Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 68

YEAR'S BEST CHAMPAGNES
92 | Moët & Chandon

$75

2012 Champagne Grand Vintage Extra
Brut ^ The 2012 vintage is, in fact, grand, and
this wine lives up to its billing, incorporating a majority of red grapes (it's 33 percent
pinot noir and 26 percent meunier; the rest
is chardonnay), lending it a lot of flesh on the
bones of the apple-malic-limestone acidity.
It's toasty in the mode of Moët, and built to
age: This will integrate with a year of cellaring and develop well for years beyond that.
(Disgorged 2/18)

FRANCIS ORBAN
Récoltant-Manipulant in Leuvrigny (Vallée de la Marne); founded 1929; owns 18.5
acres: 90% pinot meunier, 10% chardonnay;
average vine age: 35 years; oldest vines: 65
year-old pinot meunier vines used exclusively for L'Orbane cuvée. Cellarmaster/
Vigneron: Francis Orban; 5,677 cases produced. Imported by North Berkeley Imports,
Berkeley, CA
274596

92 | Francis Orban

$52

Champagne Extra Brut ^ This is made
entirely from pinot meunier grown in the
clay-limestone soils of Leuvrigny and SainteGemme, in the Vallée de la Marne; half of
it is reserve wine from three prior vintages.
It tastes well grown, a vinous country wine
from Champagne, friendly, a little earthy,
and completely charming. Red-fruited with
spicy strawberry and green melon notes, this
is a robust Champagne for grilled chicken.

B R U N O PA I L L A R D
Négociant-Manipulant in Reims; founded
1981; farms 84.5 acres: 40% pinot noir, 39%
chardonnay, 21% pinot meunier; average
vine age: 35 years; oldest vines: 65 years. Cellarmasters: Bruno & Alice Paillard; Vigneron:
Mathieu Pingret. Imported by Verity Wine
Partners, NY
273593

92 | Bruno Paillard

its elegance. Its deep, savory flavor places it
with food, especially white meats, like roast
chicken with morels. (Disgorged 2/18)
273594

91 | Bruno Paillard

$70

90 | Bruno Paillard

$195

Champagne Grand Cru Extra Brut Blanc
de Blancs ^ From the grand cru villages of
Oger and Mesnil-sur-Oger in the Côte des
Blancs, this is a powerful chardonnay Champagne. Its structure has a muscular intensity,
capturing the cool wash of ripe-peach fruit
and delivering it with gripping tension. The
only thing that gets in the way is a little egginess, which should dissipate with a year in
bottle. It needs time for the structure to mellow. (Disgorged 7/17)
273595
2004 Champagne N.P.U. ^ This is a 50-50
blend of pinot noir and chardonnay from
four grand cru villages: Oger, Chouilly, Verzenay and Mailly. It's mature and spicy, with
green floral notes, ornate leesiness and a
rich combination of chalk and cream. A rich,
nutty wine, this is ready to pour with roast
sweetbreads. (Disgorged 9/17)
273596

90 | Bruno Paillard

$50

Champagne Première Cuvée Extra Brut ^
This blends pinot noir (45 percent), meunier
(22 percent) and chardonnay, creating a
round and generous Champagne with a
ghosting of red fruit. Those flavors of red
apples and strawberries are cut by the wine's
mineral acidity, then they open up again in
the finish, lasting on chalk, nuts and crisp
fresh fruit. (Disgorged 10/18)

PA L M E R & C O .
Coopérative-Manipulant in Reims; founded
1947; owns 1,025 acres: 50% chardonnay,
40% pinot noir, 10% pinot meunier; average
vine age: 30 years; oldest vines: 60 years. Cellarmaster: Xavier Berdin; 80,000 cases produced. Imported by Tru Estates & Vineyards,
San Francisco, CA

$60

Champagne Première Cuvée Extra Brut
Rosé ^ Infused with raspberry tension, from
its delicate pink color to its elegant scent
and lasting fruit essence, this is a comforting Champagne, satisfying and substantial.
Pretty marzipan and raspberry flavors linger, bringing you back for another sip. (Disgorged 7/18)
273592

91 | Bruno Paillard

$65

Champagne Dosage: Zero ^ Toasty and firm,
with cool woodland feel, this offers a substantial mouthful of flavor while still maintaining
68

WINE & SPIRITS

DECEMBER 2019

273511

92 | Palmer & Co.

$90

Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs ^ This
chardonnay has a classical beauty, the flavors
sculpted out of fresh golden apples. It grows
mostly in the Montagne de Reims (Trépail
and Villers-Marmery) with a contribution
from the Côte de Sézanne. The fruit is floral
with scents of daffodils and apple blossoms,
the texture luscious and round.

273507

90 | Palmer & Co.

$60

Champagne Brut Réserve ^ Mostly from
premier and grand cru villages in the Montagne de Reims, this wine is half chardonnay,
and that variety carries its flavors in a vinous
direction. Pale golden-apple scents open to
a rich, supple and heady Champagne, with
some briny notes in the end. Pour it with
skate Grenobloise.

PETIT ET BAJAN
Récoltant-Manipulant in Avize (Vallée de la
Marne); founded 2009; owns 8 acres: 55%
pinot noir, 45% chardonnay; average vine
age: 40 years; oldest vines: 117 years. Cellarmasters: Richard Petit & Véronique PetitBajan; Vigneron: Richard Petit; 850-1,000
cases produced. Imported by North Berkeley
Imports, Berkeley, CA
274606

274679

94 | Palmer & Co.

and grand cru villages of the Montagne
de Reims-the villages where the original
founding growers were based. And this wine
shows the concentration and supple ripeness
of the 2012 harvest. All the fruit sweetness
and acidity is integrated into a high-wire act
of chalk-dusted tension, lasting on scents
of Meyer lemon zest, spicy cider apple and
undertones of earthy complexity. It feels
complete and well suited to long aging.

$125

2012 Champagne Brut ^ Palmer focuses
its vintage wine on parcels in the premier

91 | Petit et Bajan

$110

Champagne Grand Cru Obsidienne Brut ^
Brisk and savory, this has a cool pink cast to

https://www.champagne-palmer.fr/en/the-palmer-co-style/ https://www.champagne-palmer.fr/en/the-palmer-co-style/ https://www.champagne-palmer.fr/en/the-palmer-co-style/

Wine & Spirits - December 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - December 2019