Beautifully refined and delicate with clementine and pale strawberry enlivened by a touch of flintiness and creaminess and delivered with a delicate mousse. The Chardonnay lifts and elongates with fine zesty energy. Detailed, poised and classy, this is superb value. 10 months predominantly in large oak foudres.

Vilmart's ultra-silky, detailed and refined style is amply on show with this beautiful edition of Grand Cellier, which sees Chardonnay from two parcels in Rilly-la-Montagne – vinified in the large, neutral Alsatian oak casks that are a historic part of this domaine's style – combined with 30% Pinot Noir. It's effortlessly approachable in its sweet preserved lemon, toasted pecan and macaron flavours, with 2022's abundant, glossy ripeness tempered by the cool, taut and thirst-quenching freshness of the northern Montagne.

A blend of 70% pinot noir and 30% chardonnay, this has a complex and sophisticated nose that delivers peach fruits and citrus, plus some bolder yellow plum fruits too. The palate is assertive, energetic and concentrated with peach and nectarine flavors met with lemony acidity. Long, really powerful Champagne here. Drink now or age on cork for three or more years. - Nick Stock

Mainly Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir, the NV Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier Brut is a brilliant pale yellow color. Tasted at the estate and again in my office, the second tasting shone much more brightly, with its Chardonnay featuring notes of candied lemons, fresh pastry dough, and a hint of fresh bread dough. It filled the palate with a rounded and light frothy mousse, though it’s a more structured wine in this vintage, with bright acidity that brings tension to the release of this Grand Cellier. Red currants and bright citrus shine, with a neutral base that elevates to a medium to full-bodied feel. It is focused and bright in this release, and again has a good deal of focused tension, with the ability to age. It was quite taut and compact in its feel on second tasting. It should have no problem improving over the next few years, but it is also refreshing, energetic, and enjoyable now. This is from the 2021 base vintage, with wines from 2020 and 2019. They block malo as a style across the wines in the house. Disgorged in September 2024, with 7 grams per liter dosage.

This Grand Cellier is 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir and was disgorged in 2015. Brilliant straw/gold. Tightly wound, the Vilmart takes some coaxing but has a lot on offer. The nose has a very focused mineral and chalky edge to it with a breadth of layers underneath. Fuji apple skin, brioche, grapefruit pith, tarragon, and a touch of anise. That palate comes across with a lovely, fine mousse and flavors reminiscent of the nose but with perhaps deeper fruit. This is delicious now and should only gain complexity and nuance with time. Drink now through 2022.

A vivid Champagne, with chiseled acidity enmeshed with flavors of crushed boysenberry and chopped yellow peach fruit, lime peel, fragrant nutmeg and cumin, plus hints of crystallized honey and oyster shell. This is tightly meshed and racy, yet the raw silk–like mousse carries the flavor profile nicely through the persistent finish. Enjoy this today as well as with cellaring. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Disgorged July 2024. Drink now through 2033. - AN

Disgorged in July 2025 with a dosage of seven grams per liter, Vilmart's 2023 vintage-based NV Grand Cellier rises from the glass with aromas of nashi pear, quince and lemon oil, mingled with notes of nectarine, white flowers and blanched almonds. Medium- to full-bodied, fleshy and incisive, it is animated by racy acidity and pinpoint mousse, framed by a crisp core of fruit and culminates in a long, lemon-inflected finish. It faithfully reflects the house's no-malolactic style, displaying all of its characteristic attributes.

(92+ points) Grand Cellier 1er Cru NV is a 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir based on 2019 with 50% of reserve wines from the two previous years. Lemon-gold in color, it makes a light aromatic first impression with notes of apple and pear compote, crème fraiche, lemon zest and wild strawberry coulis that flows to a medium-bodied, creamy palate with a textured, fine mousse enveloping ripe citrus and racy acidity. Great intensity and length on the taut finish with a little salinity. Disgorged May 2022 and finished with an eight gram per liter dosage. - Sarah Mayo

Grand Cellier 1er Cru NV is a 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir based on 2019 with 50% of reserve wines from the two previous years. Lemon-gold in color, it makes a light aromatic first impression with notes of apple and pear compote, crème fraiche, lemon zest and wild strawberry coulis that flows to a medium-bodied, creamy palate with a textured, fine mousse enveloping ripe citrus and racy acidity. Great intensity and length on the taut finish with a little salinity. Disgorged May 2022 and finished with an eight gram per liter dosage.

The NV Brut Grand Cellier (2022 base) is exuberant and showy. Then again, this is a 2022-base release. Lemon confit, tangerine oil, white flowers and pasty notes all meld together. There's gorgeous mid-palate viscosity and texture here. This is impeccably done. Dosage is 7 grams per liter. Disgorged: January 2025. -- Antonio Galloni