Marc Hébrart

Special Club Brut 1er Cru Champagne Blend 2018

9.3

This is the 2018 Marc Hébrart Brut ‘Special Club’ – a beautiful bottle of vintage bubbles hailing from a collection of premier and grand cru sites in the Marne and Montagne de Reims regions of Champagne, France.

When you see “Special Club” on the label of a bottle with this distinctive shape, you’re dealing with essentially a prestige cuvée of a grower-producer who’s a member of the “Club Trésors.”

Marc Hébrart joined the Club Trésors in 1985, which is an association of quality-minded grower-producers. Grower-producers operate differently than the big champagne houses (e.g., Veuve-Clicquot) in that they are smaller-scale vignerons who own the entire production process from the vineyard to the winery and cellar.

They have helped raise awareness and appreciation of artisanal champagne wines that speak to a sense of place and personality, unobscured by extensive, widespread blending.

To achieve the status of “Special Club” a wine must undergo a rigorous application process and meet minimum quality metrics culminating with in two blind tasting panels – the first tasting evaluates the base wine after the first fermentation; the second and final tasting occurs after a minimum of three years aging sur lie.

From our studies we’ve learned the 2018 vintage bore above-average fruit; the warm and dry summer paved the way for a riper expression in an otherwise marginal climate. This wine is made with 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay.

The bouquet has a medium (+) intensity of yellow and green apple, lemon zest, white peach, gardenia, almond biscotti, nougat, pastry, biscuit, and toast notes. The palate is creamy with vibrant acidity, adding lift, a fine-beaded, persistent mousse and long, elegant finish.

— 2 months ago

with Deked1

Deked1, Vin and 16 others liked this

Vanessa

@David T Isn’t that interesting considering it has more than doubled in membership since then and seems to be a successful venture. Do you why the other founders left?

David T

In no way did I mean to lessen SC bottling’s if it was interpreted that way. There are producer ego driven personalities intermixing here and that accounts for the fair amount of change. I believe there are still 29 SC producers.

Vanessa

@David T Oh I was truly just curious! It is an interesting fact. 😆 🥂 Thank you for sharing it.

Remy Massin

Special Club Pinot Blanc Champagne Blend 2017

Jay Kline

9.1

Popped and poured. This is a bit unusual as it’s a Pinot Blanc and then even more unusual that it was released as a Special Club. The 2017 vintage may have something to do with the focus on Pinot Blanc though I have no information to back that up. Redolent of stone fruits on the nose with mostly white peach and some apricot; both mostly on the slightly underripe end of the spectrum. Lemons and chalky minerals too. Acid is medium(+?). The finish is long and slightly bitter. Pretty fun to drink and probably at its best now or over the next 5 years. Disgorged 10/2021 — 2 years ago

Severn, Shay and 4 others liked this