Champagne Vilmart & Cie Brut Grand Cellier 1er Cru NV

Tasting note: "Though technically not a Grower Champagne (RM) due to Vilmart & Cie sourcing some grapes from around their Rilly-la-Montagne home base, they are certainly in the same authentic, hands-on, small-scale league. It is a 70/30 chardonnay/pinot noir cuvée from 30 year old vines (not to be mistaken with their Grand Reserve, which reverses the grapes in the mix) that has spent ten months in a blend of oak foudre and barrel on the lees (no malolactic fermentation) before heading to bottle for secondary ferment over 30 months. My bottle was disgorged in February 2022 with 7 g/L. It's peculiar to have such a high proportion of chardonnay in pinot noir-dominant Montagne de Reims, though 60% of their grapes are chardonnay, which often yields these wines a natural elegance. Perfumed lemon, toothsome meringue, crunchy green apple sails along the slender frame, with a lemony brace pinning in the sides, finishing with a chalky grip. (Treve Ring)." - 93/100, Gismondi on Wine