Champagne Leclerc Briant Brut Reserve
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Wilfred
Wong -
Jeb
Dunnuck - Decanter
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Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine &
Spirits
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Underlying flavors of brioche and almond from over two years on the lees in bottle (sur lattes). Natural malolactic fermentation9 to 11 months in stainless steel tanks with 20% in oak barrelsDosage is kept below 4 grams per liter and the wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered. Finish is firmly dry with lingering notes of chervil and coriander. 40% Pinot Noir, 40% Meunier, 20% Chardonnay
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The Champagne Leclerc Briant Reserve Brut deftly combines nicely focused fruit and earth from start to finish. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits aromas and flavors of earth, forest floor, and tart apples, with a hint of citrus peel. Try it with grilled prawns. (Tasted: December 8, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
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Jeb Dunnuck
Pouring a bright pale yellow hue, the NV Champagne Reserve Brut is from 2019, with 40% each Pinot Noir and Meunier and 20% Chardonnay. It opens to reveal notes of wet asphalt, ripe white peach, and fresh redcurrant. Medium-bodied and approachable, it has a rounded mid-palate, a chalky and pithy texture with a lively yet fine mousse, and a light note of brûléed grapefruit rind on the finish. It’s an attractive and balanced wine with a clean finish.
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Decanter
Lively and energetic nose full of floral and herbal scents, including chamomile. A full, structured mouthfeel with a seductive, velvety texture that remains balanced. The floral finish is enticingly light-footed.
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Wine Enthusiast
Blending the three Champagne grapes, this wine is well textured. It is warm, the tang of minerality softened by ripe white-fruit flavors.
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Wine & Spirits
Focused on red grapes (pinots noir and meunier, 40 percent each), this gives an impression of sweet, blue-black grape skins in its soft red fruit, while golden, oxidative tones bring scents of butterscotch and white tea to the finish. For rich shellfish, like oysters Rockefeller.
A term typically reserved for Champagne and Sparkling Wines, non-vintage or simply “NV” on a label indicates a blend of finished wines from different vintages (years of harvest). To make non-vintage Champagne, typically the current year’s harvest (in other words, the current vintage) forms the base of the blend. Finished wines from previous years, called “vins de reserve” are blended in at approximately 10-50% of the total volume in order to achieve the flavor, complexity, body and acidity for the desired house style. A tiny proportion of Champagnes are made from a single vintage.
There are also some very large production still wines that may not claim one particular vintage. This would be at the discretion of the winemaker’s goals for character of the final wine.
Associated with luxury, celebration, and romance, the region, Champagne, is home to the world’s most prized sparkling wine. In order to bear the label, ‘Champagne’, a sparkling wine must originate from this northeastern region of France—called Champagne—and adhere to strict quality standards. Made up of the three towns Reims, Épernay, and Aÿ, it was here that the traditional method of sparkling wine production was both invented and perfected, birthing a winemaking technique as well as a flavor profile that is now emulated worldwide.
Well-drained, limestone and chalky soil defines much of the region, which lend a mineral component to its wines. Champagne’s cold, continental climate promotes ample acidity in its grapes but weather differences from year to year can create significant variation between vintages. While vintage Champagnes are produced in exceptional years, non-vintage cuvées are produced annually from a blend of several years in order to produce Champagnes that maintain a consistent house style.
With nearly negligible exceptions, . These can be blended together or bottled as individual varietal Champagnes, depending on the final style of wine desired. Chardonnay, the only white variety, contributes freshness, elegance, lively acidity and notes of citrus, orchard fruit and white flowers. Pinot Noir and its relative Pinot Meunier, provide the backbone to many blends, adding structure, body and supple red fruit flavors. Wines with a large proportion of Pinot Meunier will be ready to drink earlier, while Pinot Noir contributes to longevity. Whether it is white or rosé, most Champagne is made from a blend of red and white grapes—and uniquely, rosé is often produce by blending together red and white wine. A Champagne made exclusively from Chardonnay will be labeled as ‘blanc de blancs,’ while ones comprised of only red grapes are called ‘blanc de noirs.’