Delamotte Blanc de Blanc Champagne 2018 (Champagne, France) - [WS 95] [JD 94] [JS 93] [WA 92] [BH 92] [VM 91]
Delamotte Blanc de Blanc Champagne 2018 (Champagne, France) - [WS 95] [JD 94] [JS 93] [WA 92] [BH 92] [VM 91]
Delamotte Blanc de Blanc Champagne 2018 (Champagne, France) - [WS 95] [JD 94] [JS 93] [WA 92] [BH 92] [VM 91]
Delamotte Blanc de Blanc Champagne 2018 (Champagne, France) - [WS 95] [JD 94] [JS 93] [WA 92] [BH 92] [VM 91]

Delamotte Blanc de Blanc Champagne 2018
(Champagne, France) - [WS 95] [JD 94] [JS 93] [WA 92] [BH 92] [VM 91]


$180.00 $139.99 Save $40.01
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WS95 JD94 JS93 WA92 BH92 VM91
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About the Winery:
Delamotte, founded in 1760, is one of the oldest houses in Champagne. The two neighbors Salon and Delamotte became part of Bernard Hinault's Laurent-Perrier group in 1986 and were joined under the same winemaking team in 1988, thus making Delamotte the "little sister" of cult Champagne Salon. According to Forbes Magazine, "The unofficial second label of the super-prestige marquee, Salon, in that Delamotte has first rights to any grapes from Salon’s prized 50 year old vineyards in the premier Chardonnay village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger that its neighbor doesn’t need for its own Champagne."

Notes from the Winemaker: 

Each vineyard contributes its own style: Le Mesnil-sur-Oger (20%), acidity, purity, and the minerality of the limestone; Avize (20%), balance and structure; Oger (20%), warmth, breadth, and generosity; Cramant, minerality and smokiness; Chouilly, structure and persistence; and Oiry, acidity and roundness. All these notes, harmoniously combined, compose Delamotte Blanc des Blancs 2018. The four years of aging on the lees don't seem long considering the complexity of this wine, which is very rich and concentrated, yet ethereal and even generous. This is a Champagne with the supreme elegance of a wine meant for aging.


A delicate string of effervescence underlines a white golden robe. With a predominance of fruit, the nose opens on notes of Williams pears and citrus. After being allowed to breathe, the bouquet mellows to offer subtle notes of hawthorn, fresh hazelnut and sweet spices. What a sensuous invitation! A true reflection of its native mineral and chalky terroir, the clean attack introduces a touch of lemon. The wine’s body then blossoms into a burst of summer fruits, highlighted by the juice of vineyard peaches, the crispness of roasted hazelnuts and the sweetness of an orchard. The wine’s opulent smoothness gives way to a seemingly endless finish, reflecting its noble heritage!

About the Vintage: 2018

Following record-breaking rainfall, the ground in the Champagne region was soaked with water by late winter. A gift for the Côte des Blancs, where the chalky soil managedn to store up some 600 litres of water per cubic metre: a valuable reserve that would prove important for the vineyards during the wine year. Following the late February/early March frosts, cold and snowfall, temperatures slowly but surely crept upwards, stimulating the vines to spectacular growth. Mild weather soon gave way to an early heatwave, spurring the Chardonnay vines to flower by 30 May. Dry weather and high temperatures continued throughout the summer months until drought set in for a period longer than ever seen before in Champagne, longer even than in 2003. The extreme dryness was especially apparent on the surface, while the vines themselves enjoyed a reservoir of life-saving water sustaining their roots throughout the whole season! It was no surprise to see the harvests start as early as 27 August at Mesnil-sur-Oger, yielding ripe grapes from all the plots not only of unparalleled size and weight (175 grammes for Chardonnay bunches!) but of impeccable health and quality… a harvest without precedent. The vintage boasts a potential alcohol volume of above 10%, with low to medium acidity, promising both freshness and elegance. These conditions parallel those of the 1976 vintage, with a bonus of abundant fruits.


Ratings & Reviews

95 Points - Wine Spectator: 
"Like a prima ballerina, this elegant Champagne shows effortless precision and grace. The lacy mousse carries a layered range of creamed apple, yellow plum, pickled ginger and lemon curd flavors, aligned with more subtle hints of rich vanilla-infused pastry cream and brioche. Long and creamy, with a succulent quality to the well-cut acidity and a mineral-driven finish of smoke, chalk and oyster shell. Drink now through 2038. 6,000 cases made, 400 cases imported." – Alison Napjus (Dec 2024)

94 Points -  Jeb Dunnuck:
"Medium-bodied, the 2018 Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut is a more approachable vintage, very appealing and detailed, with more length, making it a refreshing and elegant wine. It has a refined sensibility, with notes of lemon-lime sherbet, fresh shortbread, and a hint of salty earth that comes through on the sides of the palate, as well as smoky, wet stones. True to the estate, it maintains all its classic freshness, finishing with notes of powdery chalk and fresh almond. It should have a wide window for peak enjoyment. Drink 2025-2045." – Audrey Frick (Dec 2025)

93 Points - James Suckling: 
"This is creamy and ripe, with inviting aromas of baked apples, custard, vanilla pastry and dried pineapple. It's silky and rounded on the palate, with excellent freshness backing up the creamy fruit. 100% chardonnay from the six grand crus in the Cote des Blancs. Disgorged late 2024. 5 g/L dosage after six years on the lees. Delicious now." (Jul 2025)

92 Points - Wine Advocate: 
"Delamotte's 2018 Blanc de Blancs is only the fourth edition since 2008. Since Michel Fauconnet found it expressive earlier, it was disgorged after four and half years of aging on the lees (as opposed to the six years typical of previous editions) with a dosage of 5.5 grams per liter. Sourced from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Avize, Oger, Cramant, Chouilly and Oiry, it comes from a lower-acid vintage that’s charming and inviting, revealing aromas of tangerine, dried white flowers and pear. Full-bodied, generous and even powerful, it is underpinned by ripe yet vibrant acidity. It will offer a broad drinking window, but to minimize the vintage signature and maximize reflection of its origins, a few extra years under cork are advisable." – Kristaps Karklins (Dec 2024)

92 Points - Allen Meadows' Burghound: 
"The elevated heat of the 2018 vintage is manifest on the ripe aromas of citrus confit, poached pear, baked apple and quinine-scented nose. There is good richness allied with good verve to the moderately generous medium-bodied flavors where the supporting mousse is also moderate while remaining relatively fine before terminating in an acceptably complex, nice dry and sneaky long finale. For my taste this needs more depth and while it certainly could already be enjoyed, I would advise allowing to slumber for another 4 to 6 years first." (Oct 2024)

91 Points - Vinous Media:
"The 2018 Blancs de Blancs is a Champagne of total pleasure. Citrus peel, orchard fruit and floral notes are very nicely delineated. The 2018 is an airy, breezy Champagne, very much in the style of a vintage in which so many wines are on the lighter side. The Blanc de Blancs is a blend of fruit from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Avize, Oger, Cramant, Chouilly and Oiry, six villages in the Côte des Blancs. As good as the 2018 is, it is even better from magnum." – Antonio Galloni (Apr 2025)