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Item Number: 4445
UPC: 3760187480022
Country: France
Region: Champagne
Sub Region: Aube
Appellation/AVA: Champagne AOC
Estate Grown Wine: Yes
Grape(s): 100% Pinot Noir
Type: Wine - Sparkling
Bottle Size: 750ml Pack: 6
Closure: Cork
Alc by Vol(%): 12
Viticulture: Practicing Biodynamic
Soil Type: Clay-limestone
Winemaking Notes: A cuvée fermented and matured in neutral oak barrels, this Champagne is distinguished by its elegance and lightness. It has been produced with the greatest care and attention, with a special focus on minimal intervention in the winemaking process. 'Efflorescence' was made to evolve in the bottle and has excellent potential to develop nuance as it ages. This wine doesn't see any additional dosage at disgorgement.
Pairing Suggestion: Tempura Shrimp
About the Estate: Though
Dominique Moreau has only been in control of the Marie-Courtin estate
(named for her grandmother) since 2000, her Champagnes have come to
achieve an elegance that is already gaining an international reputation.
Her vineyard is small: just 2.5 hectares, but is more than enough to
create her vision of single-vineyard, single-varietal Champagnes. Her
Pinot Noir grapes, which comprise 90 percent of her planting, thrive in
the vineyard’s clay and chalk soils, and create complex wines with
vibrant minerality. She uses organic and biodynamic viticulture in the
fields, hand harvesting, natural yeasts, and a focus on low yields to
preserve intensity in her grapes.
Her
hillside vineyard in Polisot (located the next town over from
Celles-sur-Ource, where Cédric Bouchard lives and works) is home to 35
to 40 year-old Pinot vines, which were chosen by a unique process known
as massal: rather than creating vine clones from one mother plant,
massal practice employs many exceptional plants to create clones. This
enables a genetically diverse crop of grapes, and a complex, layered
flavor in the resulting wines.
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| Reviews |
Champagne Marie-Courtin NV 'Efflorescence' Extra Brut, Champagne AOC
Rating: 93
(100% pinot noir; disgorged January, 2012): Bright yellow-gold. Dried
lemon, pear skin, honeysuckle and minerals on the highly perfumed nose. Chewy, concentrated citrus and orchard fruit flavors give way to
succulent melon and nectarine in the mid-palate and pick up an exotic
anise quality with air. The dry finish shows intense mineral cut,
leaving lively lemon zest and pear notes behind.
- International Wine Cellar (11/30/2012)
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Champagne Marie-Courtin NV 'Efflorescence' Extra Brut, Champagne AOC
Rating: 93
Bright yellow-gold. Dried lemon, pear skin, honeysuckle and minerals
on the highly perfumed nose. Chewy, concentrated citrus and orchard
fruit flavors give way to succulent melon and nectarine in the
mid-palate and pick up an exotic anise quality with air. The dry finish
shows intense mineral cut, leaving lively lemon zest and pear notes
behind.
- International Wine Cellar (11/1/2012)
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Champagne Marie-Courtin NV 'Efflorescence' Extra Brut, Champagne AOC
Rating: 92
Efflorescence Extra Brut NV [2006] is also 100% Pinot, but here the wine is fermented and aged in neutral oak. The Efflorescence is marvelous in the way it captures the essence of this great vintage. Warm, toasty aromas lead to intense, beautifully textured fruit that flows through effortlessly to the long, creamy finish. Sweet spices add the final layers of complexity. This is a highly promising effort from a young grower in just her second vintage. This is Lot# E06ND0410, disgorged April, 2010. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2016
- The Wine Advocate (12/1/2010)
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Champagne Marie-Courtin NV 'Efflorescence' Extra Brut, Champagne AOC
Rating: 2 Stars
While this shows the dark, rich ripeness typical of the 2006 vintage, it carries itself with a wonderful elegance and finesse, its subtle red cherry and berry notes feeling silky and refined as well as intensely fragrant. The vinification in barrique seems to amplify the complexity of flavor, creating a more multi-dimensional impression than is found in the Resonance, and on the palate this exudes a vivid, vibrant energy from start to finish, further enlivened by prominently stony minerality. This is a superbly expressive champagne, perfectly balanced as a non-dos_, and it will be exciting to watch it develop with time
- Peter Liem's ChampagneGuide.net (2/1/2010)
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