Wine Advisor
Moet & Chandon, Grand Vintage Rose 2004
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: David Schildknecht
Assembled from surprisingly close to one-third each of Champagne’s trio of major cepages, Moet & Chandon’s 2004 Brut Grand Vintage delivers a delightful aroma mingling chamomile and honeysuckle, pear and white peach, green tea and quinine, all anticipating the lusciously juicy, refreshingly tart and subtly piquant but also silken and buoyant palate impression that follows. As with the corresponding rose, I was surprised to find a decided sense of sweetness from just five grams residual sugar, but the ripe generosity of the vintage no doubt goes far toward explaining this, and I don’t find it at all misplaced, much less obtrusive. Its soothing texture complements this wine’s invigorating vivacity, levity, and transparence to herbal and floral nuances in a lingering finish. I would not be surprised to witness it offering some additional – or at least, new – delights over the next couple of years in bottle. Imported by Moet Hennessy, New York, NY; tel. (212) 251-8200
About the Producer
When King Charles VII knighted brothers Jean and Nicolas Moet in 1446, he established a lineage that would later be named for one of the most beautiful legends in the history of Champagne. As early as 1743, the wine merchant Claude Moët founded the Moët & Chandon Champagne distillery, which soon earned an important reputation in the great courts of Europe. His grandson, Jean-Remy Moet, made Moet & Chandon an icon of international luxury and a symbol of celebration. Jean-Remy Moet was awarded the Legion of Honor by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, who visited the estate in Epernay on several occasions, and to whom the estate's iconic champagne, Moet & Chandon Imperial, pays tribute. Legend has it that the act of opening a bottle of Moët & Chandon with a sword was invented by Napoleon and his troops to celebrate a victory. Thanks to the genius of the family, Moët & Chandon has embodied the charm of its champagne and shared it with the whole world for more than two and a half centuries now. Since 1987, the winery has been owned by the LVMH group. Each year, it undergoes a rigorous selection of terroirs, and cellar master Benoit Gouez seeks to amplify the uniqueness of one vintage after another.
