93 Wine Spectator

"Very elegant, favoring form over flavor, with well-cut acidity and a texture like fine silk. This offers lasting, finely woven notes of quince paste, black currant, lightly toasted almond, dried pineapple and fleur de sel. Disgorged January 2012. Drink now through 2020. 959 cases made. -AN"

18 Jancis Robinson's Purple Pages

"A British journalist, during a conversation in the mid eighties, told Bruno, 'we love your brut but you need to make a special cuvée'. Made only from grand cru vineyards (Bouzy, Verzenay, Oger, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger) and only in exceptional years - so far 1990, 1995, 1996 and 1999. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, first pressing only, a mixture of barrel and stainless steel. 12 years on lees. Dosage 4 g/l and then a long post-disgorging ageing to get the balance back - 18 months. Alice Paillard suggests it's a wine that is best given some time in the glass - needs more aeration than the Blanc de Blancs. Golden tinge. Sweeter, deeper, more generous nose than the Blanc de Blancs. Deep and commanding, rich and resonant, like the long low note of a cello. Clove. Orange peel. A radically different wine to the Blanc de Blancs, wearing the patina of time like a burnish. Very leesy and bready and rich. Drink 2014 to 2019. (TC)" (18 out of 20 points)