Perrier-Jouet Belle Epoque (1.5 Liter Magnum) 2006
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a full-bodied and ripe wine, showing some toastiness as well as the delicious, concentrated apple and peach flavors. There is a crisp edge to this opulent and rich wine. It has a great future: it is drinkable now but will continue well into the 2020's.
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Wine & Spirits
A soft and approachable 2006, this wine has casual elegance, integrated sweet scents of cinnamon toast, touches of pale red fruit and tighter seashell minerality. Well made and firm, this is a festive wine for Dungeness crab.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
One of the most romantic bottles on earth, the 2006 Perrier-Jouët is one of the most approachable grande marques one could ever find. Perhaps that is why this is so good now. One does not have to wait. Just find the right occasion and unleash the genie. Medium straw color, tiny refined beads, dried apple aromas, a hint of yeastiness, alluring and gentle complexities; medium bodied, a fine ease on the palate; dry for sure, but pleasingly soft in acidity, well balanced; fine apple, light yeast in the flavors; long finish, smooth in the aftertaste. (Tasted: September 29, 2014, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Spectator
Tightly knit flavors of poached apple and apricot, lemon parfait, spun honey and ground anise are wrapped around a core of minerality in this harmonious Champagne. The refined, raw silk—like texture carries the smoke and chalk accents on the long finish. Drink now through 2027.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Rich and yet not at all lavish and, in fact, a touch tighter in its basic construction, this slow-to-show effort gradually reveals a keen bit of autolysis neatly matched to its vital, if comparatively subdued fruit. Its tiny bubbles are many and wonderfully well- sustained, and it ends with a terrifically long finish, and, every step of its way, it suggests a little more depth than most and has the potential to gain in both richness and range for a good many more years.
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Perrier-Jouët was founded in 1811 in Epernay by Pierre-Nicolas-Marie Perrier and his wife, Adele Jouët. One of the most prestigious houses in Champagne, the firm was shipping wine to Great Britain by 1813 and to the United States by 1837. Perrier-Jouët owns 266 acres of vineyards in Champagne, with an average rating of 95%, and is known worldwide for its consistency of style.
By the end of the 19th Century, its Brut cuvées earned the reputation of nobility and prestige that continues today. Perrier Jouët's glamorous "Cuvée Belle Epoque", known in the United States as Fleur de Champagne, was launched in 1969 and has become the most important cuvée de prestige to appear after World War II. The bottle is adorned with enamel-painted anenomes originally created by Emile Gallé in 1900, but the wine is as famous for its taste as it is for its beautiful packaging.
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.’