Lilbert-Fils

Lilbert Perle

2009/10/11. D/g 7/15. 5g/ltr. Dry, soft mousse. Quite stern. Oyster shell. Salt.

Chewy, fresh, fruity. Vegetal lychee. This wine needs so much time! Very well balanced mousse and mid to late palate. Notes of pomegranate. More and more seductive with air. I thought this was a touch too sweet but it is so well balanced. Picking up a bracing dry almost leafy note with air in the glass.

Manned by the quiet Bertrand Lilbert this house produces a firm, direct and focused wine that expresses the minerality of the village of Cramant beautifully. The vintage wines can be quite closed, truly firm with great finesse, however, with time they open up perfectly, always remaining focused, but acquiring notes of toast, rum and almond. His vinification techniques are fairly normal so his hardness comes from his vineyards.
Having recently experienced a vertical back to 1964 I feel these wines need at least a decade to start to offer the seductive notes that I look for in a vintage wine. Bertrand only uses his oldest vines in Les Buissons and Les Moyens, both in Cramant to create this magical wine which ages sensationally. His wines from the 1960s, 70s and 80s have few competitors! The 2006 was rather atypical with a bolder, fuller style. The 2007 showed incredible precision and a beautiful linear palate that I fell in love with. On release the 2008 was bold and upfront as you would expect but with great balance across the palate. A very serious wine.
Lilbert has long been a benchmark wine for me and continues to show extremely well. One of my favourites!

Lilbert-Fils Brut

Beautiful complexity and mouthfeel. So crisp and pure. Very complex.

Lilbert-Fils Millesime

Tasted blind. Lovely aromatic sweet brioche nose. Toast. Light gold…so light. Amazing warm palate. Noticeable reduction in acidity and minerality compared to the 1988 and 1981. Not a perfect bottle but still an amazing wine. The first bottle in a vertical of 2008, 2005, 1998, 1988, 1981 and 1964 that was actually mature. The finish is a touch fallen.

Lilbert-Fils Millesime

Tasted blind. Deep straw gold. Wonderful sweet biscuit and toast nose. Dense. Treacle. Not a hint of oxidation. Pure mouthfeel. Slightly lacking in structure in the mid palate. Again so fresh. I am amazed! Great acidity. Really draws the palate for a long time. Hints of white chocolate. I guessed an 1983. Supreme wine.

Lilbert-Fils Cramant

Tasted blind. Yellow pee gold. Tiny bubbles. Sweet toast on the nose. Honey. Just starting to lose it’s minerality. Still so fresh. Immense acidity. Brazil and pralines. Powerful mid to late palate with an amazing precision and mineral point of focus. I am astonished how fresh this wine is. Lingers on for ages on the end palate. I guessed 1988. What a wine.

Lilbert-Fils Cramant

Tasted blind. Lovely buttered nose. Touch of straw. Morel mushrooms. Very fresh. Delicate mousse. Minerality is still very present. A very good bottle. I thought it was a 1995. Superb 1998. Great length.

Lilbert-Fils Cramant

Tasted blind. Yellow gold. Touch of butter, burnt. Plain biscuit. Butter translates onto the palate. The mid to late palate drops away very quickly and you lose acidity. I guessed 2000 or 2005. A touch of earthiness to its. Sweet biscuityness with a mineral touch. The acidity after time is still quite proud.

Lilbert-Fils Cramant

Touch of biscuit. Yellow gold. Marmalade, apricot. Really fruity and upfront on the mid to late palate. Delicate toast notes. Fine mousse. Lavender and rose. Good balance across the palate. Touch of salt with air. Very serious mid-late palate. Long finish.