Cuvée Spéciale Brut Millésimé

Nicolas Feuillatte is one of the larger names in Champagne, drawing on fruit from across the region through its cooperative base. This is their Cuvée Spéciale Brut Millésimé from the 1997 vintage, a vintage-dated Champagne presented here in magnum.

The magnum format is worth noting. At 1.5 litres, the wine ages more slowly than in a standard bottle, and the larger volume is generally held to favour both longevity and a finer mousse. A vintage Champagne of this age is now fully mature, and tertiary development would be expected in a well-kept example. Champagnes from 1997, a vintage that produced ripe and approachable wines rather than tightly structured ones, were not built for extreme longevity, so at this point the wine should be approached as a mature bottle where provenance and storage history carry real weight. Condition, fill level and the integrity of the cork and capsule all matter more than usual with a bottle of this age.

As with all older sparkling wine, there is no guarantee of how an individual bottle will show, and the mousse may have softened. Served well chilled, around 10 to 12 degrees, and opened with care given the pressure in a magnum, a sound bottle of this type can still offer the toasty, evolved character typical of aged vintage Champagne. The asking price of EUR 220 reflects the magnum format, the vintage dating and the maturity of the wine rather than critical acclaim, and should be judged on those terms. It is best suited to those who enjoy older Champagne and want a large-format bottle for a specific occasion.