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: Launois "Cuvée Reserve" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne

Launois "Cuvée Reserve" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne

SKU #1002121

This K&L favorite has a new package with an impressive old-fashioned bottle shape and new label. This spectacular Champagne is one of the most sought after in France, and Launois' cult status made it very difficult for us to make a purchase. We lucked out, and now we buy it directly, passing massive savings on to you. This house is from Mesnil, the southernmost Grand Cru in Champagne and home to Salon and Krug's Clos de Mesnil. This Champagne is all Chardonnay and all Grand Cru from the villages of Mesnil, Oger, Cramant and Avize - a roll call of the finest crus for Chardonnay in all of Champagne and all Veritas-certified for sustainable agriculture. It is made primarily from the 2008 harvest with 10% 2007 reserve wine and more than three years on the lees after an all iron vat vinification. The aromatics of this Champagne are like polished white Burgundy with a touch of pine nut and minerals. The flavors are broad and rich. This is serious wine, with small bubbles and a refreshing finish. (Gary Westby, K&L Champagne Buyer)

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Launois "Cuvée Reserve" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne

Wine Scores

Below is a listing of the wine review scores we frequently reference in our notes. While these sources remain an excellent source of information, we always recommend that you trust your own palate. Scores in these publications often represent the personal taste of an individual critic, which may not always coincide with your own. We have a huge team of excellent wine professionals that can match wines you've had in the past with new arrivals that meet your flavor profile.

: Allen Meadows - Burghound

: Connoisseurs Guide

: Gambero Rosso

: James Halliday

: James Suckling

: Malt Advocate

: Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

: International Wine Cellar

: Wine & Spirits

: Wine Enthusiast

: Wine Spectator

: The Wine News

: Malt Advocate

Price: $34.99

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Main Warehouse:	20
Redwood City:	>48
San Francisco:	24

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Product Reviews:

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By: David Driscoll | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 5/15/2013 | Send Email

Absolutely delicious bubbly! Bright citrus and stonefruit right on the entry with a richness that finishes cleanly, rather than nutty or oaky. The Launois Reserve is right there with the Bonville Blanc de Blanc and Bruno Michel for best $35-ish bottle of Champagne we carry. A big step up from the Quartz, although both are the same price.

By: Jim Barr | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 5/14/2013 | Send Email

Produced from Chardonnay [obviously, since it is “Blanc de Blancs”], this amazing Gem throws tons of yeasty, nutty, creamy fruit at you both in the nose and on the palate, with brilliant complexity, and a lush, broad, and rich finish. The Bean has ordered me to bring at least one case of this home for our consumption in the next one to three-plus years. I will probably bring home more than that. 12.0% ABV

Drink from 2013 to 2018

By: Shaun Green | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 5/7/2013 | Send Email

There's not a lot more to say about this one, it a no-brainer! Grand Cru Champagne of this quality at this price is just not to be missed.

By: Mari Keilman | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 1/31/2012 | Send Email

Vintage Launois is one of my favorite champagnes but with the word spreading of just how fantastic their vintage wines are, its sometimes hard to get your hands on one. This is where the Cuvee Reserve steps in as a noteworthy understudy. The Cuvee Reserve has an amazing richness with notes of apple and lemon zest on the palate and a elegant brioche finish.

By: Chiara Shannon | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 12/30/2011 | Send Email

This Blanc de Blancs, made from 100% Grand Cru Chardonnay, enjoys cult status in France. The vintage-inspired bottle shape is eye-catching, but what’s inside the bottle is truly brilliant. From Mesnil, the southernmost Grand Cru in Champagne (home to Salon and Krug’s Clos de Mesnil), it has a crisp, mineral-driven nose, with subtle lees and butter undertones and a hint of fennel. The flavors deepen on the palate, expanding to coat the mouth, ending with a long, refreshing finish. It steals the show as an apéritif, accompanied by light, salty snacks, but possesses the depth and complexity to pair with richer foods as well.

By: Mike Parres | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 12/14/2011 | Send Email

This is one of the best Champagnes in our entire stock, all Chardonnay and all Grand Cru from the villages of Mesnil, Oger, Cramant and Avize. Buy now, it will be gone soon !

By: Jeff Garneau | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 12/9/2011 | Send Email

I am embarrassed to admit that before I met Gary Westby, our Champagne buyer, I was not a drinker of Champagne. I probably had had one or two bottles of mediocre, bulk-produced sparkling wine (not Champagne) and dismissed all sparkling wines on that basis. Then Gary introduced me to grower-producer Champagnes like the Launois "Cuvée Reserve" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne. The quality--the authenticity--of the wines was a revelation. And the great prices made possible through our direct import program made it impossible not to try as many as I could. If you want to learn about the Côte des Blancs--the home of the finest Chardonnay in Champagne--about Grand Cru sites like Mesnil and Oger, then this is a tutorial in a glass. Fine bead. Clean. Crisp. Wonderfully mineral in its expression, while still rich in texture. Try it on its own as an aperitif or, better yet, with our local Dungeness crab.

By: Chris Miller | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 7/28/2011 | Send Email

This is another scratch my head in wonder deal. In fact, and this is a bold statement, this could be the greatest deal in the store. Wait... bold statement is an understatement, as we have so many head scratching "yougottabefrigginkiddinme" deals is this store. But alas, I think it might be. This could hold its own in a blind tasting with bottles of bubbles two, three or even four times this price. Hell, five times. I implore you to give it a try.

By: Steve Greer | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 6/7/2011 | Send Email

Every year this is one of my favorite Champagnes. Green apple and mineral on the nose and palate and the 3 years on the lees provides a fantastic mouth feel with plenty of acidity keeping it very crisp and clean. 100% Grand Cru fruit for only $34.99. Crazy.

By: Gary Westby | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 8/18/2009 | Send Email

Cinnamon and I paired this with some pork paté from the fatted calf in Napa before diving into some pork chops last night, and I was left wanting for nothing. This is a wine of depth, finesse and intrigue and yet is about as easy as it gets to drink without engaging the grey matter at all.

By: Kirk Walker | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 7/9/2009 | Send Email

It is hard to miss this wine with its great packaging, but more importantly it is the juice between the bubbles. Ever since I started working for K & L, first bottle I took home was this wine!, I have been a big fan. Broad rich on the palate with a great bead. The flavors lean towards white Burgundy, what's not to like?

By: Craig Peer | Review Date: 1/4/2012

This has become one of my favorite non vintage champagnes. This is outstanding for the price !!

By: Lo Diggs | Review Date: 5/31/2010

Im happy to have tried this brillant Champaign and honestly it was the excellent packaging that made me attempt its genuine zest.

By: Paeonia_9 | Review Date: 12/31/2009

It's no wonder this is so popular! A crowd-pleaser that manages to be interesting enough to appeal to more experienced palates. Freshly cut Honeycrisp apple and buttery lemon curd with touches of light cream and brioche...on fairy wings. More, please!

Fans of this product include:

Christie Cartwright

Jacques Moreira

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Additional Information:

Varietal:	Chardonnay - It's hard to believe that up until about 30 years ago, this extremely popular varietal hid behind the veil of geographical names like Chablis and Puligny-Montrachet. Now grown all over the world and bottled by its varietal name, Chardonnay has achieved a level of branding unlike any other wine. Surprisingly, though, what you get when you buy Chardonnay can differ greatly from country to country and even within one country, depending on the climate where it's grown and how it is vinified and aged. From fresh, crisp and minerally with apple and lemon notes to rich and buttery with tropical fruit overtones, Chardonnay runs the gamut. In France's Burgundy, Chardonnay is the source of the prized wines of Chablis, Corton-Charlemagne, Mâcon, Meursault and Montrachet. It also the foundation of exceptional Champagne, where it is blended with Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier or vinified on its own into Blanc de Blancs. It is also extremely popular in California, and is gaining popularity in Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Spain and South Africa.
Country:	France - When it comes to wine, France stands alone. No other country can beat it in terms of quality and diversity. And while many of its Region, Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne most obviously, produce wine as rare, as sought-after and nearly as expensive as gold, there are just as many obscurities and values to be had from little known appellations throughout the country. To learn everything there is to know about French wine would take a lifetime. To understand and appreciate French wine, one only has to begin tasting them. Click for a list of bestselling items from all of France.
Sub-Region:	Champagne - The French region of Champagne (comprised of the towns of Rheims, Epernay, and Ay) was the first region in the world to make sparkling wine in any quantity. Today, the name of the region is synonymous with the finest of all sparkling wines, and winemaking traditions of Champagne have become role models for sparkling wine producers, worldwide. Surprisingly, the region of Champagne is now responsible for only one bottle in 12 of all sparkling wine produced. Styles of champagne range from the basic brut (often blends of several vintages), single vintage champagnes, and rose. View our bestselling Champagne.
Alcohol Content (%):	12