Henri Billiot Champagne Cuvee Laetitia NV 750ml

The NV Brut Cuvée Laetitia is terrific, especially in the way it balances energy with the richness of Ambonnay. The addition of reserve wines back to 1983 adds considerable nuance and complexity. Lemon oil, white flowers, mint, crushed rocks and a whole range of Chardonnay inflections add brightness to a core of Pinot fruit. The are some rough edges, but also enough personality to look past them. This is a fabulous edition of the Laetitia. Disgorged: December 6, 2018.

• Country: France
• Region: Champagne
• Size: 750ml
• Alcohol by Vol: 13.0%

Varietal

Champagne Blend

The sparkling wines of Champagne have been revered by wine drinkers for hundreds of years, and even today they maintain their reputation for excellence of flavor and character, and are consistently associated with quality, decadence, and a cause for celebration. Their unique characteristics are partly due to the careful blending of a small number of selected grape varietals, most commonly Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. These grapes, blended in fairly equal quantities, give the wines of Champagne their wonderful flavors and aromas, with the Pinot Noir offering length and backbone, and the Chardonnay varietal giving its acidity and dry, biscuity nature. It isn’t unusual to sometimes see Champagne labeled as ‘blanc de blanc’, meaning it is made using only Chardonnay varietal grapes, or ‘blanc de noir’, which is made solely with Pinot Noir.