2008 Vilmart & Cie "Grand Cellier d'Or" Brut Champagne

An 80-20 Chardonnay-Pinot blend from a single 45-year-old vineyard planted solely to selection massale in Rilly, Vilmart’s 2008 Brut Grand Cellier d’Or is scented with gentian and iris, along with intimations of the lemony juiciness and the alkaline, saline, chalky mineral bath that follow on the palate. A miso and clam stock-like savor serves for saliva-inducement in a finish at once gripping and glowing, with an exuberantly invigorating meld of lemon, nuts, musky rose radish and diverse sprouts of grains and legumes, not to mention the palate-coating persistence of mineral elements. I imagine that this will prove worth following for the next half dozen or more years. (DS)

The 2008 Brut Cuvée Grand Cellier d'Or is bright, focused and very tightly wound. Crystalline and energetic to the core, the 2008 is going to require at least a few years to fully come together. The wine's vibrancy and pure, chiseled flavors suggest it will age gracefully for years. The 2008 is 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir, both from Les Blanches Voies Bas in Rilly la Montagne, that spent 10 months in neutral oak. (AG) 94+