"The 2011 “les Alouettes Saint Bets” Blanc de Blancs from Hugues Godmé is a simply outstanding wine. These biodynamically-farmed chardonnay vines are from the village of VillersMarmary and the vins clairs are barrel-fermented with native yeasts and aged a full year in cask prior to bottling up for secondary fermentation. The wine spent eleven years aging sur lattes prior to its disgorgement in October of 2023. It was finished non-dosé. The wine’s bouquet is bright and beautifully complex, wafting from the glass in a mix of pear, apple, brioche, fresh almond, a complex base of limestone soil, discreet floral tones, gentle smokiness and a very deft foundation of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, precise and rock solid at the core, with superb mineral drive, elegant mousse and a long, complex and impeccably balanced finish. This is 138 an absolutely superb wine and one of the best 2011 Champagnes I have had the pleasure to taste! "