Champagne Veuve Clicquot - La Grande Dame 2015 coffret Paola Paronetto

Bettane & Desseauve

About wine:

Didier Mariotti offers the 2015 vintage of La Grande Dame in both white and rosé versions: two absolute masterpieces, even if the rosé will take a little longer to reveal its full potential. Rarely has the shift in this cuvée towards a style dominated almost exclusively by Pinot Noir been so brilliantly expressed.

About the estate:

Veuve Clicquot has returned to its roots and proudly displays its penchant for Pinot Noir and its taste for vinous champagnes. While we await the next revolution from La Grande Dame, the brand's prestige cuvée, the non-vintage brut, the famous Carte Jaune, has regained its vigor. The skilled Dominique Demarville, cellar master, has significantly raised the bar in terms of selection and precision in blending, while revolutionizing the work of the soil in the vineyards, with grass planted between every other row and a few trials in organic farming.

Decanter

About wine:

The 2015 vintage showcases the sun-kissed fruits of the year with more bite and intensity than the 2008 and 2012 vintages. Fleshy aromas of orange, red pear, dried pineapple, and soft grapefruit peel are underpinned by a solid structure, although a suppleness of nougat and acacia honey lurks in the mid-palate and promises to blossom with a little patience. The vintage's boundless energy is proudly on display for now, with bitter almond and fruit skin intensifying for an energizing finish despite moderate acidity. A cuvée that will pair particularly well with food. 90% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay from 8 Grand Cru villages. Dosage 6 g/L.

Guide Hachette des vins

About wine:

The white version of this prestigious vintage cuvée highlights Pinot Noir (90% with 10% Chardonnay). After many years on the lees, this champagne, born of a hot, dry year, pleasantly surprises with its freshness and youthfulness: an elegant, iodine-rich nose with citrus and yellow fruit notes, and a harmonious palate that is lively on the attack, taut and straightforward, with great length. You can sense that this beautiful vintage will continue to gain depth.

About the estate:

The heir to a family of bankers, textile merchants, and vineyard owners, Philippe Clicquot founded his champagne house in 1772, with an anchor as its symbol and exportation as its goal. His son died prematurely in 1805, and it was his daughter-in-law, Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin, then aged 27, who took over the company and went down in history. An accomplished businesswoman, she ran the company for much of the 19th century, driving its considerable growth. Today, the company owns nearly 400 hectares of vineyards, and its yellow label is known throughout the world. It has been part of the LVMH group since 1987.

Guide des Vins Gault & Millau

About wine:

Here are fruits, flowers, leaves, and branches, and here is my heart that beats only for you, or when Paul Verlaine inspires Veuve Clicquot. On the palate, refined bubbles accompany a delicate, fruity but not overly so, barely floral texture, with a texture as finely crafted as antique Calais lace. Not a word out of place, like soft music that lingers in your mind for a long time. The wine is pure elegance and aristocracy; pure class.

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

About wine:

The 2015 Brut La Grande Dame is looking good today, evoking aromas of spring flowers, lemon oil, spices, and freshly baked bread. Medium-bodied to full-bodied, elegant and consistent, it has a deep fruity core, lively acidity, and a salty, mineral finish.

RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France

About wine:

Intense, fine bubbles. The nose is vinous, dominated by Pinot, and the wine is sincere with beautiful overall maturity. The mineral, chalky base brings fullness. The palate reveals good richness and density.

About the estate:

The luxury group LVMH, owner since 1987, has made Veuve Clicquot the second largest Champagne brand by volume with its famous Carte Jaune brut (the best-selling Champagne in the US). The house owns premier and grand cru vineyards, which are mainly used for vintage and Grande Dame cuvées. Marked by Pinot Noir, Clicquot wines are historically renowned for their vinous and structured palate. The team led by cellar master Dominique Demarville strives to maintain the difficult balance between volume growth and quality. The rosés have a fruity identity thanks to the quality of the Pinots from Veuve Clicquot's historic vineyards in Bouzy.

Wine Spectator

About wine:

The intense aromas of cherry and raspberry are enhanced by aromatic notes of tea rose, grated ginger, and blood orange zest in this elegant, wine-like rosé champagne. Lively on the palate, with bright acidity and fine mousse, it also features mineral notes of smoke, oyster shell, and chalk that underscore its racy, well-spiced finish. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Disgorged in March 2023. Drink now through 2035.

Wine Enthusiast

About wine:

This great champagne is rich and beautifully structured. It is full of beautiful maturity and presents layers of ripeness on a generous texture. This impressive wine is ready to drink now.

Jancis Robinson

About wine:

Rich nose. Large bubbles. Delicate caramel sweetness. Big and round, almost like a gentle giant, but there is a lot of power and structure in the acidity. Grapefruit and bitter apples. Then sweet, ripe apples. Creamy caramel. Cuboid structure in the way it fills the mouth. Yet the finish is round and smooth, with hints of silver and gold.

Vinous

About wine:

The 2015 La Grande Dame is brilliant and well concentrated. A beautiful energy animates the fruity core of the Pinot Noir. Pear, white flowers, mint, white pepper, and lime are well defined. The 2015 is not the most complex Grande Dame I have ever tasted, but it offers a lot of immediacy, without the vegetal notes or harsh edges that have proved so difficult elsewhere. This is a champagne that has been expertly crafted in every respect.

James Suckling

About wine:

This wine is elegant and lively with aromas of green apples, lemon zest, lime blossom, salted almonds, and pastries. Medium-bodied and refreshing, it has lively acidity and tiny bubbles. 90% Pinot Noir and 10% Chardonnay. Drink now or cellar.