Champagne De Sousa - Grand Cru Cuvée des Caudalies 2010

Bettane & Desseauve

About the wine:

Pastry bouquet, with hints of praline. Full, savory, undergrowth on the palate. Supple, vinous return, followed by unexpected freshness. A 2010 full of charm.

About the domain :

Érick de Sousa is a highly talented winemaker, who has been working on the family estate since 1986, ten hectares in the Côte des Blancs region that have been biodynamically farmed for over twenty years. Uncompromising and meticulous, he forges a range of scintillating wines with pure, nuanced expression, playing on the terroirs of Avize, Cramant, Oger and Le Mesnil, planted with chardonnay, with some pinot noir from Aÿ and Ambonnay, and a little meunier. The result is a very wide range of champagnes, different in approach but with a family link in smooth texture and aromatic originality, enhanced by very fine wood ageing. From this point of view, cuvée 3A is representative of this irresistible slide, as is the remarkable cuvée mycorhize, not forgetting cuvée caudalie, which over the years has become inseparable from the house and its standard-bearer. As for the vintage, the 2008 holds its own, while the 2010 surprises with its fresh balance in a year reputed to be supple. If the nose can sometimes surprise, it's on the palate that you discover the stylistic charm of this house with an established reputation.

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

About the wine:

The Grand Cru Extra Brut Cuvée des Caudalies 2010 presents a very clean, complex, expressive and very mineral (or chalky) nose dominated by ripe, concentrated but very delicate fruit (100% old Côte des Blancs Chardonnay grape variety) giving this cuvée its unique expression. Intense, round and fruity on the palate, this is a very fine, elegant Cuvée Caudalies, already persistent and mineral, revealing great purity, finesse and freshness on the finish. Not powerful at all, but delicate, fresh, refined and charming, with an impression of stimulating salty purity and taut minerality on the palate. This is a very charming and seductive grand blanc de blanc, bottled in July 2011 and disgorged in January 2017 at a dosage of four grams per liter.

About the domain :

RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France

About the domain :

The estate, run by the new generation, brilliantly continues the work of the late Eric de Sousa. Charlotte is in charge of sales, Julie is in charge of the vines and the horses, and Valentin is in charge of the cellar. The estate comprises 14 hectares of vines, mainly Chardonnays from the Avize Grand Cru, as well as Pinot Noir from the Aÿ and Ambonnay Grands Crus. Certified organic in 2010 and biodynamic in 2013, the estate also boasts vines of advanced age. The controlled management of ageing in wood underlines the magnificent substance of the wines.