NV Moet & Chandon MCIII

As MC-owned Dom Pérignon sails under its own flag, the NV MCIII is the new prestige cuvée of Moët & Chandon, and it is nothing but a unique assemblage of different vintages or what MC calls "the Champagne of the third millennium." With its ambitious MCIII, Moët seeks the perfect "balance between harmony and generous complexity" by blending young vintages aged in stainless steel vats (I), with matured vintages aged in oak casks (II), and rare vintages aged in glass bottles (III). Call it madness or the "icon of luxury for a new generation," but this is of what the inaugural assemblage NV MCIII 001.14 is made: steel-fermented vins clairs of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the vintage 2003, which were blended together in 2004 and comprise 40% of the cuvée (I); another 40% blends the declared vintages 2002, 2000 and 1998 that were mainly fermented in large oak vats and kept as vins clairs for Moët's Grand Vintage (II); and the final 20% assembles the Grand Vintage Collection Champagnes 1999, 1998 and 1993, which had already undergone the second fermentation, but had not been disgorged yet (III). The "ultimate expression of blending" was created in 2004 and kept for ten years on the lees of the second (respectively third) fermentation. The cuvée 001.14 was disgorged in 2014 as Brut with a dosage of four or five grams per liter. The expensive wine offers a fascinatingly deep and concentrated bouquet that is very clear and fresh in its fruit aromas, but also delivers complex secondary aromas of coffee, nougat, biscuits and many more flavors. Full-bodied, ripe and intense on the palate, this is a rich and powerful, yet round and highly elegant cuvée of great complexity and persistence. It is stunningly fresh and pairs fruity aromas with nutty and spicy flavors, revealing a delicate tannin structure and a very long, salty and mineral finish. The MCIII can age for many years and I would recommend not drinking it much earlier than 2020.