Score | Publication | Review | Copy |
90+ | View from the Cellar | The Cygnus “Albireo” bottling is crafted from a combination of thirty-five percent each of Parellada and Xarel-lo, coupled with thirty percent Macabeo. The vines are a bit older for this bottling than in the regular Brut NV, with the Macabeo vines nearly fifty years of age now. The wine is from the base year of 2019 again and was disgorged in October of 2021, with 8.5 grams of finishing dosage. The wine shows more depth on the nose than the regular bottling, offering up scents of green apple, fresh lime, a touch of menthol, lovely, salty soil tones and a topnote of lemongrass. On the palate the wine is vibrant, full-bodied, focused and nascently complex, with an excellent core of fruit, fine mineral signature, frothy mousse and a long, crisp and beautifully balanced finish. This has the depth in the mid-palate to repay aging and is an excellent value! Altogether, just a touch more serious than the regular bottling. 2022-2045+. John Gilman - Issue #98 March-April 2022 |