This most recent bottle of 1996 Comtes de Champagne was showing brilliantly and this is clearly one of the legendary vintages of this fine cuvée in the last quarter century. The stunning nose delivers a magical...
This most recent bottle of 1996 Comtes de Champagne was showing brilliantly and this is clearly one of the legendary vintages of this fine cuvée in the last quarter century. The stunning nose delivers a magical constellation of pear, passion fruit, brioche, very complex, chalky minerality, spring flowers, nutmeg, pastry cream and a touch of orange zest in the upper register. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and bottomless, with racy focus and grip, a superb core, perfect balance and blossoming complexity and enormous energy on the very, very long, laser-like finish. The vintage’s snappy acids are perfectly integrated into the body of the wine, and this is one 1996 that will not fail of the vintage’s early promise and the ’96 Comtes is destined to be a legendary rendition of this great wine. It is certainly approachable today, but I would be inclined to give it just a few more years’ worth of bottle age to allow its tertiary layers to start to emerge and add to its stunning complexity. 97+