-old, now bio-dynamically farmed vines in the Premier Cru of Rilly-la-Montagne;

- Restriction of yield;

- 'Coeur de Cuvee' means the heart (best juice) of the first pressing: from every 2000 liters of cuvee, Vilmart plucks out only the very best 800 liters for this cult wine;

- Vinification entirely in small barriques (225-liter) of relatively new oak (one-year-old barriques from Allier), then ageing in the barriques for 10 months, and enriched through batonnage;

- Avoidance of malolactic fermentation;

- A limited production of up to 5,000 bottles for a vintage.

Tasted in June, 2011

Served upon popping the cork.

Lemon yellow, with greenish hue. Densely-packed fine bubbles form a vigorous and persistent central chimney.

A dazzling array of aromas: oak, bio smell, meat, chalk, toasted bread, mandarin, pear and lemon…I just cannot put the glass away…

The first attack on the taste buds is lightening acidity – truly impressive for a vintage 99! Instantly, bright fruit and exotic spice catch up and sweep the floor -- a real impact here!

With more airing, the bouquet continues to exude new charm: sweet vanilla, exquisite orchard fruit and a light touch of sea notes: see breeze, oyster shell and slight fishy smell.

Meantime, as it loses the initial chill, the mouthfeel quickly gains dimension and body, unveiling dense layers of substance: crystalline citrus and orchard fruit, intense minerality and exotic spice. But there is tannin from the new oak, still a bit coarse and abrupt, showing through on the finish.

Truly admirable quality of fruit, thanks to the meticulous care in the vineyards. Complex and opulent bouquet, which is a real bonus from aeration by vinification and ageing in barriques. But the new oak flavor is still a bit too obvious.

Surely, with more cellaring, the new oak influence would be better integrated. But I still can't help thinking if such brilliant juice had been vinified in well-weathered oak, would it achieve more harmony and class?