1996 Nicolas Feuillatte Grand Cru Cramant

The wife was ecstatic when my week of wine abstinence was over - I wasn't opening the good stuff if I wasn't drinking! We broke the dry spell in a big way, with my oldest bottle of vintage bubbly, a 1996 Champagne. This was a rather appropriate vintage to celebrate my 'comeback', as it was in November of 1996 that I went off to NYC in search of fame and fortune and ended a multi-year love of running.

The "Nicolas Feuillatte" brand is owned by a co-op, the Cave Vinicole de la Champagne, who adopted the single vineyard concept in the mid-90s. Tonight's "Cramant" is a single vineyard Champagne made from 100% Chardonnay (a 'blanc de blancs').

The 1996 Nicolas Feuillatte Grand Cru Cramant boasted a beefy scent of malt - a 'single malt' scotch from the highlands - with flinty and cream pastry notes, and a creeping sense that this wine held some untold secrets - swirling and sniffing over the evening further revealed subtle, but tantalizing, aromas of caramel, lemon, melon, and white flowers. A fine mousse blanketed a dry, steely and focused 'blanc de blancs', with an intellectually-stimulating earthy bitterness on the palate. Despite its 12 years of age it seemed young and closed down, the sturdy acidic structure keeping some beautiful scents under wraps for another day...
cork. 12% alcohol
Score: 17.5+/20
Price: C$66 (LCBO)