Vanessa

9.3

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.

— a month ago

with Deked1

Vanessa

9.4

**If interested, I’ve posted more pics of this visit and trip on my Instagram account - check me out @sips_ensemble**

We also had the pleasure to visit Champagne Paul Bara, another family-owned and -managed winery with only 8 employees! 💪 💪

It is a small but high-quality operation, producing approximately 100,000 bottles per year made exclusively from the free run juice. ✨✨✨ Thanks to the likes of @kermitlynchwine , the U.S. is a major exporting market for this wine. 🙌🙌

Paul Bara’s wines are sustainably farmed on numerous vineyard plots located throughout Bouzy, a Grand Cru village within the Montagne de Reims region of Champagne. 🏔 🏔

Bouzy is known especially for its Pinot Noir-driven Champagnes and also for its still red wines, a specialty of the region, called Coteaux Champenois. 🍇🍇

Paul Bara uses mostly stainless steel vessels for its vinification, designed to accentuate the purity of the fruit. They also use subterranean concrete vessels for the Pinot Noir used in rosé blends and for the Coteaux Champenois (still reds). 🥂

On our tour it was fascinating to see bottles being disgorged, dosaged, corked, capped, and caged on a machine in seconds — these are some of the last stages of the Méthode Champenoise. 🤓

We also learned that Paul Bara is a member of the ‘Club Trésors de Champagne’ an association of 28 vignerons formed to promote quality wine growing and winemaking practices and to highlight the beauty of terroir, demonstrating the excellence achievable outside of the major houses whose names are globally renown such as Veuve Cliquot and Moët & Chandon. 👏

Our favorite wine of the tasting was the 2010 Brut Comtesse Marie de France 🇫🇷 made exclusively from Pinot Noir grapes 🍇 It had a richness and abundance of orchard fruit, including baked yellow apple, also toast, bread dough, yeast, and dried white blossom notes, still offering finesse and precision, retaining incredible vibrancy.

We are grateful for our visit to Paul Bara and we look forward to visiting again the future! 🙏❤️ — 3 years ago

with Deked1

Laura Colleen Kemp

9.3

Last night at the chateau — 3 months ago

Rob Roberts

9.0

Delicious — 6 months ago

Martinez

9.2

Impressive Pinot Noir from a plot in the Hengst Grand Cru in Wintzenheim (Alsace appellation rules don’t permit Pinot Noir here, so it can’t be labeled as Grand Cru). Delicate, Burgundian nose, red fruit, some spices. Light, balanced, elegant, good acidity. Delicious. Positively impressed by all the wines I’ve had from this domaine. — a year ago

David Valenti

9.0

Amazing. At last a pinot noir Grand Cru in Alsace. — a year ago

Devin B

9.2

Lighter, lemons, and a bit honeycrisp apples. — 4 months ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.5

So young and primary but shows the substance of 18. Nose is so mineral and deep with dark red cherry and mid season cherry and wonderful, expressive minerality. A deep earthy scent as well. Really wonderful depth on this. Palate is juicy and explosive with endless depth and super primary red and black cherry fruit. Super concentrated, structured with a huge, mineral and acid backbone: An epic Dominode. Wait a decade. At least.

Wow on day 2 this is so good. Smoothed out and full of fruit and silky yet substantial tannins. 9.4 to 9.5 overnight. I continue to strongly believe in the 18’s. They are modern day 93’s but better and more overall success across vignerons and appellations.
— a year ago

Lance Anders

9.3

So very lovely. Very smooth. Blackberry and dark currant. Lingering finish. So great. — a year ago

with Danielle

Martinez

9.0

Riesling from the Hengst grand cru in Wintzenheim, about 5 miles west of Colmar. Biodynamically farmed vineyards. Lean, precise, elegant with citrus, flowers and hints of rubber on the nose. On the palate there is some grapefruit. Powerful, dry, mineral. Nice saline aftertaste. — 3 years ago