2010 Drappier ‘Grande Sendree’ Champagne

Winemaker Notes: This champagne presents itself in a ravishing pale yellow robe with topaz nuances. Time has used its patina to reveal the wine’s complexity. Hawthorn blends with acacia honey, beeswax and marzipan. When it is aerated, the wine resumes its murmurings, quince jelly meets raspberry jam and alternates with bergamot and warm brioche. On the palate it is invigorating, imposing and it teases the taste buds. The bead caresses and balances wild strawberry jam with ripe blood orange. This harmony is extended in a delicate minerality and a lovely bitterness in which hints of mandarin orange come through.

Ideal as an aperitif. Goes perfectly with bouillon of crayfish and grapefruit, poached turbot with sauce hollandaise, scallop carpaccio, rack of lamb with foie gras, creamed Bresse fowl with truffles, mountain comté at least 18 months old. Serve at 7°C.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM


James Suckling - "Aromas of ginger, dried pineapple, baked apple, nutmeg and toast. Rich and flavorful, with silky bubbles and zippy acidity. Spicy and gently toasty, with a lengthy finish. 55% pinot noir and 45% chardonnay. Drink or hold."


Jeb Dunnuck - "Composed of 55% Pinot Noir and the remainder Chardonnay, about a third of the 2010 Champagne Grande Sendrée was raised in oak barrels. It is fleshy with aromas of buttered brioche, espresso, and apricot, while the palate offers more energy to balance the richness of the wine, with fresh red berries, beeswax, chamomile, and fresh orange, a lovely chalky texture, and a fluffy mousse. Providing a nice balance between opulence and a lifted feel, it is drinking well now. Best after 2022."


Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - "The 2010 Brut Grande Sendrée has turned out very well indeed, unwinding in the glass with youthful aromas of citrus oil, white flowers, white peach and fresh bread. Medium to full-bodied, bright and concentrated, it's youthfully tightly wound, with a racy spine of acidity, an elegant pinpoint mousse and a penetrating, chalky finish. This can't quite match the plenitude of the 2009, but it may outpace it with time, as this is an impressively vibrant, structured young Grande Sendrée. Rating : 93+"