2016 Vilmart Coeur de Cuvee
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Tasting notes
With crystalline purity and more tension than any other wine in this year’s lineup, Vilmart’s 2016 Coeur de Cuvée has put up a stellar performance. Disgorged in September 2022 with a dosage of seven grams per liter, it hails from 60-year-old vines in the lieu-dit Les Blanches Voies—the same five-hectare vineyard that provides their Blanc de Blancs. Matured in 228-liter barrels, mostly from Damy, it wafts from the glass with a deep bouquet of lemon zest, white flowers and green apple. Taut and incisive, with impressive mid-palate amplitude, racy acidity and ample chalky structuring extract, it culminates with a long, saline finish. This is an elegant Champagne that will captivate purists, offering greater precision and nuance than the 2017 vintage of this cuvée. As ever, it’s crafted from the least fruit-forward, most acid-driven press fraction—just 68%—representing the heart of the cuvée.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Also 80% Chardonnay, the 2016 Champagne 1er Cru Coeur De Cuvée Brut is a bright yellow color and is a bit more shy at this stage on the nose compared to the Grand Cellier D'Or, with notes of lemon candies, green apples, baking spices, and delicate fresh baked brioche. Driving, with more linear persistence in its acidity, it’s citrus-driven on the palate, with a zesty, spritely mousse and a clean, chalky finish with just a hint of bitter citrus. This one feels as though it needs more time at this stage to open up and come around, but it has a lot of potential. Drink it over the coming 10-15 years.
The 2016 Brut Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée is derived from vines planted in the Hauts de Blanches Voies lieu-dit on chalky soils. Evoking aromas of pear, spices, white flowers, spring blossoms and lemon oil, it's full-bodied, sappy and round, with a deep core of fruit, bright acids and a long, ethereal, chalky finish. Slightly phenolic and with a pinpoint mousse, this blend of 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir was matured for five years in the bottle on the lees and released two years after disgorgement. This is simply gorgeous.
The 2016 Brut Coeur de Cuvée is an elegant, sensual Champagne. In other words, classic Vilmart. Crushed flowers, mint, chalk, slate, dried herbs and citrus peel are all beautifully delineated. Brisk acids wrap it all together in style. The 2016 needs a few years to be at its most expressive, as it is pretty reserved today. Even so, all the elements are impeccably put together. The barrels used here are one to three years old. Dosage is 7 grams per liter. Disgorged: September, 2022.