NV Armand de Brignac demi-sec

Pouring a bright straw hue, the NV Champagne Demi-Sec is very pretty and balanced, with a floral bouquet revealing notes of orange blossom, fresh berries, pastry dough, and roses. Medium-bodied, it’s graceful and clean, with a refined mousse, a balanced kiss of sweetness, and a chalky texture, but it never feels cloying. I wish more people embraced this style, as it casts a huge net for incredible pairings from foie gras to goat cheese to nutty deserts. Drink 2023-2033.

The golden-yellow Armand de Brignac NV Demi-Sec offers a nicely pure, fresh and aromatic bouquet of ripe and sweet fruits along with brioche flavors. Precise and fresh on the palate, this is a pretty sweet and fruity yet elegant and precise "prestige cuvée" assembling 40% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Meunier as well as the vintages of 2009, 2010 and 2012. The wine has good grip and tension and was dosed with 33 grams per liter of sugar. Tasted from lot L107B8 in April 2018.

40% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay, 20% Pinot Meunier. 2009, 2010, 2012. Dosage 33 g/l. Higher quality and older wines used as the base. Deep straw gold. Quite vegy/cabbagey on the nose – and then baked green apples. More complexity and age than most demi-secs. Nice balance. ‘Today it’s difficult to find demi-secs now that everyone is going for drier and drier wines. Sometimes people feel ashamed of going for a demi-sec.’ The only prestige cuvée demi-sec? (JR)