Downs Club
Marc Hébrart
Special Club Brut 1er Cru Champagne Blend 2018
Alexander Valley Vineyards
Wine Club Reserve Cabernet Franc Blend 2021
Daily, dry, earthy wine. — 7 months ago
Paul Bara
Special Club Brut Grand Cru Champagne 2002
Truly spectacular! — a month ago
Paul Bara
Spécial Club Grand Cru Brut Rosé Champagne 2018
Very young. Still somewhat unstructured and tannins that need to mellow. But good potential. — 4 months ago
Wiston Estate Winery
South Downs Blanc de Blancs Chardonnay 2015
My second time trying this wine having opened my case three years ago, and the 2015 BdB from Wiston hasn’t budged an inch. It remains a taut, incredibly youthful and monolithic Chardonnay which will age well for another decade at least. While the nose is a little shy, it has great effervescence and pristine aromas of gooseberries, lemon sherbet, crushed shells and hints of bread. On the palate the wine is very singular and direct; a testament to great English Chardonnay, with massive acidity and flavours of brioche and bitter lemon, and great minerality – perhaps the most I’ve experienced in an English fizz. The finish is, well, endless, and the wine benefits greatly from time in the glass, gaining a bit of fat and broader mouthfeel. Really complex stuff, and a wine I’ll leave for another three years at least before trying again. — 2 months ago
Raj Parr Wine Club
Anika Bien Nacido Vineyard Syrah 2015
Pepe g y nestor — 5 months ago
Vanessa
This is the 2018 Marc Hébrart Brut ‘Special Club’ – a beautiful bottle of vintage bubbles hailing from a collection of premier and grand cru sites in the Marne and Montagne de Reims regions of Champagne, France.
When you see “Special Club” on the label of a bottle with this distinctive shape, you’re dealing with essentially a prestige cuvée of a grower-producer who’s a member of the “Club Trésors.”
Marc Hébrart joined the Club Trésors in 1985, which is an association of quality-minded grower-producers. Grower-producers operate differently than the big champagne houses (e.g., Veuve-Clicquot) in that they are smaller-scale vignerons who own the entire production process from the vineyard to the winery and cellar.
They have helped raise awareness and appreciation of artisanal champagne wines that speak to a sense of place and personality, unobscured by extensive, widespread blending.
To achieve the status of “Special Club” a wine must undergo a rigorous application process and meet minimum quality metrics culminating with in two blind tasting panels – the first tasting evaluates the base wine after the first fermentation; the second and final tasting occurs after a minimum of three years aging sur lie.
From our studies we’ve learned the 2018 vintage bore above-average fruit; the warm and dry summer paved the way for a riper expression in an otherwise marginal climate. This wine is made with 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay.
The bouquet has a medium (+) intensity of yellow and green apple, lemon zest, white peach, gardenia, almond biscotti, nougat, pastry, biscuit, and toast notes. The palate is creamy with vibrant acidity, adding lift, a fine-beaded, persistent mousse and long, elegant finish.
— 23 days ago