Brad, when I go back to the area, hopefully in early 2020, I would like to see if you are around. Doing some stops with you and tapping into some of your knowledge, even for a brief period of time for my visit, would be a cool benefit selfishly.
As to the longevity of Benoit’s wines, I’m already drinking and digging the 2012s, so those are now 7 years out and I have not found any aged quality to them, Brad. Mine were all bought here in the US. I will continue to age a single bottle of most of the cuvees, to see how they do, yet continue to acquired and build more inventory through new vintages, like 2014.
Sorry I should have been more specific on what I meant by 5-8 years out. I meant post-release and not post-vintage. As the 2012s were released 1.5-2 years ago, I think they still have 3-6 years of good drinking and maybe more; only time will tell.
With a lot of the low sulfur Champagnes, the aging, evolution, flavor changes, etc… is still a bit of an unknown. I honestly don’t care if a wine can age or not; I just want to be able to know when to enjoy it and when it will show the characteristics I am looking for.
Claus, help me. Why did you post the Dethune BdB in context of the Crayeres? Just curious. Is the Dethune source for their BdB inside of or near Crayeres?
FWIW, the Marguet Crayeres is money. The bottle I had of the 2012 a few months ago was excellent.
I believe Claus mistakenly wrote BdB even though the wine pictured is clearly their Blanc de Noirs. The grapes for the BdN indeed come from the same vineyard as those for the wines of Marguet and Egly. It is a lesser wine but then again so is the pricing. I paid 41 € for it vs 78 € for Marguet and 111 € for Egly and as such I believe it is priced according to its quality. That said given that it is an NV there might be some variation between different disgorgements. My note for the wine:
NV Paul Dethune Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Noirs Brut- France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (25.11.2018)
Mis en cave Avril 2014, date de dégorgement Octobre 2016. Very creamy on the nose with notes of red apple, apricot, bread dough and buttered toast. Ripe and mouth-caressingly rich on the palate - really luscious texture. Combines intense red fruit and oak in a beautiful way. Considering its origins and raw materials it is unsurprisingly quite vinous yet with great structure, acidity and a tangy edge. Big, complex, balanced and exciting, a very hedonistic wine.
Well, I cannot say I have had too much experience with the 2015 vintage at this point but apparently it should be a good one. Perhaps your bottle was just a dud? Generally I have come to expect quite pure fruit from Déthune’s wines.
2014 Marguet Champagne Grand Cru Le Parc- France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (5/27/2021)
– popped and poured –
– tasted non-blind over 2 to 3 hours –
– 100% Chardonnay –
– 0 g/L dosage –
– March 2019 disgorgement –
NOSE: deep and interesting; not typical — has a light ripe peach note.
BODY: green-yellow color; very active bead; medium bodied.
TASTE: rich, but light on its feet; high acidity without being mouth-puckering; hint of skin contact/orange wine character – very light, and I love it; a touch chalky; overall, a downright excellent bottle of bubbles, and it’s on my re-buy list.
