NV Ulysse Collin Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Roises (2014) 60 months

Rating : 99

Drink Date : 2021 - 2038

Variety : Chardonnay

Source : End of March 2021, The WineAdvocate

The NV Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs LesRoises (2014) 60 months is based on the 2014 vintage, supplemented by 10% ofreserve wines from 2013, and it was disgorged with 2.4 grams per liter dosagein March 2020. Exhibiting aromas of warm bread, Asian pear, orange oil, peachand praline, it's full-bodied, layered and enveloping, with huge depth andamplitude, its concentrated core of fruit framed by racy acids and chalkystructure, concluding with a long, intensely saline finish. It's almostimpossible to choose between these two late-disgorged cuvées of Les Roises andLes Enfers, and readers who share my admiration for these vinous, intenselyflavored Champagnes should spare no efforts to acquire whatever they can ofeither bottling.

NV Ulysse Collin Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Roises (2015)

Rating : 97

Drink Date : 2021 - 2035

Variety : Chardonnay

Source : End of March 2021, The WineAdvocate

The newly released NV Extra Brut Blanc deBlancs Les Roises (2015) is brilliant, bursting with aromas of mirabelle plum,apricot and yellow orchard fruit mingled with clear honey, warm bread, drawnbutter and blanched almonds. Full-bodied, broad and enveloping, with a fleshycore of fruit, lively acids and a pillowy mousse, it's gourmand but precise,with notable structuring extract and a long, stone fruit-inflected finish.Along with Les Maillons, this is one of the most dramatic wines in the cellar.

NV Ulysse Collin Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Roises (2015) 60 months

Rating : 100

Drink Date : 2021 - 2036

Variety : Chardonnay

Source : September 2021 Week 4, The WineAdvocate

Collin's NV Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs LesRoises (2015) 60 months is an arresting, thrilling wine that bursts with aromasof peach, confit lemon, mandarin oil, buttery pastry, almonds and whiteflowers. Full-bodied, deep and multidimensional, with huge concentration andmid-palate amplitude, it's vibrant and precise, with a pillowy mousse and animmensely long and intensely saline finish. Despite my best intentions, as soonas I tasted this Les Roises, I knew that my self-imposed embargo on any further100-point scores for Champagne in 2021 would have to be broken. And thefrightening thing is that Collin shows no signs of relenting in his quest toexpand the parameters of the possible in Champagne! While bottles of this tinydisgorgement won't be easy to find, anyone eager to taste one of the region'scontemporary benchmarks should make every effort to seek one out.

InIssue 244 End of August 2019 of The Wine Advocate, I published an in-depthfeature on the wines of Olivier Collin, wines that readers will by now haverealized that I consider to be among the very best being produced incontemporary Champagne. Collin is putting in the hard work at every stage ofthe process, and that's driven by an unquenchable will to improve that's rare evenamong the wine world's elite. The latest evolution is a new disgorging line,which means that Collin can reduce the amount of sulfites he adds atdisgorgment all the while delivering a fresher, more vibrant result: and it'stypical of his attention to detail that he's reduced the dose less for LesMaillons than for the other cuvées, given Pinot Noir's more oxidativetendencies. Meanwhile, the percentage of foudre-aged reserve wines continues toincrease (foresight validated both by the resulting qualitative improvementsand, more pragmatically, by the frosts of spring 2021), as does the time winesspend sur lattes between tirage and disgorgment, several limited releaselate-disgorged bottlings showing the direction in which Collin wishes hisentire production ultimately to evolve. And the novelty? That's the Jardind'Ulysse, a new cuvée, described in detail in the accompanying tasting notes,that represents Collin's first cuvée to blend cépages. As ever, I left Congyinvigorated after a several hours' encounter with wines that are as profound asthey are ambitious.

NV Ulysse Collin Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Roises (2016)

Rating : 97

Drink Date : 2022 - 2036

Variety : Chardonnay

Source : September 2021 Week 4, The WineAdvocate

Disgorged in March after 48 months surlattes, Collin's NV Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Roises (2016) is one of thehigh points of a brilliant portfolio. Delivering aromas of orange oil, peach,warm spices, beeswax and white flowers, it's full-bodied, layered and muscular,with all the depth and concentration that these old, virused vines overlookingthe village of Congy routinely deliver. Seamless and multidimensional, it'sworth a special effort to seek out.