H. Blin Millesime Brut 2008
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Nose : Scents of white flowers and ripe pear.
Palate : Aromas of toasted bread. Long finish of exotic fruits.
Blend: 50% Pinot Meunier, 50% Chardonnay
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
What this mature, ripe wine has lost in fruit, it has gained in richness and complexity. Its toasty, nutty character attracts, along with its tight acidity and taut, nervy texture. Nicely evolved and well-balanced, it is ready to drink now.
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Wine Spectator
A toasty Champagne that offers bright acidity, a lively bead and flavors of blackberry and white cherry, candied lemon peel and pastry cream. Drink now through 2023.
Other Vintages
2011-
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James
Suckling
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Wilfred
Wong
This makes H BLIN the largest vineyard owners of Pinot Meunier in Champagne, and specialists of this fine varietal which imparts such great white fruit character and spice to the Champagne. One of the most important goals of H BLIN is to protect the environment by using the most natural products to treat the vineyards, which has already earned them organic certification for 3 hectares of vineyard.
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
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.’