(Vilmart & Cie "Coeur de Cuvée" Brut) ($153.00) I hope you got some of this already sold out wine. I didn’t! And I’m consumed with self-pity about it. Disgorged 2/10. It has the dosage Laurent and I agreed on a year ago. It also has an ungoldly aroma; Chinese 5-spice, carrots sweating in butter, lemon honey, macadamias, and an edge of white iris freshness that will go truffley in time. The palate makes you wonder how wine gets any better. It has astonishing solidity and yet a zephyr of blossoms float over the high skies, and yet it all comes to some kind of loving accord on the finish, Reggiano and sea-scallops and saffron risotto – yet there’s also a green Chartreuse-y note. Head-shaking. There’s even a flavor of pumpkin pie, and the finish establishes a colony on your palate. By the way, notwithstanding my subjective preference for the galvanic freshness of the 2001, there’s no questioning the massive impact of this wine. It will go the greater distance.
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By John Gilman
(Vilmart et Cie “Coeur de Cuvée” Brut Millésime (Rilly-la-Montagne)) Login and sign up and see review text.Jan/Feb 2026, Issue #121, Recently-Tasted Champagne Very Early Spring 2026