2014 Amour de Deutz

Disgorged in October 2023 with a dosage of 7.5 grams per liter, the 2014 Amour de Deutz is, as ever, anchored in fruit from the Côte des Blancs. The wine unfurls from the glass with a bouquet of lemon confit, nashi pear and quince, mingling with burnt caramelized sugar and a hint of smoky reduction. These aromatic impressions carry seamlessly onto the palate, which is at once elegantly muscular and charming. Medium- to full-bodied, simultaneously chiseled and grandiose, its vibrant core of fruit is underpinned by racy acidity, culminating in a saline, precise finish tinged with citrus. Whether attributable to differences in post-disgorgement evolution or not, the 2014 expression strikes me today as somewhat more tightly wound than the 2013, and it's certainly no less incisive—its character a reflection of another comparatively cool growing season, with all the attributes such conditions bestow.