Amour de Deutz Blanc de Blancs is the flagship Champagne in the Deutz offering. Bright and clear with sparkling bronze tinges. On the nose, the floral and citrus fruit aromas mingle with the buttery apple notes. The wine is clean and fresh, with scintillating acidity and small but consistent bubbles. Citrus and green fruit lead the palate. This is underpinned by a pleasant minerality and a great length to finish.
Vintage:
2010 started promisingly with the absence of spring frost and little incidence of mildew during flowering. This ensured a large and healthy crop throughout the growing season. By the beginning of August there were some instances of botrytis in the vineyards, and this was exacerbated by the damp and rainy weather. This in the main affected the Pinot Noir however, and the Chardonnay grapes escaped largely unaffected thanks to the looser and more aerated bunches. The heavy rain on 8th September led to grapes swelling and in some cases splitting, leading to a secondary infection by botrytis. The harvest between 15th and 25th September therefore required meticulous selection by pickers, to choose only the healthy bunches, resulting in yields 25% to 30% lower than anticipated. Thankfully the healthy grapes that were harvested had an excellent balance of sugar and acidity.
Winemaking:
The Chardonnay for this wine hails from some of the Côte des Blancs’ finest vineyards including Avize (55%), and Mesnil and Oger (40%) and a touch hailing from the Montagne de Reims’ Villers-Marmery (5%). The grapes were pressed and vinified at Deutz's state of the art winery in Aÿ, with each individual parcel being vinified in its own separate tank. Using Coquard presses, only the free-run juice and first pressing was used for this wine. Following alcoholic and malolactic fermentation in stainless steel tanks, the vin clairs were tasted and blended in the Spring of 2011, with the final assemblage happening in June. The wine was then aged for a minimum of 5 years on the lees, and a further 6 months following dégorgement before release.
Presentation:
The bottle comes presented in a white and gold Amour de Deutz branded box.
