Champagne Vincent Couche, “Sensation” Dégorgement Tardif 1999

When we offered Vincent Couche’s painfully limited, just-released 1999 Vintage Champagne in magnum format a few months ago, the battle of haste was on full display: hundreds of people jockeyed for a bottle, but fewer than 25 were actually able to call it theirs. We’ve been putting the arm on the importer ever since, making sure that today’s small batch of 750ml bottles (for half the price, of course) would be funneled directly into our hands the moment they arrived from France. And they finally have—just in time for Christmas and New Year’s Eve. In case you need reminding, today’s 1999 “Sensation” is not a re-release; it is the debut.In other words, Vincent, a man of calculated genius, waited nearly two decades before disgorging and releasing the wine you see in front of you. It is one of the most texturally profound, 20+-year-old  vintage bottlings I’ve ever had the privilege of tasting; the level of intelligence, vibrancy, and mineral precision each sip brings is staggering. Translat