TNR: any of the Nicolas Maillart Champagnes???

I am particularly interested in the 1995 Brut Prestige, but any advice on this house would be greatly appreciated.

TIA,
Otto

Otto,

A very good grower/producer who tries to do everything as natural as he can (but is flexible depending on what Mother Nature deals out… this is a good way to go IMO and is what Selosse, Vilmart, and others do).

I haven’t had the 95 Prestige, but like the wines Maillart puts out. The most interesting ones to me are the BdB Les Chaillots Gillis which comes from two old Chardonnay vineyards in the heart of Ecueil and the BdN Les Francs de Pied which comes from a sandy vineyard in Ecueil. The sandy soil of the Les Francs de Pied allows for ungrafted rootstock and the vines are grown en foule. Add in a low dosage, no malo, and oak aging and you get a different expression of what Bollinger does with Vieilles Vignes Francaises.

The basic NV and Vintage Bruts have been reliable over the years. Not spectacular, but full of rich Pinot fruit kissed with a touch of Chardonnay that lightens the blend up, but not too much as it is a bit of a rugged or full bodied Chardonnay to me. My only complaint is that the vintaged wines are dosed a touch lower than I would like to see them, but they are good value for the money (at least when purchased in France; I don’t know what the wines go for in the US).

Many thanks Brad, I knew you would come through somehow! [notworthy.gif]

I can get my hands on 12 bottle case of 2002 Brut Reserve 1st Cru for $458 + 10% and/or 2000 BdB Brut for $480 + 10% and/or 1995 Brut Prestige 1st Cru for $600 +10%.

Otto [cheers.gif]

I can’t comment on the 95 Prestige since I haven’t had it, but the price is very fair considering I have seen this at 35-50 Euros. I wouldn’t spend my time on the 2000 unless you can do a mixed case. If you can do a mixed, 6 bottles of the 02, 4 of the 95, and 2 of the 2000 would be interesting. If I could only buy one case, I would probably go 02 BdB mainly because it would take me a while to get through a case of 95 and I have concerns over the dosage and aging based on other wines I have seen from the Maillart family.