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Cristaldi Scores

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Color

Rating

2014

Champagne Odyssée

Blanc de Blancs Jour 1: Le Levant Grand Cru Brut

The ‘Jour 1’ (‘Day 1’) explores Le Levant, south of Avize. 100% Chardonnay. Rich and full with a heady bouquet of jasmine, Mirabelle, and nougat. A fine, creamy mousse unspools with Granny Smith apple, flaky croissant, and salted caramel. Taut, tense, and mineral-driven.

2014

Champagne Paul Déthune

Cuvée A L'Ancienne Extra Brut Grand Cru

50% Pinot Noir, 50% Chardonnay from Ambonnay. A lemony-rich bouquet brings forward decadent sugar-dusted pastries, toasted almonds, and dried apricots. Impressively taut with fleshy yellow apple, ripe pear, and fine-boned acidity. A vein of chalky minerality rounds out a long finish of black truffle, smoked sea salt, and lemon zest

2014

Sparkling Pointe

Brut Seduction

Produced only in the best vintages, this wine offers impressive richness with creamy orchard fruit, fresh French pastry notes, and a beautifully layered nutty complexity. There’s a lengthy, toasty brioche character threaded with flinty minerality, leading to a savory, saline-acid finish. Eight years sur lie lends remarkable depth, yet the wine remains strikingly fresh and balanced on the long, inviting close. Disgorged 8.31.23 and 4.14.24. Dosage: 6 g/L.

2015

Champagne Odyssée

319' Blanc de Blancs Jour 2: Le Couchant Grand Cru Brut

Olivier Bonville of Champagne Franck Bonville (based in Avize) and stepson Ferdinand Ruelle are exploring the 319 Champagne villages. The ‘Jour 2’ (‘Day 2’) takes us to Le Couchant, north of Avize. 100% Chardonnay. Compact, mind-bogglingly complex. Exquisite fine beading is persistent. Savory, mineral-kissed, loaded with orchard fruits, mulberry, cherry, black truffle, and sous bois nuances—incredible.

2015

Glenora Wine Cellars

Brut Méthode Champenoise

Clean and expressive, this 2015 vintage-dated sparkling wine opens with lifted aromas of orchard and stone fruit, accented by hints of almond and white flowers. The mousse is assertive and creamy, building on the palate with toasty brioche notes. Excellent mid-palate concentration and a long, acid-driven finish underscore its remarkable freshness and vitality, even after extended time on the lees. The fruit was sourced from estate vineyards on the west side of Seneca Lake: 61% Pinot Noir and 39% Chardonnay.

2016

Anthony Road Wine Company

Art Series Riesling

From Martini Family Vineyards, this wine is crushed and pressed into stainless steel and fermented with indigenous yeast. It offers expressive vinous aromatics layered with fresh apple and lemon verbena, supported by subtle honeycomb notes. A through line of lime-bright minerality carries the wine to a lifted finish.

2016

Champagne Monmarthe

Le Nid D'agace Extra Brut Premier Cru

Seven generations of the Monmarthes have farmed slopes in the Premier Cru village of Ludes. Taut, racy, and complex. Baked apples and pears emerge through an assertive mousse. The saline mid-palate is balanced by chalky minerals, finishing with Marcona almonds and smoky sea salt.

2017

Buttonwood Grove Winery

Antonia Marie Méthode Traditionelle

Aged six years en tirage with a dosage of 3 g/L, this is a bright, vinous sparkling wine with notes of almond, white flowers, and abundant orchard fruit. The palate is fresh, clean, and marked by a steely mineral edge.

2017

Champagne Rémy Massin

Millesime

Heady black truffle, wild herbs, licorice, and salty sea spray notes. A bright, assertive mousse leads to creamy waves of caramelized pears and bruised yellow apples through a salty mineral finish. 60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir.

2017

Champagne Rémy Massin

Pinot Blanc Special Club Extra Brut

A rare 100% Pinot Blanc from Ville-sur-Arce, farmed by Rémy Massin, a salt of the earth Récoltant Manipulant. Vivid and bright. Lemon zest, smoky minerals, and wildflowers. Voluminous with profound lemony-intensity and crisp orchard fruit. Long, concentrated finish. Ageworthy.

2017

Champagne Rémy Massin

Pinot Noir Special Club Extra Brut

Bright and attractive with white flowers, orchard fruits, and flaky French buttered pastry. Rich with a persistent mousse and layers of yellow apple, poached pear, vanilla cream, pastry crust, and a lemony finish.

2017

Glenora Wine Cellars

Blanc de Blanc

Glenora Wine Cellars was the first winery established on Seneca Lake and remains a pioneer in New York’s Finger Lakes wine region. This 2017 Blanc de Blanc is sourced entirely from Glenora Farms on the lake’s west side. After six years en tirage, the result is an impeccably bright and creamy sparkling wine, layered with orchard fruit and confected lemon bar notes. The finish is balanced and expressive, framed by toasted almonds, apple skin tannins, and a touch of lemon oil.

2017

Ravines

Ravines Sparkling Brut

The Sparkling Brut from Ravines is a wonderfully complex, focused, and expressive wine made from 33-year-old Chardonnay vines and 32-year-old Pinot Noir vines grown at the Argetsinger Vineyard on the southeast side of Seneca Lake. The site’s Howard gravel soils over limestone bedrock lend a mineral edge to this traditional-method sparkler. The 2012 vintage was exceptionally warm for the region, with near-ideal conditions. Hand-riddled, and then disgorged in late 2019 with a dosage of under 5 g/L, it shows beautifully expressive notes of toasty brioche mingling with lemon and lime blossom. The mousse is frothy and creamy, resolving with notes of honey-drizzled almonds and saline-mineral tension on a long, bone-dry, mouthwatering finish.

2018

Anthony Road Wine Company

Blanc de Noir

Sourced from the Martini Family Vineyard and aged on the lees for four years before disgorgement, this 2018 vintage sparkler hails from one of the most challenging vintages of the past decade. It opens with lovely baked orchard fruit, nuanced by delicate French pastry and toasted nut aromatics. The palate is rich and creamy, with a frothy mousse that finishes on a layered undercurrent of salty-saline and oyster shell minerality. Bright, and perfectly balanced.

2018

Champagne Goulin-Roulet

Blanc de Noirs Origine Brut Premier Cru

100% Pinot Meunier. Crafted by father-daughter team Christophe Goulin and Marine from their perch in Sacy, a Premier Cru south of Reims. Alluring, exuberant, with racy elegance, poise, and a chalky mineral mid-palate. Black cherry fruit leads to a frothy mousse layered with vivid wildflowers, licorice, almonds, and white truffle.

2018

Damiani Wine Cellars

Blanc De Blanc

The 2018 Blanc de Blanc is 100% Chardonnay, sourced from select sites along the east side of Seneca Lake. Each lot was vinified separately in stainless steel and aged sur lie for four months before going en tirage for five years, then disgorged in 2024. The wine offers a vinous brightness that leaps from the glass, building into a frothy, textured palate. Chalky minerality provides structure, while nuanced layers of toasty brioche and roasted almonds—gifts of the extended lees aging—bring depth and complexity.

2018

Sparkling Pointe

Boisseau Blanc de Blancs

Beautifully crisp and rich, with baked orchard fruit and a frothy, airy mousse that remains bright and focused. A long, lingering saline-acid tension brings nutty undertones to the forefront, melding into a Sherry-like aromatic richness with perfectly balanced energy on the extended finish. Absolutely fantastic—and a must-have with oysters and mignonette. 100% Chardonnay, sourced exclusively from Boisseau Vineyard, a 2.2-acre site located just a few miles east of the winery and tasting house. The base wine spent four months in demi-muid French oak barrels before bottling, adding subtle texture and nuance. Aged five years sur lie and disgorged on 12.6.23, this wine reveals refined complexity and depth. Dosage: 6 g/L.

2019

Anthony Road Wine Company

Sparkling Riesling

A classic méthode Champenoise Riesling sparkler sourced from the Martini Family Vineyard, aged on the lees for two years before disgorgement. The vintage produced bright, acid-driven wines, and this bottling is no exception—youthful and crisp with crunchy apple fruit and absolutely bracing acidity. A subtle vinous character lingers through the long, mineral-laced finish. Positively made for oysters.

2019

Becker Vineyards

Lahey Vineyards, Semillon

This blend of 90% Sémillon, 7% Chardonnay, and 3% Viognier was aged for an impressive 48 months in French oak, representing a bold experiment for the winery. The result is a wine that surprises consumers with its smooth, glossy texture and remarkable food-friendliness. It offers a rich array of aromas, including fragrant toasted nuttiness, lemon-drop, and butterscotch. Full-bodied and spicy on the palate, it delivers a wealth of toasted nut flavors and a luxurious finish. While thoroughly enjoyable now, this wine promises to evolve beautifully over the next decade, gaining even more richness, toasty complexity, and caramel-like depth.

2019

Belle Fiore

Caprettone

This is a Caprettone, a grape variety from Coda di Volpe in the Vesuvio DOC in Campania, typically blended. Grown on the Belle Fiore estate, there is a bout an acre and a half and winemaker Rob Folin fermentes ina m ix of ss, acaica and French oak all neutral. It’s a bracing, refreshing, lemon-lime-bright wine with nice nutty notes in the nose and loads of canided citrus fruit and vivid acidity. Great tension.

2019

Damiani Wine Cellars

Brut

The 2019 Brut—a méthode champenoise sparkler made from Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier—is sourced from multiple vineyard sites along the east side of Seneca Lake. Each lot was vinified separately in stainless steel and aged sur lie for three months before tirage. Disgorged in 2025 after five years en tirage, this wine offers a complex and richly textured profile. Baked apple, pear, and apricot lead the aromatic charge, followed by confected notes of apple tart and apricot pastry, with buttery, nutty undertones adding depth on the mid-palate. An assertive mousse softens into a gentle froth, while the long, saline-acid finish brings lift, freshness, and tension to this more opulent style of sparkling. My kind of bubbly!

2019

Fox Run Vineyards

Blanc de Blancs

Focused and linear, this estate-grown sparkling wine leads with bright apple and lime zest notes, followed by subtler hints of French pastry. The gentle mousse gives way to a brisk, acid-driven finish. Hand-picked and whole-cluster pressed from certified sustainable estate vineyards, the wine was partially barrel fermented to build texture.

2019

Hermann J Wiemer Vineyard

Cuvee Brut

Aged 53 months en tirage, this estate-grown méthode traditionnelle blend of 65% Chardonnay and 35% Pinot Noir hails from the Standing Stone Timeline and Magdalena vineyards. It opens with aromas of just-picked orchard fruit warmed in the sun, underpinned by subtle French pastry notes. The palate is driven by crystalline acidity and bracing tension, finishing with a vivid streak of wet slate minerality.

2019

Irvine & Roberts Vineyards

Blanc de Blancs

Produced in the Méthode Champenoise style, this Oregon sparkling wine is exceptionally limited—just 70 cases, or roughly 1.5 barrels. Aged en tirage for 37 months, it opens with a bold nose of lavish French pastry and lemon pot de crème. The concentrated, hearty mousse reveals layers of cherry fruit, white plum, and saline-acid minerality, all carried by building tension. Juicy, focused, and impressively long on the finish.

2019

Irvine & Roberts Vineyards

Brut Cuvée

The 2019 Brut Cuvée marks the second vintage of Irvine & Roberts’ Méthode Champenoise–style sparkling wine. A blend of 59% Chardonnay and 41% Pinot Noir, it was aged en tirage for 37 months. Winemaker Brian Gruber often conducts two separate picks—one to capture acidity and one for ripeness—with harvest typically spanning from late August to mid-October. The wine offers beautiful purity of orchard and citrus fruit, layered with French pastry notes, lemon peel, and chalky minerality. The mousse is assertive yet creamy, underscored by bracing acid tension. Fabulous, layered, and full of energy.

2019

Irvine & Roberts Vineyards

Brut Cuvée Zero Dosage

The 2019 Brut Cuvée Zero Dosage spent an additional six months en tirage and is crafted in the Méthode Champenoise from a blend of 59% Chardonnay and 41% Pinot Noir. Winemaker Brian Gruber often conducts two separate picks—one for acidity, one for ripeness—with harvest typically taking place between late August and mid-October. This release offers a beautifully natural sweetness that stretches the palate, balanced by bracing acid tension. Savory notes of white truffle and flaky croissant mingle with bright lemon, quince, and layered citrus, all carried by remarkable length and precision.

2019

Lamoreaux Landing

Methode Champenoise Blanc De Blanc

The fruit for this traditional method sparkling wine was sourced from Clone 4 vines in our Terra West Vineyard, a 5-acre sustainably certified estate in the Seneca Lake AVA. Hand-harvested and whole cluster pressed, the base cuvée underwent primary fermentation in stainless steel before aging on the lees for 12 months. The wine was then aged en tirage for 4.5 years prior to disgorgement. It offers a fantastic mouthfeel with a rich, airy, frothy mousse and layers of tangerine peel, lime pith, and zesty lemon, with subtle baking spice notes on the bright, clean finish.

2019

Lamoreaux Landing

Methode Champenoise Brut

A blend of 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir, this méthode champenoise sparkler is sourced from sustainably certified estate vineyards in the Seneca Lake AVA—Chardonnay Clone #4 from Terra West Vineyard and Pinot Noir from Round Rock Vineyard. Hand-harvested and whole cluster pressed, each variety was fermented separately and aged for 12 months in stainless steel before blending and spending 4.5 years en tirage. Steely mineral aromatics frame crunchy apple and pear notes, underpinned by saline-acid tension and an assertive yet focused mousse that resolves in a bone-dry, precise finish.

2019

Lamoreaux Landing

Methode Champenoise Sparkling Riesling

Dynamic and full of classic Riesling character, this traditional method sparkling wine delivers bright lemon-lime fruit, crunchy pear, and green apple carried by one of the frothiest, most lifted mousses that I encountered—ethereal and airy. Sourced from Clone 198 vines at the sustainably certified, two-acre Yellow Dog Vineyard in the Seneca Lake AVA, the wine was hand-harvested, whole cluster pressed, and left en tirage for four years before disgorgement. It finishes dry, with just a whisper of fruit sweetness, leaving a lasting, lovely impression.

2019

Maison Jussiaume

Blanc de Blancs

Produced in the Méthode Champenoise style, the 2019 vintage is notably richer than the 2020 release, offering a flashier array of French pastry notes, buttered brioche, and baked orchard fruit. The mousse is beautifully rich and creamy, with the most delicate beading giving way to a fuller palate and a long, clean, and voluptuous finish.

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Vintage

Wine

Type

Color

Rating

$

2014

Producer

Name

The ‘Jour 1’ (‘Day 1’) explores Le Levant, south of Avize. 100% Chardonnay. Rich and full with a heady bouquet of jasmine, Mirabelle, and nougat. A fine, creamy mousse unspools with Granny Smith apple, flaky croissant, and salted caramel. Taut, tense, and mineral-driven.

2014

Producer

Name

50% Pinot Noir, 50% Chardonnay from Ambonnay. A lemony-rich bouquet brings forward decadent sugar-dusted pastries, toasted almonds, and dried apricots. Impressively taut with fleshy yellow apple, ripe pear, and fine-boned acidity. A vein of chalky minerality rounds out a long finish of black truffle, smoked sea salt, and lemon zest

2014

Producer

Name

Produced only in the best vintages, this wine offers impressive richness with creamy orchard fruit, fresh French pastry notes, and a beautifully layered nutty complexity. There’s a lengthy, toasty brioche character threaded with flinty minerality, leading to a savory, saline-acid finish. Eight years sur lie lends remarkable depth, yet the wine remains strikingly fresh and balanced on the long, inviting close. Disgorged 8.31.23 and 4.14.24. Dosage: 6 g/L.

2015

Producer

Name

Olivier Bonville of Champagne Franck Bonville (based in Avize) and stepson Ferdinand Ruelle are exploring the 319 Champagne villages. The ‘Jour 2’ (‘Day 2’) takes us to Le Couchant, north of Avize. 100% Chardonnay. Compact, mind-bogglingly complex. Exquisite fine beading is persistent. Savory, mineral-kissed, loaded with orchard fruits, mulberry, cherry, black truffle, and sous bois nuances—incredible.

2015

Producer

Name

Clean and expressive, this 2015 vintage-dated sparkling wine opens with lifted aromas of orchard and stone fruit, accented by hints of almond and white flowers. The mousse is assertive and creamy, building on the palate with toasty brioche notes. Excellent mid-palate concentration and a long, acid-driven finish underscore its remarkable freshness and vitality, even after extended time on the lees. The fruit was sourced from estate vineyards on the west side of Seneca Lake: 61% Pinot Noir and 39% Chardonnay.

2016

Producer

Name

From Martini Family Vineyards, this wine is crushed and pressed into stainless steel and fermented with indigenous yeast. It offers expressive vinous aromatics layered with fresh apple and lemon verbena, supported by subtle honeycomb notes. A through line of lime-bright minerality carries the wine to a lifted finish.

2016

Producer

Name

Seven generations of the Monmarthes have farmed slopes in the Premier Cru village of Ludes. Taut, racy, and complex. Baked apples and pears emerge through an assertive mousse. The saline mid-palate is balanced by chalky minerals, finishing with Marcona almonds and smoky sea salt.

2017

Producer

Name

Aged six years en tirage with a dosage of 3 g/L, this is a bright, vinous sparkling wine with notes of almond, white flowers, and abundant orchard fruit. The palate is fresh, clean, and marked by a steely mineral edge.

2017

Producer

Name

Heady black truffle, wild herbs, licorice, and salty sea spray notes. A bright, assertive mousse leads to creamy waves of caramelized pears and bruised yellow apples through a salty mineral finish. 60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir.

2017

Producer

Name

A rare 100% Pinot Blanc from Ville-sur-Arce, farmed by Rémy Massin, a salt of the earth Récoltant Manipulant. Vivid and bright. Lemon zest, smoky minerals, and wildflowers. Voluminous with profound lemony-intensity and crisp orchard fruit. Long, concentrated finish. Ageworthy.

2017

Producer

Name

Bright and attractive with white flowers, orchard fruits, and flaky French buttered pastry. Rich with a persistent mousse and layers of yellow apple, poached pear, vanilla cream, pastry crust, and a lemony finish.

2017

Producer

Name

Glenora Wine Cellars was the first winery established on Seneca Lake and remains a pioneer in New York’s Finger Lakes wine region. This 2017 Blanc de Blanc is sourced entirely from Glenora Farms on the lake’s west side. After six years en tirage, the result is an impeccably bright and creamy sparkling wine, layered with orchard fruit and confected lemon bar notes. The finish is balanced and expressive, framed by toasted almonds, apple skin tannins, and a touch of lemon oil.

2017

Producer

Name

The Sparkling Brut from Ravines is a wonderfully complex, focused, and expressive wine made from 33-year-old Chardonnay vines and 32-year-old Pinot Noir vines grown at the Argetsinger Vineyard on the southeast side of Seneca Lake. The site’s Howard gravel soils over limestone bedrock lend a mineral edge to this traditional-method sparkler. The 2012 vintage was exceptionally warm for the region, with near-ideal conditions. Hand-riddled, and then disgorged in late 2019 with a dosage of under 5 g/L, it shows beautifully expressive notes of toasty brioche mingling with lemon and lime blossom. The mousse is frothy and creamy, resolving with notes of honey-drizzled almonds and saline-mineral tension on a long, bone-dry, mouthwatering finish.

2018

Producer

Name

Sourced from the Martini Family Vineyard and aged on the lees for four years before disgorgement, this 2018 vintage sparkler hails from one of the most challenging vintages of the past decade. It opens with lovely baked orchard fruit, nuanced by delicate French pastry and toasted nut aromatics. The palate is rich and creamy, with a frothy mousse that finishes on a layered undercurrent of salty-saline and oyster shell minerality. Bright, and perfectly balanced.

2018

Producer

Name

100% Pinot Meunier. Crafted by father-daughter team Christophe Goulin and Marine from their perch in Sacy, a Premier Cru south of Reims. Alluring, exuberant, with racy elegance, poise, and a chalky mineral mid-palate. Black cherry fruit leads to a frothy mousse layered with vivid wildflowers, licorice, almonds, and white truffle.

2018

Producer

Name

The 2018 Blanc de Blanc is 100% Chardonnay, sourced from select sites along the east side of Seneca Lake. Each lot was vinified separately in stainless steel and aged sur lie for four months before going en tirage for five years, then disgorged in 2024. The wine offers a vinous brightness that leaps from the glass, building into a frothy, textured palate. Chalky minerality provides structure, while nuanced layers of toasty brioche and roasted almonds—gifts of the extended lees aging—bring depth and complexity.

Vintage

Wine

Type

Rating

$

2014

2014 Champagne Odyssée Blanc de Blancs Jour 1: Le Levant Grand Cru Brut

Sparkling Wine

$$

2014

2014 Champagne Paul Déthune Cuvée A L’Ancienne Extra Brut Grand Cru

Sparkling Wine

$$$$

2014

2014 Sparkling Pointe Brut Seduction

Sparkling Wine

$$

2015

2015 Champagne Odyssée 319′ Blanc de Blancs Jour 2: Le Couchant Grand Cru Brut

Sparkling Wine

$$

2015

2015 Glenora Wine Cellars Brut Méthode Champenoise

Sparkling Wine

$

2016

2016 Anthony Road Wine Company Art Series Riesling

Still Wine

$

2016

2016 Champagne Monmarthe Le Nid D’agace Extra Brut Premier Cru

Sparkling Wine

$$

2017

2017 Buttonwood Grove Winery Antonia Marie Méthode Traditionelle

Sparkling Wine

$

2017

2017 Champagne Rémy Massin Millesime

Sparkling Wine

$$

2017

2017 Champagne Rémy Massin Pinot Blanc Special Club Extra Brut

Sparkling Wine

$$$

2017

2017 Champagne Rémy Massin Pinot Noir Special Club Extra Brut

Sparkling Wine

$$$

2017

2017 Glenora Wine Cellars Blanc de Blanc

Sparkling Wine

$

2017

2017 Ravines Ravines Sparkling Brut

Sparkling Wine

$

2018

2018 Anthony Road Wine Company Blanc de Noir

Sparkling Wine

$

2018

2018 Champagne Goulin-Roulet Blanc de Noirs Origine Brut Premier Cru

Sparkling Wine

$$$

2018

2018 Damiani Wine Cellars Blanc De Blanc

Sparkling Wine

$$

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