NV A.R. Lenoble Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs les Aventures

Full bottle (with string round the top) 1,648 g. A blend of Chouilly Chardonnay from vintages 2008, 2009 and 2012. Dosage 3 g/l. Really quite rich! This is almost like a barrel-fermented still Chardonnay! I think the Gentilhomme is perhaps a bit more refreshing but it certainly makes a statement. Honey and spice. It's a world away from young green champagne. There's a little acacia note. And it's long. Quite a dramatic, rich statement. (JR)

This is showing mature and complex aromas of dried oranges, chopped nuts, white chocolate, coffee and butter. It’s toasty, nutty and flavorful with breadth and depth. Long, rich finish.

This single-vineyard NV Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Chouilly Brut Les Aventures assembles Chardonnay from two vintages: 2002 and 2006. Twenty-two percent of the wine was vinified in oak, and it was bottled in September 2007. Disgorged in January 2018 with less than three grams per liter of dosage, this intensely golden-yellow colored cuvée indicates lovely maturity, with iodine purity and freshness on the deep and complex nose. There are floral notes as well as dried fruit, brioche, honey and almond flavors. Dry, fine and complex on the palate, this is a highly characterful, structured, very pure and persistently salty Chouilly that has gained a lot of secondary flavors and layers over the years on the lees! It's a fabulously vinous and vital but also matured wine with very fine bubbles and great terroir expression. It's a really great Champagne from Chouilly, and the best is to enjoy it with food, white meat perhaps with lots of morels. The finish is immense yet pure, fresh, structured and stunningly aromatic. Tasted April 2018.