Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne la Grande Dame 1998

Broad and open-textured, this offers lemon, apple and peach flavors. A touch coarse, ending with a chalky sensation. Drink now through 2018. Tasted twice, with consistent notes.

A superbly ripe Champagne that has all the open generosity of the 1998 vintage. Peach and apricot aromas are followed by flavors of hazelnuts, honey and spices. Of course, it is still very young, and, like all vintages of La Grande Dame, it will age for many years.

ST: Light gold. Rich, smoky aromas of buttery pear, peach and smoked meat, complemented by exotic spice accents and a hint of white flowers; seems livelier on the nose than the deep, rich 1996 version. Weighty citrus and orchard fruit flavors are framed by juicy acids, and come across as a bit youthfully stunted right now. With air a note of poached pear emerged, along with a suggestion of toffeed hazelnut. Give this a few years.

The contrast of depth and brightness, or intensity and weightlessness creates a sense of harmonic resonance in this wine. All the aromatics are potent, from the scent of rising bread dough to the red skin of an apple, all the corresponding flavors rich yet refreshing. The firmness of the acidity seems to add briskness to the mousse, leaving a clean, chiseled impression of the chalk soils in which this grew. Once in a while, there is a young beauty who will age into a more profound older beauty; La Grande Dame is part of that rare breed.

There’s plenty of finesse in this sleek Champagne, along with an airy texture and loads of grip. Graphite, lemon, toast and mineral aromas and flavors prevail, and this takes on a chalky edge on the lingering aftertaste. Best from 2010 through 2028.

Überaus reichhaltiges Bouquet, Düfte von Apfeltaschen und gezuckerten Windbeuteln in einem schäumenden Ozean dominieren.

Wine & Spirits ReviewThe contrast of depth and brightness, or intensity and weightlessness creates a sense of harmonic resonance in this wine. All the aromatics are potent, from the scent of rising bread dough to the red skin of an apple, all the corresponding flavors rich yet refreshing. The firmness of the acidity seems to add briskness to the mousse, leaving a clean, chiseled impression of the chalk soils in which this grew. Once in a while, there is a young beauty who will age into a more profound older beauty: La Grande Dame is part of that rare breed.