Champagne Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru

NV
Lilbert-Fils
France
Champagne

100% Grand Cru Chardonnay from Oiry, Chouilly, and Cramant in the Côte des Blancs. 50% 2013, 50% reserve. Disgorged: Summer 2016

 
93 points
"Finely knit and mineral-driven, this sleek version offers abundant smoke and chalk accents to the pear tart, chopped hazelnut, lemon curd and spring blossom notes. Shows focus and length in an elegant package, with a lasting, creamy finish. Drink now through 2022. 1,650 cases made."
Alison Napjus,
Wine Spectator
91 points
"The newest release of Lilbert-Fils Blanc de Blancs “Grand Cru” non-vintage Brut, was disgorged in June of 2016 and is composed of fifty percent base year 2013 and fifty percent reserve wines from the previous harvest. This bottling is produced from fruit from the grand cru villages of Cramant, Chouilly and Oiry and was finished with a dosage of seven grams per liter. The bouquet is pure and nascently complex, delivering scents of pear, delicious apple, pastry cream, chalky minerality and white flowers. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and very well-balanced, with a nicely integrated girdle of acidity, a lovely core of fruit, fine, pinpoint bubbles and good length and grip on the still youthful, but inviting finish. I might actually opt for drinking this bottling over the near-term and let the earlier disgorgement rest in the cellar, as this is a bit more open out of the blocks. Good juice. 2017-2035. "
John Gilman,
View From the Cellar
92 points
"A beautifully layered if extremely subtle and restrained nose speaks softly of yeast, citrus and green apple scents where there is a whisper of pear in the background. The mouth feel of the attractively precise flavors is equally cool and restrained and this impression is enhanced by the moderately firm but fine mousse, all wrapped in a dry but not really austere finale. The 2016 disgorgement is slightly drier than that of the 2015 version (that review is available in the Burghound database) and I prefer this one if only slightly. I would make the same observation here that I made with the prior cuvée which is that I would like to see a bit more complexity, particularly on the finish but I certainly can't fault the elegant and refined delivery."
Allen Meadows,
Burghound
91 points
"The latest rendition of Lilbert's NV Grand Cru Cramant Blanc de Blancs was disgorged in spring 2019 with a low three grams per liter dosage. It's based on the 2016 vintage, complemented by 50% reserve wines. Offering up a crisp and pure bouquet of green apple, wet stones and lemon oil, as well as subtle suggestions of freshly baked bread, it's medium to full-bodied, racy and incisive, with fine depth at the core, a delicate mousse and a chalky finish. This is quite a tender, charming rendition of this cuvée, despite the very low dosage, but as usual it will amply reward some aging on cork."
William Kelley,
Wine Advocate
, April 2020

SKU/Code: 
DB2914-NV
Product Line: 
Sparkling
Varietal: 
Chardonnay