What I’ve said before regarding J. Charpentier’s
millésime is especially true of this sublime 2008: Quality Champagne in this vintage, at this price, is a rare breed. Charpentier matches the complexity, class, and power of prominent Champagne houses and does so at such an absurdly low price. Just hearing the words, “2008 Champagne” is enough to spark excitement among wine
cognoscenti because it was a year of perfect proportions: Experts have compared it to all-time classics such as 2002 and 1996.
In Tyson Stelzer’s perennial “Champagne Guide,” he calls 2008 “a vintage of classic finesse, crystalline purity, tightly clenched acidity, and monumental longevity...the essence of Champagne.” All that is wonderfully melded into this bottle, and with nearly
10 years of lees aging before disgorgement, it’s thoroughly equipped for the long haul. If you want your bottles to last another decade, they’re certainly up to the task—whether you have the self-restraint for that is up to you! A mere $49 for a vintage (of a lifetime) Champagne? It feels like we're breaking the rules! Quantities are limited and this can’t be found anywhere else in America, so stock up while you can.
The J. Charpentier estate, as currently constructed, represents the convergence of two Champagne wine families, Charpentier and Claisse, both with regional histories dating back multiple generations. When Jacky Charpentier married Claudine Claisse in 1974, two family farms became one: Based in the village of Villers-sous-Châtillon, about 12 kilometers west of Epernay in the Vallée de la Marne subzone, the Charpentier holdings now span 15 hectares—and more precisely, 38 plots across nine Marne villages. Jacky and Claudine’s son, Jean-Marc, has been at the winemaking controls since 2004, and the family employs organic methods in the vineyards unless an emergency arises (the classic lutte raisonnée, or ‘reasoned fight,’ approach).
For Charpentier’s 2008 vintage bottling, grapes from five prominent villages strung along the banks of the Marne River were blended together. All grapes were hand-harvested and carefully shuttled back to homebase—abutting Reuil to the north—and both alcoholic and malolactic fermentation took place in a combination of oak and stainless steel vessels. Afterward, the batches were blended together to create a final assemblage of 39% Pinot Noir, 33% Pinot Meunier, and 28% Chardonnay. The still wine was then transferred into bottle where it aged a hair under 10 years on its lees. It was disgorged in the first quarter of 2018 and topped off with a light dosage of six grams. After an additional year in bottle post-disgorgement, it has now entered its prime drinking window—and it’s a wide one at that.
Charpentier’s 2008 release pours a highly reflective silver-yellow with a vigorous mousse. As typical with stellar vintage Champagne that sees prolonged aging (again, almost a decade for this bottling), alluringly ripe aromas of yellow apple, lemon curd, and Asian pear burst out, along with toasty notes of honey and brioche. As oxygen continues developing the wine, further aromas of acacia, raw hazelnut, dried pineapple, wet stones, and crushed oyster shell emerge, allowing for a wonderful sensory experience before the wine even touches your lips. A medium-plus bodied Champagne, the palate showcases a rounded, creamy mouthfeel that explodes with supple yellow fruit and a menagerie of crushed rock minerality. Further, just like the 2006 we offered last year, there isn’t one trace of oxidation, which is one of my pet peeves with older vintage Champagnes. You’ll only find sheer freshness and precision here, at a price that defies common sense. When consuming, pour into wide-mouthed tulips or all-purpose white stems around 50-55 degrees and store a few bottles in a dark, cool place over the next decade. You could drink this affordable sparkling luxury as a standalone, with any hors d'oeuvre imaginable, or next to an inexhaustible number of dishes—try this attached lobster pasta in an herbed cream sauce if you’re searching for some new perspective. Cheers!
