Clos Henri Chapel Block Blanc de Noirs Brut 2018
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James
Suckling
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The 2018 Vintage Blanc de Noirs has exceptionally fine, consistent bubbles with notes of peach and wild strawberries. The palate is all about juicy raspberry and fresh-off-the-tree peach. Lively with delicious ripeness and delicate acidity, the finish is crisp.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Complex nose of hazelnuts, brioche, apple crumble, lemons and raspberries. Well-structured and sharp, yet rich and delicious with a medium body and very fine bubbles.
Other Vintages
2016-
Wine
Enthusiast
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
An icon and leading region of New Zealand's distinctive style of Sauvignon blanc, Marlborough has a unique terroir, making it ideal for high quality grape production (of many varieties). Despite some common generalizations, which could be fairly justified given that Marlborough is responsible for 90% of New Zealand's Sauvignon blanc production, the wines from this region are actually anything but homogenous. At the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, the vineyards of Marlborough benefit from well-draining, stony soils, a dry, sunny climate and wide temperature fluctuations between day and night, a phenomenon that supports a perfect balance between berry ripeness and acidity.
The region’s king variety, Sauvignon blanc, is beloved for its pungent, aromatic character with notes of exotic tropical fruit, freshly cut grass and green bell pepper along with a refreshing streak of stony minerality. These wines are made in a wide range of styles, and winemakers take advantage of various clones, vineyard sites, fermentation styles, lees-stirring and aging regimens to differentiate their bottlings, one from one another.
Also produced successfully here are fruit-forward Pinot noirs (especially where soils are clay-rich), elegant Riesling, Pinot gris and Gewürztraminer.