1996 Henriot - Millésime Brut Champagne (94 pts)

1996 Henriot - Millésime Brut Champagne (94 pts) @champagnehenriot · 🙋‍♂️ How old do you like your Champagne❓· ℹ️ This wine is an almost even blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Henriot founded in 1808 and still family owned, they are largely a negociant but have numerous holdings even outside of Champagne. 1996 is considered a great vintage in Champagne, although many people comment on the searing acidity that many wines of the vintage showcase. The wine was served from a Magnum· 👁 Medium- gold color· 👃Medium+ intensity on the nose. Aromas of smoke, flint, toasted bread, yeasty, yellow apple, lemon curd, baked quince, cheese rind, and butter· 👄 The wine is dry, high not searing acidity, medium alcohol, medium+ body. The bubbles are fine, but fairly subtle on the palate. A long finish with flavors of baked quince and flint· 🔔 This bottle was a gift many years ago and I was quite happy with how it showed. The autolytic characteristics (character from the wine spending time in contact with the lees) really show and my assumption is that the house style at this time was fairly reductive. It was super clean. This was fairly supple for a 1996 without the hallmark off the charts acidity and this resulted in a bit more fullness in the palate. This Producer is not super well known on the west coast for some reason, but would be interesting to taste current release. This shows how cellaring a good vintage of Champagne can really take the wine to the next level.