NV Vouette et Sorbee Fidele
Market price
Buying options
Tasting notes
The NV Brut Nature Fidèle (R14) is a Blanc de Noirs from Pinot Noir on Kimmeridgian soils and is entirely based on the 2014 vintage. Disgorged in October 2017 the oak-fermented wine shows a golden-reddish apricot color and opens with a very delicate, floral and herbal yet intense and vinous bouquet of red fruits, with warm, dry earth and spices and just a hint of oak. Bone dry (of course), fresh and elegant on the palate, this is an impressively delicate and filigreed Champagne to be enjoyed as a still wine rather than a fizz. The finish is long, clear, dry and well-structured (even with fine tannins) and reveals discreet salinity. In fact, Fidèle drinks like a Burgundy-inspired Coteaux Champenois with very fine but not effervescent bubbles, persistent lemon juice and a touch of oaky flavors. Don't use a flute to enjoy this young, gastronomic wine; instead, use a wine glass or one of the rounder, more voluminous Champagne glasses like the Lehmann Jamesse (which stresses the finesse rather than the vinous character). Don't serve the Fidèle too fresh, either, but if you must, wait a bit and don't worry if the wine is suddenly 12 or even 14 degrees Celsius—it's still delicious and even more vinous then! (To be honest, when tasted at 15 or 16 degrees Celsius, I even got some Gewürztraminer notes (lychees) on the nose...!) Tasted in July 2018.
Critic scores
Average Score
Tamlyn Currin, jancisrobinson.com
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Based on 2010. Zero dosage. Pinot Noir on Portlandien. Very rich and round – broad and pungent. Even a little sour. (JR)
Gautherot’s 2010-based NV Extra Brut Fidele R10 – disgorged in October of last year – is memorably intriguing. Pungent crushed mustard seed, lemon, apricot, and toasted hickory nut are joined by a kimchi-like suggestion of fermented cabbage, chili pepper and tomato, all of which have their counterparts on a juicy, buoyant, vibrant and transparent palate. Moreover, there is a distinct, not to mention mouthwatering suggestion here of salted, herbed chicken stock as well as an underlying sense of crushed stone, characteristics one would point to as classic Kimmeridgian if the wine were a Chardonnay from Chablis, and arguably somehow conveyed to this pure Pinot by that underlying soil. The mouthwatering persistence, clarity and sheer energy of this wine are formidable; but I’ll simply pass on its author’s advice that you enjoy it by this time (mid-autumn) of next year. Bertrand Gautherot was imbued by (among others) Alsace’s Jean-Pierre Frick with a passion for viticulture in a biodynamic vein, and was convinced by Anselme Selosse to take back from negociant contracts his at the time roughly ten acres of producing vines, a figure that, since Gautherot’s inaugural 2001 vintage, has risen only marginally, even as he has gained a grand reputation among wine lovers, especially those of self-described “natural wine.” The estate is named for its most prominent vineyards, Vouette being on grand cru Chablis-like Kimmeridgian and Sorbee on related Portlandian chalk. Gautherot prides himself on what Germany’s Hans-Gunter Schwarz liked to call “activism in the vineyards; minimalism in the cellar,” and his ambient cask-fermented young wines are never fined, filtered, or cold-stabilized, minimal sulfur being applied solely when the grapes are pressed, as a consequence of which Gautherot – and who am I to disagree – recommends that one enjoy his highly distinctive wines within two years of their disgorgement. Imported by Domaine Select Wine Imports, New York, NY; tel. (212) 279-0799
Vintage 2009. Very lightly pink hued. Firm and appley with a flirtatious finish. So light it almost floats away on the palate. But it certainly has style. Readier than the cuvée based on 2008. (JR)