Pommery Cuvee Louise 2004 75cl New Release. Price £155.00. Created as a tribute to Louise Pommery, Cuvée Louise is an absolutely pure wine which quintessentially conveys the wine-making expertise of the Pommery Champagne house. Cuvée Louise is both poetic and timeless, since it displays extreme refinement that combines beauty with the utmost in quality. Great craftsmanship goes into making Cuvée Louise. It is appreciated by connoisseurs around the world. Vintage 2004: Cuvée Louise could not ignore a year like 2004, when everything was predestined for it. By taking the time to select the best parcels, being patient and waiting with the harvest, picking only the most beautiful bunches, choosing the purest of juices during pressing, the only possible conclusion was unequivocal: nature is great, generous and beautiful. What could be more marvellous than working with such a precious raw material, so rich and so fine: the assemblage became an exercise blending pleasure and satisfaction. After the years spent in the cellars, the bottles have acquired the maturity which is indispensable for a wine of this kind. Today it is ready for everybody’s delight.   Tasting Notes: It presents itself to the eye with a nice colour and a rare elegance, where the yellow has some subtle greeny touches peeping through, providing it with a wonderful appearance of youth. The effervescenceis deployed in a universe of bubbles with an extreme fineness, whichlinger on the surface before they disappear.   On the nose it releases a quantity of unsuspected fragrances, where everything is well ordered and harmonious. It is rich, generous and silky, allowing for some notes of biscuits, resulting from the effect of the yeasts. It is extended by spicy touches, embellished by floral notes but also fresh fruit with white flesh, like greengage.   The mouth is only the infinite extension of everything the nose was able to reveal. It enhances the olfactory sensations, all in a perfect harmony in C major. Vividness remains whilst being blended with nice flavours of hazelnut butter, yeasts and almond paste. The final has a length which is close to the infinite, highlighting the fineness, purity and nobility of this wine, made to be loved.   Wine pairing: It can be appreciated on its own, for the pleasure of tasting, but it will also be a perfect companion for selected and refined dishes like a seafood pie or a truffle crust and why not a soft pound cake from Brittany.   Unique Plots: Avize, Cramant and Ay. Cuvée Louise originates in the vineyards of Avize, Cramant and Ay, three “Grands Crus” areas that are jewels in the crown of the Champagne region.   The listed and sign-posted Cuvée Louise estates receive regular attention throughout the year. The Avize and Cramant Chardonnay grape and Ay Pinot Noir grape have particularly high sugar content.   200 dedicated pickers, most of them with years of experience, are able to assess the best grapes at a glance.   Thierry Gasco’s Expertise: Pressing is performed in a traditional square press close to the vineyards so that the grapes arrive with their properties intact. To ensure that the juices are absolutely pure, for each marc of 4,000 kg only 1,800 litres of juice are selected instead of the authorised 2,550 litres. Pommery is the only Champagne house to have such standards in place.   Cuvée Louise is a vintage wine that reflects a single exceptional year. Thierry Gasco, Pommery’s Cellar Master, only decides to produce Cuvée Louise when the year’s harvest is worthy of this great wine. After blending which combines the purity and richness of aromas, the wine begins a period of 6 to 8 years of ageing in our constantly cool chalk cellars.   Respecting the Wine’s Character: Finally, a dosage is added. This dosage comprises Avize vintages to fully preserve the wine’s character. Pommery ensures that each bottle of Cuvée Louise is stored in a cellar for a further six months to restore the champagne’s natural balance.   Background Information : Madame Pommery created the first successfully marketed Brut Champagne ‘Pommery Nature 1874’ at a time when most Champagnes were excessively sweetened by sugar. This set the benchmark for the rest of Champagne and it is in this spirit that the style of Pommery endures; with each unique cuvée displaying elegance, finesse and true class.   Today, all of the wines are expertly crafted by Chef de Cave, Thierry Gasco – the 9th Cellar Master at Pommery.   Pommery boasts some of the finest cellars in Reims, with over 18 kilometres of galleries hollowed out of chalk. Residing some 30 metres under the ground, these keep the maturing wine at a steady 10°c throughout the year. Pommery has continually been a generous patron of the arts and upholds this responsibility today, using the building as a venue to exhibit exciting contemporary art.