Rating:
92
Josh Raynolds - Vinous Media
"Light yellow. Musky pit fruit and lemon pith scents are complemented by a chalky nuance and hints of toasted grain, honey and jasmine. Fleshy and dry on the palate, offering pliant white peach and Meyer lemon flavors and an undercurrent of smokiness. The mineral and floral notes repeat emphatically on the very long, focused finish. Although this wine is a Blanc de Blancs, that fact isn't indicated on the label."
Product Description:
Tasting Notes:
"This wine is rich. Dried pears, spices, hazelnuts and tobacco are come together to present a creamy finish. This wines aromas and flavors are beautiful." - Importer
Winery:
"Pascal Doquet, located in Vertus near Avize, owns an exquisite 8.66 hectares domaine including parcels in some of the best grand and premier cru vineyards in the Cote de Blancs. Since taking over the family domaine in 2004, he has set new standards in the prestigious Cote de Blancs by farming organically his grower Champagne. Moreoever his yields are 20 to 30 percent less than appellation standards and they produce only about 6,000 cases annually." - Importer
"Although Pascal Doquet established his own estate as recently as 2004, he has been making wines under his parents' label, Doquet-Jeanmaire, since 1982.
Doquet established his own brand as a Societe Recoltant (SR) with a portion of the family vineyards, and today he farms 8.66 hectares of vines, devoted entirely to the Pascal Doquet label since 2004 - while he still has some old stocks of Doquet-Jeanmaire wines for sale, he discontinued the label and stopped making those wines after the 2003 harvest.
The vineyards are planted with 95 percent chardonnay and five percent pinot noir, and they lie in several different areas, across a diversity of soil types.
Doquet is firmly dedicated to sustainable viticulture, and began making significant changes in the vineyards upon taking over the family estate in 1995. By 2001 he had stopped using all chemical herbicides across the domaine, and in 2004, once the estate was entirely in his own hands, he began working strictly organically, officially entering conversion in 2007 and becoming certified fully organic as of the 2010 harvest.
Pressing takes place in a pneumatic press, and only the cuvee is used, with the taille sold to the negoce. However, within the cuvee, which is normally the first three pressings, Doquet retains only the first two, which he considers to be of higher quality than the third. In addition, the first 50 liters after each retrousse is discarded with the taille: "That portion tends to be very fruity," he says. "It's good for non-vintage brut but not for long-aging.”
Prior to 2004, he used some barrels to age the vintage Le Mesnil, but since then he has expanded his use of wood, and today about one-third of the wines are aged in oak." - Information courtesy of Peter Liem's ChampagneGuide.net
Our biggest wine deals. Available by text! Join Winetext.com today!
