Score: 90/100
This Loire Crémant sparkling wine is made from a selection of top vineyards, from 80% Chardonnay and 20% Chenin Blanc hand-harvested grapes.
The wine was aged for 4 years on its lees in bottle, in the winery’s natural limestone underground cellars.
Tasting Notes
This Loire sparkling white comes in a bright and shiny lemon-yellow color, with hints of gold hues making it look even shinier, and suggesting it has perhaps gone through a little aging in oak.
The nose’s first impression definitely confirms the latter, dominant toasted hazelnut and slight woodfire smoke says: we are here with a serious sparkling that includes oaky tones.
Vibrant and ripe lemon aromas, and delicate fresh pineapple notes come through too, as well as some sour dough brioche tones.
The palate is crisp and dry, with a mineral acidity well rounded by an oily texture and fine bubbles. From the mid-palate on, the wine throws some drying phenolics and a touch of bitterness accentuating the bubbly’s savory edge.
This is a wine for connoisseurs, to be paired with gastronomic food.
A clear Blanc de Blancs style, zesty and generous through its ripe citrus notes, but also sharp and mineral, salivating and granulous in texture.
A fairly complex flavor profile, with hazelnut and sweet spices from the obvious oak, married to buttery brioche and sour dough from the aging on lees, and hints of tropical fruit like mango and kiwi fruit for the primary fruit notes.
Pretty long, crisp, salivating (somewhat salty), and layered finish.
Overall
An excellent dry and mineral sparkling wine the Loire has pulled out here, with this Impetus cuvée. All the elements for a refined and layered bubbly are present, from ripe fruit to obvious oak and clear doughy characters from the long aging on lees, all adding in complexity for a tangy and characterful whole.
Enjoy 🙂
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