Champagne Grand Cru Blanc "Perle"

Lilbert-Fils
France
Champagne
NV

Lilbert’s rarest and most sought-after wine, this also comes from all three communes, and is sourced from the best old vines. It is bottled with a lower pressure than the non-vintage classic, making it particularly transparent and mineral.

65% 2013, 35% reserve wines. Disgorged in summer 2016 with a dosage of 5g/l.

 
94 points
"This gorgeous effort begins with a notably restrained nose that only reluctantly offers up shy scents of lemon rind, green apple and cool pear. The refreshing and equally cool flavors are strikingly refined and energetic with an exceptionally fine bead to the supporting mousse, all wrapped in wonderfully authoritative, balanced and focused finish that lasts and lasts. This understated and ultra-pure effort is flat out terrific combining power and finesse. This could easily be enjoyed now but a few more years of bottle age will only add to the depth."
Allen Meadows,
Burghound
92 points
"As readers may recall, the Perle cuvée from Lilbert-Fils is their old vine bottling of Blanc de Blancs that is bottled with a lower pressure than their standard non-vintage Blanc de Blancs Brut NV. It is the house’s most limited release cuvée, as only one hundred and sixty-five cases are produced each year. The current release is a blend of thirty percent 2011, forty percent 2010 and thirty percent 2009 juice. The cuvée is finished with a dosage of five grams per liter. The wine wafts from the glass in a refined blend of lemon, pear, brioche, chalky soil tones, gentle smokiness and a topnote of fresh almond. On the palate the wine is fullish, crisp and very elegant in profile, with a good core, lovely soil signature, light, frothy mousse, bright, nicely buried acids and impressive length and grip on the youthfully complex finish. The lower pressure makes this very, very easy to enjoy out of the blocks, but this wine will also age very well indeed. 2017-2035+."
John Gilman,
View From the Cellar
92 points
"The latest release of the NV Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Perle was disgorged in fall 2018 with five grams per liter dosage, and it's a blend of equal parts 2015 and 2014, complemented by some 10% reserve wines. Offering up a lovely bouquet of fresh peach, lemon oil, white flowers and hints of the elegantly nutty complexity to come, the wine is medium to full-bodied and textural but incisive, with a creamy low-pressure mousse, a tight-knit core that needs a little time on cork to unwind and an elegantly chalky finish."
William Kelley,
Wine Advocate
April 2020
92 points
"A vibrant Champagne, offering a satiny mousse that's fine and plush as it caresses the palate and carries delicate flavors of ripe Bartlett pear, crystallized honey, lemon curd and smoked almond. A fine chinalike frame of acidity creates a mouthwatering impression on minerally finish. Disgorged Summer 2020. Drink now through 2024. 250 cases made, 50 cases imported. "
Alison Napjus,
Wine Spectator
August 2021
93 points
"This particular bottle of the Lilbert Fils “Perle” non-vintage Blanc de Blancs was from the base year of 2017, with reserve wines included from the previous year of 2016. The wine was disgorged in September of 2022 and finished with a dosage of three grams per liter. The wine is drinking beautifully today, offering up a bright and complex nose of pear, apple, brioche, a lovely foundation of chalky minerality, white flowers and incipient smokiness cropping up as a topnote. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and shows off lovely mid-palate depth, with good soil undertow, zesty acids, lovely mousse and a long, complex and beautifully balanced finish."
John Gilman ,
VFTC
Issue 113

SKU/Code: 
DB5804-NV
Product Line: 
Sparkling
Varietal: 
Chardonnay