DOMAINE VALENTIN ZUSSLIN Cremant d'Alsace Brut Nature Zero Dosage
Sparkling
NV
Alsace
Alsace
Auxerrois
Biodynamic
Tasting Notes & Ratings
Grape
60% Auxerrois, 30% Pinot Gris & 10% Riesling
Enchantingly charming with its elegance, delicacy, finesse. Complexity from more than a year on the lees. Delicate, very persistent bubbles. Medium body; 12.5% ABV.
Even with zero sugar, there is clear sensation of sweetness on the initial attack, but that is contraposed by minerality and salinity in the mid-palate and extended finish. Solid beam of acidity throughout. Alsatian terroir, with mostly dry and sunny summers, allows for excellent ripening of grapes. That, in turn, encourages low or no dosage and very dry wines—thus this brut zéro. Brut zéro wines emphasize terroir and pureness of the fruit. This certainly does.
Tasting notes
Medium yellow-gold color; citrus, honey, white fruit, brioche on the nose; pure, intense, and delicate flavors of lemon, green apple, honey, minerality, salinity on the palate.
Expert Ratings
94 / 100 Parker
The NV Crémant d’Alsace Brut Zéro is entirely from the Clos Lobenberg and has been disgorged without the addition of sulfur. The wine is pure and intense and shows concentrated fruit with delicate brioche and some oxidative flor and iodine aromas. Full-bodied and rich on the palate, this is an elegant and complex, mouthfilling yet salty and refined Crémant with a long and structured finish. This is an impressive wine and reminds me somehow of the Jura and also Jacques Lassaigne in the southern Champagne region. Vinous and very, very long. 12.5% alcohol. Tasted in May 2020. Stephen Reinhardt
93 / 100 Wine Enthusiast
Fresh yellow apple aromas broaden out into notes of ripe, baked apple. The palate is creamy and beautifully textured by autolysis and shows off rounded flavors of freshly baked shortcrust and pastry. The overall effect is one of poised freshness and harmonious balance. This is dry and taut but generous with ample substance that highlights both fruit and structure—all achieved without dosage and addition of sulfur dioxide. Anne Krebiehl MW