96 point

The 2015 Extra Brut Vieilles Vignes du Levant Grand Cru is really in the zone. Candied apricot, ginger, dried flowers, hazelnut and spice saturate the palate. The 2015 exudes presence and class right out of the gate. All of the gravitas of the 60+ year-old vines comes through in the glass. Moreover, it shows none of the vegetal notes that afflict so many wines in this vintage. Readers in search of a Champagne with a good deal of aromatic and flavor complexity will adore this. Dosage is 2 grams per liter. Disgorged: April 2024; multiple disgorgements throughout the year.

95 point

The most flamboyant, muscular wine in the cellar this year is the 2015 Blanc de Blancs Vieille Vigne du Levant. Produced from two old-vine plots (one planted in 1962 and the other in the late 1930s) of east-facing vines within the Bourron du Levant lieu-dit in Cramant and matured in a combination of Stockinger vat (50%) and 228-liter and 500-liter barrels, it’s full of pastry-forward notes mingling with ripe citrus, walnut and pear. Full-bodied and enveloping, it’s the most powerful rendition since 2012. Layered and with old-vine concentration and succulent yet vibrant acidity, this is a wine of controlled richness, concluding with an expansive, mineral-laced finish informed by its chalk subsoil (under a thin layer of clay). Originally known as Vieille Vigne de Cramant, this was the first single-vineyard Champagne created by Pierre Larmandier in 1988, and it has maintained a strong record since.