Champagne de Sousa Cuvée de Caudalies

A creamy and vinous blanc de blancs with notes of baked apples, pears, brioche, pie crust, toffee and walnuts on the nose. Medium- to full-bodied, with lovely weighty and ripe layers, balanced by bright acidity and tight bubbles. Fantastic concentration. From biodynamically grown grapes. Disgorged March 2022. 3g/L dosage. Drink now or hold.

The intensely citrus colored NV Cuvée des Caudalies Grand Cru Extra Brut is 100% old-vines Chardonnay from Avize. (This edition is based on the 2013 vintage, with 50% of the perpetual reserve, and was bottled in April 2014 and disgorged in October 2017.) The wine opens with an intense, concentrated, still yeasty and toasty bouquet with lots of brioche and matured "réserve" aromas. Pure and linear on the palate but also rich and intense, with a charming roundness (dosage of five grams per liter), this is a still terribly young but well-structured and expressive Cuvée des Caudalies, and the finish reveals remarkable salty purity, complexity and mineral tension. I would surely enjoy the 2010 Millésime earlier than this reserve-dominated NV cuvée, as the aging potential should be excellent. Tasted in Reims, April 2018.

A blend of 13 vintages, beautifully ripe and round, even with some maturity. Fresh citric fruit cuts through the richness and flavors of pineapple. There is a tang in the texture, an almost chewy structure. Age this wine for a year or two. 

With a dosage of 4g/l, 15% new oak, and grapes from a biodynamically farmed parcel in Avize, Cuvée des Caudalies is a succulent non-vintage Champagne. Scents of verbena , white fruits, white pepper and salty notes lead into a vinous, dense, and silky palate, the texture perfectly-balanced and powerful. It finishes very long and fresh.