Vilmart - Champagner Coeur de Cuvee Brut 1er Cru 2016

JEB DUNNUCK: "Also 80% Chardonnay, the 2016 Champagne 1er Cru Coeur De Cuvée Brut is a bright yellow color and is a bit more shy at this stage on the nose compared to the Grand Cellier D'Or, with notes of lemon candies, green apples, baking spices, and delicate fresh baked brioche. Driving, with more linear persistence in its acidity, it’s citrus-driven on the palate, with a zesty, spritely mousse and a clean, chalky finish with just a hint of bitter citrus. This one feels as though it needs more time at this stage to open up and come around, but it has a lot of potential. Drink it over the coming 10-15 years."

WINE SPECTATOR: "Notes of honeysuckle and lime blossoms, blood orange peel, anise and cardamom are a fragrant overtone heralding this fresh Champagne, which shows good tension and drive. The refined, chalky mousse is lacy in texture, buoying finely meshed flavors of ripe apricot and quince paste, raw almond, vanilla wafer and candied ginger. Ends with a long, mouthwatering finish. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Disgorged September 2022. Drink now through 2036."

LISA PERROTTI-BROWN: "Coeur de Cuvee 2016 is an 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir from Les Blanches Voies with 60 year-old vines. The base wine was barrel fermented with 10 months on lees and no malolactic. It opens with apple tart, ripe Anjou pear, red grapefruit and toasty aromas that flow into a medium-bodied palate with nice salinity, citrus peel notes and well-integrated acidity on the medium-long finish. Disgorged September 2022 and finished with a seven gram per liter dosage."