NV Dehours Grande Reserve Brut

🌄  Marne Valley, Champagne, France

🍇 Pinot Meunier

🌡️ 12.5%

Culinary Suggestions: Charcuterie and cheese, deep fried snacks, salmon or prawns

Vineyard Practice: Organic

About

The Domaine predominantly produces Pinot Meunier in addition to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The Pinot Meunier varietal is best suited to this cooler area of Champagne and is a favourite of the Marne Valley. Dehours Champagnes are eagerly sought by champagne enthusiasts for their renowned “Meunier style;” bold, flavourful and showing a clear terroir-orientated approach.

This cuvée is extra aged on lees and reveals the character of Pinot Meunier grapes wonderfully. A high proportion of reserve wine comes from a solera that was started in 1998. The final blend is aged in bottle for 15-27 months. The wines are fully aged on lees, clarified by natural decanting and without filtration or fining. - Importer Note

Tasting Notes

Disgorged in July 2019 with 5.5 grams per liter dosage, the NV Brut Grande Réserve is based on the 2016 vintage, complemented by around one-third reserve wines from a solera started in 1998. Much like a somewhat earlier disgorgement of the same tirage that I reviewed last year, it's showing very well, wafting from the glass with notes of pear, mandarin oil, elderflower, smoke and honeycomb. Medium to full-bodied, elegantly fleshy and precise, with a perfumed core of fruit, lively acids and a pearly mousse, it's beautifully seamless and elegant.

92 points - William Kelley, Wine Advocate April 2021

Drink: 2020 - 2030

Upon tasting, you’ll understand how the characteristics of the Pinot Meunier grape have become inextricably linked to the identity of this iconic vineyard. The colour is a luxurious soft gold in the glass with a vibrant bouquet of bright orange and lemon citrus, ripe apricot, pears, pine resin, wax and toasted brioche. The palate is vibrant and jolly, featuring apple pie, white and yellow stone fruit,

cinnamon and vanilla spice. The dynamic mouthfeel and bubbles are silky smooth with delicious minerals lingering on the finish. - Importer Note