About this WINE
Champagne Fleury
Champagne Fleury has been in the business of winemaking for over 125 years and is respected as one of the region’s first pioneers of biodynamics. Despite its long history, Fleury has remained a family winery. It is located in the far south of Champagne, in the Côtes des Bar, where the terroir has a huge amount in common with the Grand Crus of Chablis.
Fleury has never stopped innovating. In 1989, they committed fully to organic and biodynamic practices, the first in the region to do so. The winery prides itself on personifying the “art of being natural”. In this spirit, Champagne Fleury isn’t afraid to go against the grain in the interest of coaxing the very best out of the terroir.
Perhaps due to this, Fleury cuvées have a distinctive vinous quality and display outstanding precision, thanks to the care taken by the team in growing them. The mature Champagnes are a conversation piece at any gathering, managing to balance an ethereal purity of fruit with an earthy sense of place.
Blanc de Noirs
Blanc de Noirs describes a wine produced entirely from black grapes. In Champagne, Blanc de Noirs cuvée can be made from the two black grapes permitted within the appellation, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Bollinger's prestige cuvée Vieilles Vignes Françaises, from ungrafted, old Pinot Noir vines, has set the yardstick in a style that is now produced by a number of other Champagne houses.
A typical Blanc de Noirs cuvée has a deep golden colour, and can be more intensely flavoured than the classic non-vintage, multi-grape blend.Recommended Producers: Cedric Bouchard, Bollinger
Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte d'Or.
Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte d`Or.
Because of the thinness of the skins, Pinot Noir wines are lighter in colour, body and tannins. However the best wines have grip, complexity and an intensity of fruit seldom found in wine from other grapes. Young Pinot Noir can smell almost sweet, redolent with freshly crushed raspberries, cherries and redcurrants. When mature, the best wines develop a sensuous, silky mouth feel with the fruit flavours deepening and gamey "sous-bois" nuances emerging.
The best examples are still found in Burgundy, although Pinot Noir`s key role in Champagne should not be forgotten. It is grown throughout the world with notable success in the Carneros and Russian River Valley districts of California, and the Martinborough and Central Otago regions of New Zealand.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
An absolute treat to have a cuvee from the fantastic 2008 vintage in this latest release from Maison Fleury. The grapes are 100% Pinot Noir, selected from parcels across the Cote des Bars. 30% of this wine was fermented in oak barrels, and all bottled and disgorged by hand earlier this year. The nose is amazing, combining fresh purity of fruit, minerality from the terroir and the toasty richness from the lees, this is a true expression of the 2008 vintage and an absolute masterpiece – still a relative baby in terms of maturity as the structure and fine bubbles offers great reward for ageing.
A true vinous champagne, this intensely characterful, elegant and delicious wine will drink from 2023 - 2030.
Katie Merry, Assistant Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd
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