1979 Veuve Clicquot Brut La Grande Dame
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Tasting notes
The 1979 Brut La Grande Dame is showing brilliantly, unfurling in the glass with a rich bouquet of orange rind, clear honey, coniferous forest floor, wheat toast and hints of black truffle. Full-bodied, ample and layered, it's textural and concentrated, with lively acids, a pinpoint mousse and a long, saline finish. This is a muscular, intense Grande Dame at the peak of its powers.
Critic scores
Jancis Robinson MW
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Disgorged early 2018. Jacques Peters joined Veuve Clicquot in 1979. Picked early October. 67% Pinot Noir, 33% Chardonnay. Light and crisp year. Bigger crop than 1989. Dosage 4 g/l. Coppery gold. Full mirabelle nose. Pungent, vibrant palate. Long. Heady and tense. A little less exuberant than the 1989 Grande Dame but certainly still appetising. Still lots of chew and freshness. Coming up on the outside lane. Really grew in the glass. (JR)
The 1979 La Grande Dame is one of the more exotic wines in this tasting. Kirsch, rose petal and Mirabelle plum all give the 1979 an intensely aromatic, perfumed profile that is nicely balanced by underlying veins of acidity that give the wine its freshness and energy.