1996 Vilmart &amp; Cie Cuvée Creation

BY STEPHEN TANZER | JANUARY 30, 2017

Opening a bottle of Champagne 20 years after its vintage
date may seem like a risky proposition, but the better wines from the great
1996 vintage are just rounding into form and the best of them may go on for
decades. The 1996 Vilmart Cuvée Creation is an outstanding example of this
high-acid, high-ripeness vintage.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1485790147515-IMG_1729%281%29+copy.JPG"> 

Its light gold-tinged yellow color suggests a wine younger
than its years, and its nose displays remarkably vibrant notes of peach,
nectarine and almond flower along with complex toast and spice notes (Vilmart
is one of a small number of Champagne houses that vinifies most of its wines in
oak casks) and the beginnings of truffley evolution. In the mouth, it’s still a
baby yet utterly seamless, with brisk lemony acidity giving a firm edge and
outstanding lift to the very pure stone fruit, citrus and salty mineral
flavors. This extract-rich, Chardonnay-dominated vintage Champagne is at once
dense and wonderfully elegant, finishing with outstanding saline grip and chewy
persistence. 94/Drinking window:
2017-2036

1996 Vilmart & Cie Cuvée Creation

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