NV Tarlant Cuvee Louis
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Tasting Notes
50% Chardonnay, 50% Pinot Noir from a single vineyard. Baked apple, brioche and spice on the nose. Opulent and decadent. Pale and light in the glass with a very fine mousse. Fresh lean and focused, still feels youthful despite more than 15 years on the lees. Lots of complexity and richness with a long, deeply impressive finish which maintains remarkable elegance. Great now, potentially even better with a year or two in the cellar. A magnificent Champagne.
Critic Scores
Average Score
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
John Gilman, View From The Cellar
More reviews and scores
The Brut Nature Cuvée Louis is the most overt and oak-driven wine in Benoit Tarlant's range. Candied orange peel, pie crust, honey, dried flowers and mint are all pushed forward. Even with its decidedly flamboyant personality, the Cuvée Louis has aged well. This is an especially fine bottle of the current release, which is based on 2000, with reserve wines from 1999, 1998, 1997 and 1996.
This has a deeper gold-ish hue and plenty of autolysis-driven grilled nuts in addition to nougat and berry pastries. The palate has a chiseled, refined and chalky feel – compressed by age but very fresh still. It's smooth and made up of a delicate layering of elegant peaches and a light cherry finish. A Champagne that shows nice balance but is complex at the same time. Made from equal parts chardonnay and pinot noir. A blend of 1996, '97, '98, '99 and 2000 vintages laid down on lees in 2001.
94+ points. The new release of Cuvée Louis from the Tarlant family is from the base year of 2000, with the fifteen percent of reserve wines for this bottling hailing from the vintages of 1999, 1998, 1997 and 1996. As is customary with the Cuvée Louis, the wine spent fully fifteen years aging sur latte prior to disgorgement and is non-dosé. As readers may recall, the wine is a fifty-fifty blend of chardonnay and pinot noir, from the lieu à dit of “Les Crayons” in Oeuilly that was planted back in 1946. Like all of the Tarlant wines, the vins clairs do not go through malo. The wine is barrel-fermented in four year-old casks and aged until May of 2001 in cask prior to blending and bottling. The 2000 Cuvée Louis offers up a deep, vibrant and complex bouquet of apple, white peach, patissière, refined soil tones, a touch of hazelnut, dried flowers and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and complex, with a great core, superb balance, elegant mousse and a long, brisk and very nicely balanced finish. At age seventeen, the new release of Cuvée Louis is drinking with great class, but it has the capacity to evolve in bottle for decades to come. Great juice! May 2017, www.viewfromthecellar.com, Drink: 2017-2040+
