2013 Marc Hebrart, Special Club Brut Millesime Premier Cru

Disgorged in April 2018, this release of Hébrart's 2013 Brut Premier Cru Special Club Millésimé is superb, unwinding in the glass with aromas of fresh apples, Anjou pear, pastry cream, acacia honey and dried white flowers. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, ample and seductive, with superb amplitude and depth at the core, succulent acids and a fine mousse, concluding with a long and precise finish. At once charming and serious, it's a beautifully rendered Champagne.

The 2013 Brut Special Club Millesime is wonderfully amped up and radiant. Honey, pastry, vanillin, apricot and lemon confit open up in a weighty Champagne built on power and intensity. The Special Club offers notable density, even if it has a bit less textural finesse than most of the other wines in this range. Even so, the Special Club is an attractive wine, just not the meaningful step up it should be. I would give the 2013 at least a year or two in bottle to unwind. The blend is 55% Pinot Noir and 45% Chardonnay. Disgorged: December 6, 2017.