Domaine de la Taille Aux Loups Brut Tradition
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The Taille aux Loups Brut Tradition's fine texture and delicate and pure and fresh citrus and tropical fruit aromas and flavors make it a great pleasure to enjoy on any occasion.
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Wine & Spirits
Jacky Blot makes this wine from his old-vine fruit that’s not ripe enough to produce his Triple Zéro (recommended above). The rigorous selection of clean grapes and the winemaking process is similar, though this wine rests en tirage for 14 months, and is finished with a minimal dosage (usually about three grams). It has the same pale-limestone direction as Triple Zéro, with honeyed quince scents to fill it out, giving the wine a juicy feel. Refreshing and flavorful, this has a sense of purity that lasts.
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Wine Spectator
A rich, decadent sparkler, with a beautiful array of warm apple and lemon meringue expertly lined with seashell minerality and salty brine. The creamy palate is mouthfilling and veers just off-dry, enlivened by a zing of orange peel acidity and crushed stone. Expressive and balanced, with buttery brioche ringing on the full finish. Drink now through 2028.
A term typically reserved for Champagne and Sparkling Wines, non-vintage or simply “NV” on a label indicates a blend of finished wines from different vintages (years of harvest). To make non-vintage Champagne, typically the current year’s harvest (in other words, the current vintage) forms the base of the blend. Finished wines from previous years, called “vins de reserve” are blended in at approximately 10-50% of the total volume in order to achieve the flavor, complexity, body and acidity for the desired house style. A tiny proportion of Champagnes are made from a single vintage.
There are also some very large production still wines that may not claim one particular vintage. This would be at the discretion of the winemaker’s goals for character of the final wine.
Praised for its stately Renaissance-era chateaux, the picturesque Loire valley produces pleasant wines of just about every style. Just south of Paris, the appellation lies along the river of the same name and stretches from the Atlantic coast to the center of France.
The Loire can be divided into three main growing areas, from west to east: the Lower Loire, Middle Loire, and Upper/Central Loire. The Pay Nantais region of the Lower Loire—farthest west and closest to the Atlantic—has a maritime climate and focuses on the Melon de Bourgogne variety, which makes refreshing, crisp, aromatic whites.
The Middle Loire contains Anjou, Saumur and Touraine. In Anjou, Chenin Blanc produces some of, if not the most, outstanding dry and sweet wines with a sleek, mineral edge and characteristics of crisp apple, pear and honeysuckle. Cabernet Franc dominates red and rosé production here, supported often by Grolleau and Cabernet Sauvignon. Sparkling Crémant de Loire is a specialty of Saumur. Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc are common in Touraine as well, along with Sauvignon Blanc, Gamay and Malbec (known locally as Côt).
The Upper Loire, with a warm, continental climate, is Sauvignon Blanc country, home to the world-renowned appellations of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. Pinot Noir and Gamay produce bright, easy-drinking red wines here.