John Gilman: 96 Points
I was unaware until very recently that the les Chênes vineyard in Cumières is one of the most important sites historically in all of Champagne, and no less a figure than Dom Pérignon himself directed his acolytes at the Abbey to Hautvillers (which lies just up the slope from Cumières) to pay closest attention to the farming of this vineyard. At the time, the vineyard was planted to pinot noir and produced a still wine, but it was so renowned in its age that Champagne rouge was the only wine drunk by Louis XIV during the Sun King’s reign at Versailles! As my friends Mike and Jeff noted, the vineyard itself is not visually imposing, as it is essentially a “bump of pure limestone soil” (as they put it) at the base of the slope in Cumières, lying effectively in the shallow valley that separates the rolling hillside vineyards of Cumières with Hautvillers, perched up on the hill above. But it has been known for centuries to be one of the greatest terroirs in the region and Vincent Laval’s 2020 version of les Chênes certainly captures all of the potential magic of these soils! The wine is stunningly pure and refined on the nose, offering up a gorgeous and gently exotic bouquet of pear, fresh apricot, passion fruit, brioche, a stunningly complex foundation of limestone minerality, incipient smokiness, a whisper of oak and a floral topnote redolent of fruit blossoms. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and rock solid at the core, with a lovely spine of acidity, great mineral undertow and grip, elegant mousse and a laser-like, perfectly balanced, youthful finish. The wine was disgorged in March of 2024. This is a stunning young wine! (Drink between 2032-2075)
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