Veuve Clicquot Cave Privee Brut 2002 1.5L Magnum

The 2002 vintage has a pale gold color with silver accents. It has a brilliant aspect and an effervescence that is lively and long-lasting. The nose is very open, pure and complex. The Chardonnay gives this wine a refined mineral flavor accompanied with pleasant flowery notes of acacia. Aerating the wine reveals hints of yellow-fleshed fruit and pastries(brioche, marzipan). These give way to delicately spicy aromas, followed by elegant notes of licorice and high-bred teas. In the mouth, the wine is silky and generous. The expectations promised by the nose are met and even exceeded as the complexity of this wine is superlative:simultaneously evoking fruity and floral, mineral and spicy notes, menthol and toast. This wine is quite simply dazzling with its wealth of aromas, and a deliciously long and powerful finish.

Pair this with with bass tartare, poached turbot served on a bed of fresh pasta, or cappuccino of Bresse chicken with candied citrus fruits.

93 Points - Wine & Spirits

This combines the richness of the Clicquot style with flavor precision and the length of the '02 vintage. It's delicious juice, accelerated by the bubbles into a blast of flavor that lasts. There's flinty minerality as well as lime and ginger root, youthful and invigorating for now and suited to years in the cellar.

91 Points - Wine Spectator