2015 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin La Grande Dame Brut, Champagne

This is sleek and vivid with aromas of green apples, lemon peel, lime blossom, salted almonds and pastries on the nose. Medium-bodied and refreshing with lively acidity throughout and tiny bubbles. 90% pinot noir and 10% chardonnay. Drink or hold.

93 points jamessuckling.com

2015 shows off the sunny fruits of the year with more grip and intensity than the 2008 and 2012. Fleshy orange, red pear, dried pineapple and chewy grapefruit peel build on a firmly structured frame, although there is a suppleness of nougat and acacia honey lurking in the middle that promises to emerge with a little patience. The bustling energy of the vintage is sitting proud for now, bitter almond and fruit skin building to an energising close despite the moderate acidity. An edition that will perform especially well at the table. 90% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay from 8 Grand Cru villages. Dosage 6 g/L.

94 points decanter.com

90 Pinot Noir /10 Chardonnay; disgorged October, 2021; dosage 6 g/l

A soft color and gentle mousse; the nose is at first flinty-reductive, oyster shell and green apple to the fore, red fruit hitherto intriguingly absent. The floral notes are next to appear; jasmine and a touch of honeysuckle; delicate and upstanding. A little aeration and a little more by way of revelation; a citric foundation, then a slow build of honey, nutmeg, and just a whisper of ginger. Subtle power, la force tranquille; the dance of the seven veils is well under way, this promising plenty of drama to come and a more than happy ending. 

94-95 points Simon Field MW worldoffinewine.com

The nose opens with smoky reduction and subtle creaminess; with more air, ripe lemon and hints of rye bread appear. The palate comes in with real freshness and fine, creamy mousse that intensifies that slightly flinty, reductive smokiness. The tiny bubbles burst against a textural backdrop and flavour of freshly baked, slightly peppery rye crumb, gently salty, that speaks of Pinot Noir structure. There is generosity and freshness and a mouth-watering finish. The bitterness Mariotti spoke of is very subtle and only appears as a most appetising feature on the finish, as the wine warms up. Elegant and fresh.

Anne Krebiehl MW

As climate change deepens its impact in Champagne so the cellar masters are speaking about the role of bitterness and the part it plays in keeping freshness in the new wines. For Veuve Clicquot’s cellar master Didier Mariotti, the new release of La Grande Dame 2015 is also about structure and texture. He explains what he means to Anne Krebiehl, MW.

“There is generosity and freshness and a mouth-watering finish. The bitterness Mariotti spoke of is very subtle and only appears as a most appetising feature on the finish,” writes Krebiehl about La Grande Dame 2015

Two things are increasingly common: first that Champenois cellar masters talk bitterness as much as freshness in their Champagnes, second that more and more Houses explore the category of still red wines. Didier Mariotti, cellar master at Veuve Clicquot, did both at the London launch of Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 2015.

A new vision

Two different glass shapes were lined up for the launch of Veuve Clicquot Grande Dame 2015: a large, rounded tulip-shaped Champagne glass and a Burgundy glass. Generous samples were poured as Didier Mariotti provided some background on the wine. He reminded us that it had been his predecessor, Dominique Demarville, who left the house in 2019, who decided to shift the varietal balance of the house’s flagship prestige cuvée La Grande Dame to a much higher proportion of Pinot Noir – from around 60% to 90%. “This really started a new vision of La Grande Dame,” he said,

“La Grande Dame for me is based on something very pure with a lot of energy. We are looking for something sharp and precise. The wine has to be elegant,” Mariotti noted. “By moving to 90% Pinot Noir, we also changed the grape supply, the villages we are now using are not the same as in the past,” he said.

“We are using much more Pinot Noir from further north like Verzy and Verzenay where we get less maturity than in Bouzy, or Aÿ; we get a lot more energy. And we also get bitterness, that bitterness is very good to help a long finish. For me, bitterness is very important. Bitterness is the last feeling you taste in the wine.”

Mariotti summed this up by emphasising that for him there were two words to describe La Grande Dame 2015: “Structure and texture. Structure for me represents the backbone of the wine, it gives the energy, something very precise; whereas the texture is a lot more about generosity and fruit and body of the wine. By using the two different glasses, you are able to see the difference.”

Indeed, the rounded Burgundy glass accentuated more of the fruit and creaminess whereas the tulip displayed more of the structure.

The 2015 vintage

“2015 was an easy vintage,” Mariotti said. “No frost, no disease in the vineyard, perhaps a lack of water. Harvest was from the 10-15^th of September, after a very sunny and dry summer. In a way, it was a generous vintage, not as sharp as ‘12,” producing concentrated wines. The freshness of the wine is all the more remarkable for that. The wine is made from 90% Pinot Noir and 10% Chardonnay and was disgorged with a dosage of 6g/l. It is the 24^th vintage released of this wine since the inaugural 1969 vintage which was released in 1972.

As Madame Clicquot used to say 200 years ago, “Our black grapes give the finest white wines” an affirmation that still rings true. Beloved for its versatility, the Pinot Noir grape expresses itself differently according to its growing conditions and the year in which it is harvested.

As a fine blend of Veuve Clicquot’s historical Grands Crus, La Grande Dame is the pinnacle of the Maison’s oenological prowess, with an immense ageing potential.

Held up to the light, La Grande Dame 2015 reveals a beautiful, golden robe that sparkles brightly. This solar vintage, while elegant and precise, offers fresh minerality with light floral notes of jasmine and acacia on the nose, which evolve into fruity notes of pear and clementine. As for the first sip, it envelops the palate with a delightfully subtle, silky texture.

La Grande Dame 2015 and Garden Gastronomy - a new, gastronomic experience inspired by La Grande Dame. A gastronomy straight from the garden. “Grands Crus” vegetables for Grands Crus grapes. Both assertive and sustainable in its luxury, Garden Gastronomy expresses itself through inverted dishes, where vegetables and fruits centre stage, while meat and fish are prepared like condiments.

Perfect Pairing A salad with lobster carpaccio, citrus fruits and pumpkin from the vegetable garden will perfectly reveal the elegance and freshness of La Grande Dame 2015.