This week we celebrate Champagne Vilmart & Cie. with a limited time, special offer of some rarely imported Champagnes.  Laurent Champs' celebrated winery is considered to be the best of the Grower-Producers.  These wineries, known as "Récoltant-Manipulant", are the hands-on artisans that produce their Champagnes from only vineyards that they themselves manage.  In the R-M category you'll find many of the most intriguing, captivating, and above all else, great value wines in Champagne.

 

"Vilmart has quickly established cult status [...] since young Laurent took over from his father in 1991, the company has become one of the true gems with the perfect wine, Coeur de Cuvée, as its most brilliant star."

Richard Juhlin, 4000 Champagnes

"When I first tasted Vilmart in 1981 it was nothing special. But after it introduced oak in the late 1980s, a sea change in quality occurred. By 1991, I declared Vilmart to be 'Poor man's Krug', 'Mini Krug' and 'The greatest grower Champagne I know.'"

Tom Stevenson, Decanter magazine

 

These wines are of limited supply.  I will distribute the cases as equitably as possible. The wines would arrive in late September 2020.  There is no payment necessary to reserve.  Bottle prices include HST, but not bottle deposit.  These are available by the unmixed case only.  This offer closes July 1st, 2020.

Do you know someone who loves Champagne, and wine delivered free to their door? Please share this email with them! 

For our full list of wines, click here.  To order, just reply to this email or give me a call, 437 227 6950 (cell), 416 961 2294 x 29 (office).

Cheers,

Chris. 

We regularly carry the "Grand Cellier" Non-Vintage, which is an exotic and light yet luxurious wine.  Captivating on its own, this would be  perfect beside delicate fish dish like Sole Meunière, or beside an icy platter of oysters.

"The NV Grand Cellier (2015 base) is pure class. Creamy and exquisitely layered, the Grand Cellier remains light on its feet and vibrant. Orchard fruit, spice, pastry crust and white flowers build nicely in the glass in a Champagne of exquisite balance. This release is based on 2015, with 25% 2014 and 25% 2013 reserve wines. Dosage is 8 grams per liter. Disgorged: November, 2018."

91 points, Antonio Galloni  vinous.com, Dec 2019

 

For more information, click here.

 

Champagne Vilmart & Cie "Cuvée Rubis" NV

"A mouthwatering rosé Champagne, with a fine, lively mousse and a delicate skein of spice unraveling through the flavors of white peach, blood orange granita, saffron and almond biscotti. Offers a lingering, chalk-tinged finish. Disgorged November 2016. Drink now through 2022."

93 points, Wine Spectator, Nov 2018

"From 55-year-old vines and aged for ten months in small oak barrels (no malolactic fermentation done), the rare 2011 Premier Cru Grand Cellier Rubis displays an orange shimmering rosé colour and has a deep, rich and complex bouquet with toasty brioche and nutty notes intermixed with lovely red fruit and floral aromas. Full-bodied but pure, fresh and very elegant on the palate, with concentrated fruit and good structure, this is a highly delicate but persistent cuvée of 60% Pinot Noir (saignée) and 40% Chardonnay. It is complex and long on the vinous finish."

93 points, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Aug 2018

 

For more information, click here.

 

 

The Grand Cellier d'Or is Vilmart's "regular" vintage wine (an understatement by a mile).  It is a spicy and linear wine, barrel aged but non-malolactic.  The blend is composed of 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir classified Premier Cru, from vines in Rilly-la-Montagne which are 50 years of age or older. 

The base wine is aged for ten months in oak barrique.  It spends 42 months on the lees, in the cellar after bottling, before disgorgement.  It is rather dry, with 7 grams/litre dosage.

Immediately intense to the eye, it glimmers gold and yellow, and shows a fine, persistent bead. The palate displays fresh butter, lemon custard, candled pineapple, cardamom and pepper.  Notes of chalk and roasted lobster shell evolve along with cinnamon and gingerbread.  The finish is long and wraps up with flavours of grapefruit and praline.  At once luxurious and tense, the wine is ready to drink now, but will evolve well.

For more information, click here.

 

 

"Ripe fruit and floral aromas carry over to the palate of this firm and focused Champagne, accenting the Honeycrisp apple and white cherry fruit, toast, lemon curd and grated ginger flavours. Fine and creamy in texture, with a mouthwatering juiciness through to the lasting finish. Disgorged October 2016. Drink now through 2028. 120 cases imported."

94 points, Wine Spectator, Dec 2018

"The 2013 Cuvée Grand Cellier d'Or shows the layered, vertical construction that is so typical of this wine. Deceptively medium in body, the 2013 is subtle and yet wonderfully complex. There is an airy, weightless quality to the 2013 that is impossible to miss. At the same time, all the layers of complexity and structure are present, they just speak in hushed tones. Citrus, floral and mineral notes are some of the signatures, but the Cellier d'Or is mostly a wine of textural finesse and nuance. Dosage is 7 grams per litre."

93 points, Antonio Galloni  vinous.com, July 2018

 

For more information, click here.

 

Chris McLean

office: 416 961 2294 x 29

cell: 437 227 6950