De Venoge Champagne Louis Xv 2006

The assemblage of the 2006 Louis XV Brut Millésimé is about the same as the 1995 and 1996—composed of 50/50 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, all from grand cru villages. The only difference is that the Chardonnay from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger (10% of the assemblage) spent 12 months in oak barrels. Disgorged in January 2017 (dosage: six grams per liter), the 2006 has a golden color and opens with a deep, ripe, elegant and vinous bouquet with toasty and chalky lemon and fresh white fruit flavors. On the palate, this is an intense, round, fresh and complex Louis XV with great purity and finesse. The wine opens on the palate like a soufflé, coating the whole palate without any pressure or weight—gorgeous! This is a delicate and fresh yet well-structured and persistent Louis XV whose intense and long but weightless finish reveals lovely, almost juicy fruit concentration with perfectly integrated freshness and lasting minerality that seems to give additional structure. The 2006 shows a lot of Chardonnay features right now and drinks perfectly today; however, it can be kept under perfect conditions for decades. Just keep it in the box, because the bottle is white and nothing makes a Champagne age faster than exposure to daylight. (Tasted in November 2017 from Lot Ll 15067017BT.) The next vintage of Louis XV will be the 2008. It will be the first vintage whose base wines haven't undergone malolactic fermentation. Release date: End of 2018.Champagne de Venoge's finest wines come along in carafe-shaped bottles that one might call kitsch, but I like them. They don't fit in my fridge door, but my fridge is big and the Champagne's good enough to deserve its own shelf and an upright position. The prestige cuvées Louis XV and Louis d'Or are remarkably elegant and vinous sparkling wines with structure, great complexity and also finesse. The 2006 Brut Rosé is one of the finest you can get, and the 1995 Louis XV is a greatly matured and generous Champagne that is still terribly fresh even though it was disgorged more than ten years ago in 2006. Cellar master Isabelle Tellier is doing a great job; there is not a single disappointing wine in the current portfolio that starts with the easy-drinking Cordon Bleu and offers some sophisticated cuvées in the Princes range. Champage de Venoge is—despite its glorious but volatile history (in terms of frequent changes of ownership)—still an underrated rising star in the Champagne region. Champagne de Venoge is now owned by Lanson-BCC.