Vilmart @ Foretti's

• 2009 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Blanc de Blancs Les Blanches Voies

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  100% Chard, 60-year old vines, dosage 4g/L. Disg March 2017
  Slightly more gold than the 2012 Blanches Voies. Miniature bead. Lemon citrusy nose. Yellow apple, yellow raspberry, and has something akin to classically-styled lemon curd. Hint of tangerine and slight nuttiness on mid-end palate. As it warmed, a bit of browning apple came through. Plush but precise. Insanely long finish - 2+ minutes out and it was still there.
  
  My first reaction is to start drinking these up as it's unclear whether there's an upside to longer bottle ageing.

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• 2012 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Blanc de Blancs Les Blanches Voies

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  Disg Nov 2020. Rush of sea water on the nose, which was surprising. Less ripe and plush than the 2009: lemon, unripe tangerine, low-sugar lemon curd, saline mid palate, and some vanilla on the finish. Fresh, energetic & Long finish. More open than the one from last year, but still a bit tight. Recommend waiting approx 1.5-3 years, but not sure whether beyond that will continue yielding positive returns. The saline note in the mid-palate gives me pause on long-term ageing; is the fruit intensity sufficient to go the long haul?

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Note: we tried the 2015 Emotion with this flight, then revisited with the last flight

• 2015 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier d'Or

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  The first word that came to mind when I smelled this was "oak." Fruit isn't precise, a bit "general citrus" that comes across as a bit muted, maybe buried by the oak. A bit heavy and clunky next to the 2015 CdC served alongside it. For my taste, it felt the oak overwhelmed the fruit, but others may enjoy that style. Not convinced that there's an upside.

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• 2015 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  80% Chard, 20% PN. 7g/L dosage. disg 03/22.
  Nose of lemon and something green. Lemon, a hint of red raspberry, maybe some tangerine if I really try to fish for it. More precise than the 2015 GCdO but doesn't have that intensity one expects from the CdC line. On the finish, some stemmy oak that may resolve with time.

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• NV Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier Œnothèque T13

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  Base 2012. This is essentially Grand Cellier base 2012 aged on the lees for longer. On the nose, the additional years on lees are not evident. Tart lemon, unripe tangerine on the palate as it warms... and as it warms the oak increases and seems to compete with the fruit. Short finish, in my estimation, the shortest of the evening.

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• 2012 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier d'Or

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  Disg 8/2016
  Lemon, tangerine, lemon curd, a bit of pineapple on the finish. It's not really pineapple per say, but rather the perfect juxtaposition of intense fruit and acid. Lemon curd deliciousness throughout. Oak, acid and fruit in perfect balance. Blew away the 2015 CdC and completely wiped out the 2015 GCdO from the prior flight.

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• 2012 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Rosé Emotion

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  Strawberry and cream, blood orange mid, lemon zest. Slight spice on the finish. More focused, precise and energetic than the 2013 emotion alongside it, which was more plush.

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• 2013 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Rosé Emotion

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  Nearly identical in color to the 2012, though perhaps a hair more pink. Strawberry, ripe sweet lemon in the mid palate, red raspberry. Warm cinnamon on the finish. Seems a bit rounder and ready than the 2012. Drink now.

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• 2015 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Rosé Emotion

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  Third bottle of 2015 emotion within the last year. Similar impressions. Next to the precise 2012 and the plush 2013, this 2015 is jut not up to par. Bizarre pine note in the mid palate that overwhelmed the faint unripe stem-on strawberry. Almost seems like something went sideways with the PN.

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