Drappier Brut Champagne Charles de Gaulle NV

92+ points William Kelley (Wine Advocate): “[$79 list] The latest release of the NV Brut Charles de Gaulle was disgorged in December 2018 with seven and a half grams per liter dosage, and the wine is showing very well, bursting from the glass with a generous bouquet of golden orchard fruits, warm biscuits, honeycomb and peach. On the palate, it’s full-bodied, rich and enveloping, with a fleshy core of fruit and nicely integrated dosage that lends the wine an old-fashioned, gourmand profile that’s appropriate enough given its namesake. I’d expect this to pick up considerable toasty complexity with additional aging on cork. Drink: 2019-2035. (Apr 2020)”

Producer notes: “In the 1960s, when he was not at the Elysée Palace or on official business elsewhere, General de Gaulle would reside at his property, the Boiserie in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, situated afew miles from Urville. There he discovered Champagne Drappier and chose a cuvée rich in Pinot Noir (80%) which was renamed in homage to him. Very fine nose of citrus fruits, apple, almond or perhaps nutmeg. When it reaches the palate the Charles de Gaulle Cuvée exhibits a remarkable complexity, with an airy mousse and lightly candied notes.”