NV Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Blanc de Noirs Brut

Bouchard's NV Blanc de Noirs Côte de Val Vilaine (2020) is a worthy follow-up to the 2019, and time will tell which is the better of the two vintages. Unfurling in the glass with aromas of pear, green apple, crisp stone fruit and bread dough, it's medium to full-bodied, pillowy and precise, with a beautifully refined but intensely flavored palate that's finer-boned than the richer, more powerful 2019 rendition. Long and penetrating, this is another brilliant wine from Cédric Bouchard. Readers may be shocked to be reminded that, back on release, the first rendition of Val Vilaine was sold for 16.47 EUR before tax.

Cédric Bouchard's NV Blanc de Noirs Côte de Val Vilaine (2019) is beautiful, wafting from the glass with aromas of pear, green apple, clear honey, fresh bread, almond paste, white flowers and mirabelle plum. Medium to full-bodied, layered and vinous, it's satiny and textural, with an enveloping core of fruit, superb concentration and incisive acids. Chiseled and penetrating, it concludes with a long, saline finish. If the 2018 was immediate and demonstrative, this has structure to burn with age, charming though it is out of the gates, and I'm inclined to nominate it Bouchard's finest Val Vilaine to date.

Bouchard's NV Blanc de Noirs Côte de Val Vilaine (2018) is fleshy and dramatic, bursting with aromas of pear, warm bread, orange oil, nutmeg and beeswax. Medium to full-bodied, textural and enveloping, it's one of the most gourmand, generous renditions of Val Vilaine to date, yet it remains beautifully precise and vibrant—even racy. It will be hard to resist young, but I suspect it will also evolve very gracefully in the cellar. As usual, while this is officially a "non-vintage" cuvée, the code "L18" on the label designates the year from which it is entirely derived.