Michel Forgeron XO 45%

MICHEL FORGERON XO 45%

Straight to the point

Heart of the Grande Champagne, a few kilometers away from Segonzac. 20-30yo, 45%, 100% Ugni Blanc. Here is the Michel Forgeron XO! 

Colour: Orange, gold lights. Heavy irregular tears.

Nose: Quite wild and exotic at first. It needs some air for sure. On nutty scents and citruses with more air. Roasted hazelnuts, burning wood, orange blossom. Massive nose. Very spicy too, especially on caraway and cloves. Cooked vegetables, mainly carrots, and butternut. Nice orange zest caramel in the background.

Palate: Very smooth texture. Peach juice and Moka at first. Quite chocolate for sure. Caramel sweets. Nougat. Roasted notes are counterbalanced by a nice bitterness on grapefruit juice. Almond pear. Mint chocolate,« after-eight-like ». Leather cream. Candied citruses, candied apple, and pear. Tannic aromas, on humid wood and sawdust. Here is the wood influence. It ends on hazelnut cream and nougat. 

Last Notes: Licorice sweets and nougat smells with more air. Fresh ground coffee. A tad of freshness (Sichuan pepper, eucalyptus) and citruses (mainly orange peel). Orange zest cake with its buttery notes. Back on the palate, the air has emphasized the wood influence. Linseed oil, vanilla stick, caraway, and coal smoke. So leathery aftertaste, maybe some sweat aromas too. It is a bit fruity, mainly on candied plums/apples. It ends on intense licorice syrup notes and few yeast shades too. 

Wild and massive 20-30yo Grande Champagne here. There’s no in-between with this Michel Forgeron XO. A serious no-brainer in my humble opinion but it may not be everyone’s cup of tea. A tad more convincing than the Navarre Cravache d’Or.  

My very subjective note: 88+/100

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