Published by Jeremy.
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We always love taking reader suggestions when it comes to delicious wine, and Champagne Vilmart & Cie Grand Cellar was one such bottle.
This beautiful Champagne was nicely balanced and had a decent hit of lees character while starting to show some tertiary development. Although the price for this one was a bit higher than what we'd prefer (particularly in the USA), it was a great one to try all the same.
A Well Balanced Champagne from Vilmart & Cie
This Champagne was medium lemon in color with medium aromas of lemon, lime, cream, toast, brioche, bread dough, nectarine, and almond.
On the palate it was dry with high acidity, medium alcohol and flavor intensity, a vibrant mousse, and a medium(+) body and finish. We had flavors of lemon, lime, pear, wet stone, cream, toast, biscuit, and slate.
This one had a rather lovely flavor profile with nice hits of lees aging and a very minor amount of tertiary development in our particular bottle. Although we often like a greater punch of lees character in Champagnes, especially at a certain price point, this one was nicely balanced all around.
Champagne Food Pairing – Truffle Pasta
We paired this Champagne with a truffle pasta with mushrooms. The richness of the pasta brought out more robust cream notes as well as more tropical flavors that we did not otherwise detect.
If there is any sort of decadence that would warrant pairing with a Champagne, it most certainly is all things truffle. Although this was a rather young Champagne as far as we could tell, we also would love to try this pairing with a much older bottle, too!
Score: 3.5 / 5
We'd buy a glass of this one and a bottle for the right price.
Overall, Champagne Vilmart & Cie is a rather delicious bottle that went beautifully with our dinner pairing. However, for its price in the USA we were hoping for just a bit more in the lees department- more of an issue on pricing disparity on imports here than any issue with the bottle itself. As such, we'd happily have a glass but would pick up a bottle if the price was just a bit more approachable.
Champagne Vilmart & Cie is located at 5 Rue des Gravières, 51500 Rilly-la-Montagne in France. We purchased this bottle on Wine.com and enjoyed it in 2023.
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