Credits: Article and images by Ken Gargett @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2023/11/13/champagne-devaux-seriously-good-wines/
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D Millésimé 2012 ($160) – From the super 2012 vintage, this sees no oak, is an equal split between Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and sees a minimum of eight years on lees. 25% of the wine avoids malolactic fermentation.
Champagne Devaux D Millésimé 2012
The grapes come from parcels in vineyards at Chouilly and Montgueux. One parcel was planted as far back as 1911, very rare in Champagne.
Great intensity here, an appealing texture, soft clean and fresh. Good acidity running the length. There is complexity and concentration. A hint of honey at the finish. Expect this to provide pleasure for at least another decade. 94.
Champagne Devaux Stenope 2012
Stenope 2012 ($300) – This champagne is a collaboration between Devaux and Michel Chapoutier, a famous Rhone winemaker, from a vineyard they purchased together. The first release was 2008 – the plan is to release the wine every year. This will allow it to reflect the vintage conditions, no matter how good or poor they are.
Fortunately, the conditions in 2012 were very good indeed. 100% barrel fermentation, no malolactic at all, a minimum of ten years on lees and a 50/50 split between Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Magnums are kept on lees for an extra two years.
Great intensity and complexity here. Excellent length and serious depth of flavor. There are notes of hazelnuts and a hint of plums and stonefruit. This is a cracking champagne which is superb drinking now but still has many years ahead. 96.
Champagne Devaux Coeur de Bar Rosé
Coeur de Bar Rose NV ($120) – This Rose has 2018 as its base wine. Again, first pressing only with 25% reserve material. This is one of the very few Rose champagnes (okay, the only one I know of) to combine both methods of production. As well as a short time on skins to provide a hint of color, there is an addition of 7 to 8% red wine. Overall, 2/3rds Pinot Noir and 1/3rd Chardonnay.
Bright pink/orange, this is fresh and bright with spices, redcurrants and hints of citrus. A note of fresh watermelon. Good acidity here, the length is impressive, the texture supple, the wine is well-balanced, supple and fresh. A good, lingering, crisp finish. Delicious. Like this a lot. 94.
Champagne Devaux Rose des Riceys “Val Bazot” 2018
Rose des Riceys “Val Bazot” 2018 ($110) – I mentioned we would return our Rose producer. This wine, however, was not from them – in fact, as far as I can ascertain, they no longer exist, which is a bit tragic. Rose des Riceys, the only vineyard district in France that can go under three different AOCs, apparently only has ten producers left. Devaux is one of them. They produce two Roses from the appellation – this Val Bazot and also the Chanseux.
But first, our visit many years ago. We were welcomed to a small and obviously very old winery. Any hesitation we had soon disappeared in the face of the generosity and hospitality from our hosts. It was a fascinating visit, especially since neither of us had ever even heard of Rose des Riceys in those days. What utterly blew us away was the tasting. The winery, I believe, was called James France and I still have a few bottles in my cellar, now several decades old.
You may be thinking what on earth would possess anyone to put rose away for so many years and fair enough, but the tasting more than proved to us that these wines could age for many, many years. And the younger examples were delicious. Our tasting had gone back around twenty years and the wines seem to be getting better and better.
Sadly, it was at this stage, Guillame advised us that our time was up and we had to move on. Never have two blokes moaned more about having to go off and visit champagne producers. Our host had told us that he had examples of his Rose going back to 1900 and had the bottles standing by for us to try them. Guillame almost had to physically drag us to the car.
In fairness, we recovered very quickly when we arrived at the immaculate Devaux and the day just got better and better (aside from Guillame’s driving).
So the chance to see this appellation again was a delightful surprise as the production is miniscule. For example, Australia receives only 120 bottles of Devaux’s Rose des Riceys, so it is obvious that supplies are extremely limited.
Devaux use two single vineyards, Val Bazot and also Chanseux. The process of carbonic maceration is employed.
The color is a deep, vibrant orange/pink. There are notes of aniseed, spices, cherries, raspberries and star anise. The wine is supple, clean and lingering. The palate sees notes of orange rind and peaches. Very good length here. This is a cracking Rose. And yes, no reason why it won’t last many years in the cellar. 93.
For more information, please visit www.champagne-devaux.com/
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Credits: Article and images by Ken Gargett @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2023/11/13/champagne-devaux-seriously-good-wines/
