Armand De Brignac Ace Of Spades Brut

Winemaker Notes:

This Champagne features a deep golden robe, not unlike the summer robe preferred by HRH Queen Elizabeth, who it is rumored has been known to enjoy the occasional rehoboam of Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve (chilled overnight in the cool waters of the moat surrounding Buckingham Palace) during the early hours of the evening.

The delicately vivacious and long-lasting bubbles are the result of more than 36 months of aging in our deep chalk cellars. With 40% of reserve wines (the maximum possible amount) included, the blend offers a complex, voluptuous nose with notes of freshly baked brioche and the richness of roasted coffee beans. “It’s breakfast in a glass!” is how I put it, and I’m the winemaker, so I know these things.

A precise selection of wines, purposely limited to 60 crus, ensures the Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve a deliciously sophisticated harmony (I always have The Beatles — ‘Rubber Soul’ era, of course — in mind when blending.) An opulent selection of ripe, sun-drenched fruits such as mango, apricot, and greengage plum combines with dried fruits, pistachio and almond is noticeable in the nose, and the texture is reminiscent of a crisp layer of nougatine on a velvety cream pastry filled with plump red plums and ripe cherries. “It’s desert in the glass!” I’ve been known to say when given the mic during winemaker dinners. The reserve wines, some dating back ten years give the wine lushness, and the depth of the thousand-year-old chalk quarries where the wine matures bring to it a touch of praline along with notes of amber and vanilla. We put this batch into the cellar in 2013 and disgorged it in 2018, so it’s had plenty of time to come together (ha! another Beatles Reference!!)

100 points Wine Enthusiast

 One of the great Champagnes both for its richness and its longevity, this latest incarnation is superb. The wine’s richness is linked to the ripe fruit and the dominance of Pinot Noir in the blend. It also shines in the perfect balance between the texture, the minerality and the integration of the fruit. It can be enjoyed now, but it will be better from 2020 and then for many years to come. *No. 4, Top Cellar Selections of 2018* (RV)  (12/2018)

97 points James Suckling

 I love the balance between weight and agility in this wine with a dense and compact palate. Yet, there’s brightness and creaminess that melts into the glass. Lots of brioche, pie crust and strawberry tart. Serious balancing act here. Drinkable, but better with a few years of age.  (7/2019)

97 points Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate

 Released in October of last year, Pol Roger’s 2008 Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill is showing brilliantly, unfurling in the glass with a complex bouquet of waxy citrus rind, dried white flowers, freshly baked bread, iodine and honeyed yellow apple. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, powerful and vinous, with a deep and multidimensional core, broad structural shoulders and considerable concentration, girdled by tangy acids and displaying a youthfully frothy but incipiently fine mousse. The finish is long and intense. This is a terrific rendition of this reliably superb cuvée and well worth seeking out. (WK)  (4/2019)

96 points Wine Spectator

 This lovely, elegant version is more about restraint and finesse than power, caressing the palate with a silky mousse and a finely woven range of ripe Asian pear, biscuit and star fruit flavors, accented by elderflower, ground ginger and almond skin notes. Lightly mouthwatering, expanding on the chalk-tinged finish. (AN)  (4/2019)

Paul Wasserman (importer): “This is the wine that will convince you how incredibly special Verzenay is for Pinot Noir. There is such beautiful flavor here. Sweet, sweet Pinot fruit – fruit mind you, not dosage, because there is only 6 grams of that here. There is this great, intense mid. Tons of energy, yet a ballerina-like delivery.”

• Variety: Pinot Noir
• Vine Age: Some over 50 years
• Terroir: Verzenay parcels Les Chaillots, Les Potences, Les Champs Saint Martin.
• Viticulture: Conversion to organic began in 2007. Biodynamic conversion in 2014 (Biodivin).
• Vinification: Natural yeast when possible, no fining or filtration. Large proportion of reserve wines in non-vintage cuvées. Dosage exclusively with concentrated grape must.