2001 Champagne Vilmart, Coeur de Cuvée

The Cœur de Cuvée, as the name suggests, is the sine que non, of the Vilmart portfolio. Good Champagnes take only the pressings from what is known as the Cuvée, leaving the inferior pressings, known as Taille, for sale to the lesser houses, or even distillation. The Coeur de Cuvée is only the very best juice from these best pressings; aged for ten months in barrels and sourced from 50 year-old-vines. The blend is 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir. The wine, given the mediocre vintage, has astonishing depth and purity and that almost Burgundian elegance of texture for which Vilmart are so rightly lauded.
(Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer)

The 2000 Coeur de Cuvee is literally made from the “heart” of the juice, with the first and last part of the pressing discarded. This is a richly textured, intense wine loaded with ripe fruit and sweet toasted oak. Today it remains quite primary, but it will be stunner in a few years’ time, once the full range of its tertiary aromas and flavors have developed. Patience is the key. Coeur de Cuvee is 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir from 50-year old vines.

Proprietor Laurent Champs makes some of the region’s most distinctive Champagnes. The Vilmart wines are characterized by an extreme sense of elegance, clarity and definition. The domaine’s eleven hectares of vineyards are planted with 60% Chardonnay, 36% Pinot Noir and 4% Pinot Meunier, with vine ages ranging from 35 to 55 years, clearly towards the older side of the spectrum in the region. Champs prefers oak aging for his wines. The entry-level wines are aged in cask, while the top selections spend time in smaller French oak barrels. (Antonio Galloni - Wine Advocate - Dec 08)