Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs

This beautiful Chardonnay from five top Grand Cru vineyards is textured with fruit that is still impressively perfumed. Its concentration has allowed it to remain perennially young. Although there are hints of toastiness, the Champagne has many more years of potential. Drink now and at least up to 2027.

Comtes is a remarkable wine, very vintage dependent, but hallmarked with undeniable finesse. For a tête de cuvée, very little of this is produced (around 150K bottles), and certainly not every year (there will be no Comtes 2022 or 2023). 2013 was the 38th vintage of Comtes since 1952. With GC fruit from Côtes des Blancs' Chouilly, Cramant, Avize, Oger, and Les Mesnil-sur-Oger, this was primarily fermented in stainless, though 5% from estate vineyards in Chouilly was fermented in new 225L barrels for 6 months. Once in bottle, this spent 8 years on lees, and was dosed with 9 g/L when disgorged in 2022. Fine lemon, meringue, marzipan, subtle smoked stone and toast is chiseled by lemon pith and peel, and run by driving minerality. The core is quite generous, though shaped and bracketed by chalk, which lingers on the buzzing, saline finish. Supremely finessed and drinking now, but will certainly hold in cellar for some years ahead.