Champagne R. Dumont & Fils Solera Reserve Blanc

Alcohol: 12%

Grape(s): Chardonnay

Localization: Champagne, France

Tasting notes: Light, bright gold. Nutty, pungent aromas of dried pear, orange marmalade, marzipan, and anise, with a smoky top note. Fleshy and broad on the palate, offering poached pear and toasted nut flavors and a touch of caramel. Exotic, complex, and intriguing brut with strong finishing power and very good smoky persistence. Not your garden-variety Champagne by any means but I find this style pretty compelling and imagine that the food-pairing options are pretty extensive here.

The Domain: Dumont is one of the very few Champagne producers who produce Champagne using the solera method. Bernard Dumont has dedicated one stainless steel tank to the project which was first filled in 1991. He works exclusively with chardonnay for this cuvée and has been adding to the tank every year, making it at present, a blend of approximately 20 vintages. This solera system produced its first release in 2010. One of the most striking features of this champagne is the different effects created by producing Champagne from aged wine (the aging occurs after the first fermentation) followed by the typical duration of two years “sur lattes” as contrasted with Champagne produced from relatively young wines which are aged for a long time after the secondary fermentation and thus remain in contact with the lees “sur lattes” for an extended period. The dosage is 6 grams. Production is about 400 cases annually.

Special features: This cuvée is the result of a chardonnay vat of 120hl that has never been emptied for 20 years. Every year, at the moment of bottling, we collect 30% of the volume and fill in the vat with chardonnay wine from the last harvest.

It is a kind of a perpetual vat that corresponds to the Solera aging type. This quite original method enriches the blend every year and gives it an exceptional character.