robert_parker 2012
Rating: 94 –94
Assembling Pinot Meunier with a kiss or two of Pinot Noir, both from deep-green clay soils, the 2012 Blanc de Noirs Terre d'Illite was aged on the second lees for 48 months before the disgorgement in June 2017. This white-golden colored wine opens with an elegant, very clear and balanced nose of white fruits, deep and somewhat iodine clay notes and great finesse. The dosage of five grams is perhaps a bit too much (at least for my personal tastes), but it gives this elegant, refined and persistent Champagne a charming roundness and fruitiness. With less, it would have become too freaky perhaps but also even more exciting. This is a matter of taste, though. It's another great Champagne from Cêdric Moussé: tight and tensioned, with ripe fruit and great concentration as well as a pure, long and mineral finish. Tasted in January 2019.