Marie Weiss Champagne Brut NV

91 points Wine Spectator
A well-balanced Champagne, with a vibrant backbone of acidity and a creamy mousse, this offers spice and tea rose accents to the crushed white cherry, toasty and candied lemon zest flavors. Clean-cut finish.

A blend of 50% Pinot Noir, 25% Pinot Meunier and 25% Chardonnay from the Montagne de Reims and the Côte des Blancs; about half of the juice comes from 1er Cru and Grand Cru vineyards.

The Marie Weiss label is produced by the superb, small Champagne house of Ployez-Jacquemart, which is located in the small village of Ludes on the Montagne de Reims. The Marie Weiss bottling is produced entirely from purchased grapes or must, and the new release was quite a lovely bottle. The refined and complex nose wafts from the glass in a blend of apple, white peach, brioche, a nice touch of fresh nutmeg and a lovely base of chalky soil tones. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, crisp and wide open, with good mid-palate depth, lovely focus and complexity, elegant mousse and lovely balance on the long and classy finish. This is not quite as structured out of the blocks as the Ployez-Jacquemart Brut NV, which really is built to age long and gracefully, and the Marie Weiss is a lovely counterpoint from the Ployez family for those who really want to drink their bubbly right after it is purchased.