Charles Ellner, Brut Prestige Épernay 1998

Ellner Prestige 1998 #1

Ellner Prestige 1998 #2

75% Chardonnay; 25% Pinot Noir.

Pale straw yellow color.  Quite a contrast from the Seduction ’99: higher-pitched, fresher, and more immature: lots of apple skin but much more citrus peel and lime rickey character.  More alkaline and chalk with a drier biscuit note.  Ginger flowers vs. ginger ale or ginger beer.  More a raw bread dough than baked bread … you get the picture.  While the ’99 Seduction is fully mature the ’98 Prestige is nowhere near ready.  Its firmer.  Its acidity does not come of as shrill but a bit marked, a touch rigid.  So still a bit pointed and a touch raw: more linear lines and angularity today.  Plentiful center bead.  Upright mousse.  The Seduction ’99 is the wine to drink tonight; its future is now.  The ’98 Prestige is the candidate to develop more complexity, nuance and interest.  Real potential here; it just needs a decent snooze in the darkest part of your cellar.  Now – 2023.

Ellner Prestige 1998

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