2008 Jacquesson Avize Champ Cain

Disgorged in April 2018 with 2.5 grams per liter dosage, Jacquesson's 2008 Extra Brut Grand Cru Avize - Champ Caïn is showing brilliantly, soaring from the glass with a lively bouquet of waxy lemon rind, green apple, walnuts, marzipan and subtle hints of drawn butter and honey. On the palate, it's full-bodied, layered and multidimensional, with terrific concentration, mid-palate volume and structural tension, with a deeper, broader profile than the 2008 Core Bautray tasted alongside. The finish is long, saline and chalky. While Hervé Chiquet observes that Jacquesson has made considerable progress—especially in the vineyards—in the last decade that the 2008 necessarily doesn't reflect, this is nonetheless a brilliant Champagne.

The 2008 Extra-Brut Avize Champ Gain is rich, ample and creamy. Graphite, dried herbs, hazelnut and tropical notes fill out the wine’s ample frame effortlessly. Textural richness and vibrancy melded together make the Champ Gain absolutely compelling. Tropical overtones add shades of nuance to a Champagne that shows all of the resonance and breadth that are such Avize signatures. Dosage is 2.5 grams per liter. Disgorged: April, 2018.

Disgorged April 2018. 100% Chardonnay from a 1.3-ha vineyard planted in 1962. Dosage 2.5 g/l. Focused and mineral with the precision of a 2008. (JR)