Dear *|FNAME|*,

Drappier’s 2012 Grande Sendrée has arrived! Wine Cellar has been excited about this release for years. Vintage Champagne is a rarity, making up only 10% of the region’s total production, and 2012 was deemed one of the greatest vintages in Champagne alongside the likes of 2008, 2002, 1996, 1990 and 1988.

Founded in 1808, Drappier is among the finest and most innovative family-owned boutique houses. Grande Sendrée is their prestige cuvée – ‘a legendary wine and one of the first single vineyard champagnes’, enthuses Champagne specialist Richard Juhlin. This sought-after cuvée is only bottled in spectacular vintages.

‘Constantly their most exciting wine’ – Richard Juhlin

The 2012 Grand Sendrée is a blend of 55% Pinot Noir and 45% Chardonnay. It showcases persistence and complexity from start to finish and captures the concentration, chalky minerality, poise and elegance of the magical 2012 vintage.

Situated in the south of Champagne in the (now) rockstar region known as the Côte des Bar, Pinot Noir is Drappier’s calling card. Grande Sendrée, meaning 'big cinder', is a single vineyard on classic Kimmeridgian clay that grew from the ashes of a fire that ravaged Urville in 1836. The beautiful bottle is a reproduction of an 18th century Louis XV style flagon found in their Urville cellars, and all bottles are hand riddled.

Tasting with seventh-generation Michel Drappier was a highlight of our recent trip to Champagne, as was meeting sixth-generation André Drappier (now 97 years old) and ninth-generation André (now 3 years old). For an introduction to this amazing house, look no further than the Carte d’Or – one of our best-selling Champagnes – or view all their wines here.

Reply to this email or visit our website to place your order online.

Vinous regards,

Tasting notes

Drappier Grande Sendrée 2012

The 2012 has not been rated yet; please see notes on previous vintages below.

2008:

‘From a single parcel in Urville, the 2008 Brut Grande Sendrée is exceptional, opening in the glass with incipiently rich aromas of crisp yellow orchard fruit, brioche, marzipan and wheat toast that seems to be on the cusp of acquiring more nutty complexity. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, deep and tight-knit, with superb concentration and structural tension, built around racy acids and concluding with an attractively chalky finish. In keeping with the vintage, this is quite a tensile, reserved Grande Sendrée, but its potential is considerable. Readers should plan on forgetting the 2008 for another four or five years if they wish to catch it at the beginning of its plenitude. It's a blend of 55% Pinot Noir and 45% Chardonnay, one-third of which was fermented in barrel; it was disgorged after seven years sur lattes with five grams per liter dosage.’ – William Kelley, Wine Advocate, 94+/100

2009:

‘Disgorged in January 2019 with four grams per liter dosage, the 2009 Brut Grande Sendrée is still a little tightly wound after its recent disgorgement, but it already hints of the promise to come. Offering up an incipiently complex bouquet of crisp yellow orchard fruit, honeycomb, quinine, stone fruit pits and freshly baked bread, it's full-bodied, deep and layered, with racy acids, a crisp core of fruit and a penetrating and delicately chalky finish. This may not possess quite as much potential for the long haul as the 2008, but it will also hit its peak of expressiveness sooner. Every time I taste Grande Sendrée, I wonder if Drappier might be the most underrated house in Champagne?’ – William Kelley, Wine Advocate, 94/100

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