2018 Crete Chamberlin Champagne Extra Brut Blanc de Noirs Eclipsis Meunier

Regular price $159.98

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The 2018 Crété Chamberlin Éclipsis Extra Brut is a rare, vintage-dated Champagne made entirely from Pinot Meunier. It is dry and vinous, emphasizing savory herbs, orchard fruit and texture rather than the simple berry fruit sometimes associated with Meunier.

Produced from the Coteaux Sud d’Épernay around Moussy—where the Crété family is based—it was made by direct pressing, fermented in stainless steel without malolactic fermentation, and reportedly spent approximately 53 months on its lees. The dosage is just 2 g/L, with a November 2022 disgorgement commonly encountered.

Expect:

Ripe pear, white peach and yellow apple
A touch of honey from the warm 2018 vintage
Menthol, dill and fresh floral notes
Toasted nuts and light brioche
Flint, earth and subtle saline minerality
A soft initial texture sharpened by brisk acidity
A dry, persistent finish with herbs and orchard fruit

This is not a dark, broad-shouldered Blanc de Noirs. Its direct pressing and avoidance of malolactic fermentation give it a surprisingly pale, taut and energetic profile. The essential contrast is ripe Meunier fruit versus cool herbal freshness: rounded and silky at entry, then increasingly savory and structured through the finish.

It is drinking well now, with enough post-disgorgement development to show nutty and honeyed complexity, but should remain compelling through approximately 2032–2035 if properly stored. Further aging will move it toward baked pear, dried flowers, hazelnut and forest-floor notes.

Serve at 10–12°C / 50–54°F in a white-wine glass. Particularly good with duck, pork, roast chicken, mushroom risotto, caramelized onions, grilled seafood or washed-rind cheeses. This is an intellectually interesting, food-oriented Champagne for drinkers curious about Meunier as a serious standalone variety.

Shipping Policy

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Unless your delivery address is on the West Coast, we strongly discourage you from selecting “Ground Service” as your shipping method. During the winter and summer months, weather conditions (temperature) and longer delivery times can often result in the spoilage of your order. It doesn’t make sense to invest in fine wines and then take the chance of ruining them due environmental factors during transit (faster and safer delivery generally isn’t much more expensive). We don’t make an additional profit on accelerated delivery, but we frequently recommend faster shipping options to our customers outside the West Coast.
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During periods of extreme weather, we attempt to ship wines at the beginning of each week in order to get shipments to you before the weekend. This is because we have no control over the temperature conditions at our freight carriers’ warehouses. The result may be that your shipment doesn’t go out the day that you place an order.
We ship by Fedex or Fedex Ground. Our prices include packaging materials. Insurance may be available for an additional charge.
Vintage Wine Merchants, Inc. will arrange for shipment on behalf of the buyer, to an address specified by the buyer, provided that Vintage Wine Merchants, Inc. in its sole judgment believes that such shipment will not subject Vintage Wine Merchants, Inc. to the risk of any sort of legal action or other harm. If a buyer lives in a state where the direct shipment of wine by Vintage Wine Merchants, Inc. violates the law, we suggest that the buyer provide an alternative address in another state or have their wine shipped to a third-party storage facility in a direct shipping-friendly state.
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