2008 Drappier, Grande Sendree

The 2008 Brut Grande Sendrée is showing superbly today, evoking aromas of ripe orchard fruits, brioche, marzipan, spices, confit citrus and beeswax intertwined with delicate notes of honey with air. Full-bodied on the palate, this Champagne is concentrated and perfectly balanced, rich and textured with an elegant mousse and frame of bright acids. It has a delicately phenolic, singular mid-palate and concludes with a long, chalky finish. This blend of 55% Pinot Noir and 45% Chardonnay, sourced from a single parcel in Urville, was matured for seven years sur lattes and disgorged with a dosage of five grams per liter.

From a single parcel in Urville, the 2008 Brut Grande Sendrée is exceptional, opening in the glass with incipiently rich aromas of crisp yellow orchard fruit, brioche, marzipan and wheat toast that seems to be on the cusp of acquiring more nutty complexity. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, deep and tight-knit, with superb concentration and structural tension, built around racy acids and concluding with an attractively chalky finish. In keeping with the vintage, this is quite a tensile, reserved Grande Sendrée, but its potential is considerable. Readers should plan on forgetting the 2008 for another four or five years if they wish to catch it at the beginning of its plenitude. It's a blend of 55% Pinot Noir and 45% Chardonnay, one-third of which was fermented in barrel; it was disgorged after seven years sur lattes with five grams per liter dosage.

Pretty rich nose and some depth and mystery (in a good way). Dry finish and still very youthful. Still something to chew on but it does seem serious. (JR)