How about a taste of 2012?

In 2012, the film “The Artist” won the Best Picture Oscar, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her diamond jubilee – 60 years on the throne – with great pomp and ceremony and Barack Obama was re-elected for a second term. That year was all about elegance, style, a balanced mix of respect for tradition and modernity. The 2012 vintage is another beautiful expression of this, a vintage that never lapses into nostalgia but rather into the subtle expression of an exceptional year with high aromatic potential.

Winning
weather

The birth of a great vintage depends on a few things, and in particular on the weather that will prevail during the current year. 2012 started with a mild and dry winter, followed by a cold February. Spring was rebellious, cool, and not very sunny, but a quasi-summer period set in in March. Budbreak (bud development) was earlier than expected. In the following months, the weather alternated between rain, wind, mildness and frost until it became warm and sunny from the end of July to September. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and the capricious weather pushed the vine into its limits, forcing it to draw on its resources to bring out the best in itself. Laurent Fédou, the House’s Cellar Master, was very quickly impressed by the quality and character of certain Pinots Noirs and Pinots Meunier, and naturally felt the need to sublimate them to capture this year like no other.

A bouquet of
fruity aromas

A champagne should never be a question of arithmetic. It’s worth pointing out that the 2012 vintage is a Blanc de Noirs, that it is made from 70% Pinots Noirs and 30% Pinots Meunier, 40% Grands Crus and 20% Premiers Crus. So let’s talk about its character. Laurent Fédou’s work consisted in giving personality to this vintage without taking away from the House style. The result? A subtly blond champagne with fine bubbles with a patina of age, a brioche nose, slightly toasted, tinged with aromas of very ripe yellow fruit and elegant raspberry notes when aired. The wine is fresh, mineral and saline, with a long and persistent finish sprinkled with notes of grapefruit. Cheers!

Always
in good company

This elegant 2012 vintage can be paired with a range of flavours, from the simplest to the most elaborate. Let’s take seafood, gravlax salmon, scampi, Cancale oysters, scallop carpaccio, its salty notes are a pure marvel on these noble products. For cheeses, it’s a similar story, magnificent on a Brillat-Savarin and just as suave on a Brie de Melun, a soft cheese with a bloomy crust. A champagne to be served in a large wine glass to allow this distinguished guest to express all its aromas.