Vintage Champagne Newbie

Hey guys!

Thank you all for your responses to my French Laundry thread. I appreciate everyone’s input there. I think I’ve decided on bringing a bottle of vintage champagne as it’ll probably go with all the dishes. Having never had a bottle of champagne from the 90’s before, thought this might be a good time to have one. I’ve limited myself to a budget of $300 (the myriad offering took a generous bite) Probably would have to buy something semi-local as I don’t think shipping right now would go all too well. From my research I can get these bottles at around those prices (or cheaper):

90, 96 Dom
90 Bollinger Annee
95 Heisieck Blanc des Millenaires
96 Bollinger Extra Brut
96 Taittinger Blanc de Blancs

Would I pretty much not go wrong with any of these bottles? Anyone with more experience with vintage champagnes have any recommendations/suggestions? I have a couple bottles of '02s (Sir Winnie, Billecart, Celebris) in my wine fridge now, maybe that might be the way to go instead of buying another bottle. Thanks ya’ll!

90 Dom is fabulous! Had my last one 4 years ago and I wish I had more!

The 96 Dom is near perfect and has the body and acidity to pair well with many dishes. The 2002 Billecart is also gorgeous although lighter in body.

There isn’t a bad bottle in the lot. I suspect the charles heidsieck will be less expensive than the rest

H, you probably already know that K&L has the Heidsieck for $199. I’ve had it several times and think it is quite good. That said, if you can get the Taittinger or Dom within your budget, I say go for those. All will pair well with the meal, but personally, I find there is something a bit more exciting about seeing a Dom Perignon label on the table during special occasions

There is a long list of retailers with the Heidsieck at $120-150. 2 bills is too much to pay.

Be very careful on provenance and storage of the bottle. Champagne is very sensitive to heat and light, so you want to make sure whatever you choose has been treated well over its life.

It seems odd that none of those would be on the FL list.

One thing to note are the 90 and 96 vintages are fairly different. (I’m not as familiar with 95 in champagne.) 96s can have big acidity and may need a nice decant before drinking. A 90 should be ready to go and might even be a bit oxidized depending on a myriad of factors. Do you prefer more acidity or more opulence? that could narrow your choices.

The Heidsieck prices have changed quite a bit since I first “discovered” that wine was more than a drink to me. I remember one of my first ever internet wine purchases around 2005/6 was 1995 Charles Heidsieck Blanc de Millenaires for $50. Doesn’t sound so strange now that I write it, as one can find this wine for $115 in the market now.

Doesn’t The French Laundry require corkage bottles to not be on their list?

1996 is famous as a stellar vintage in Champagne (so good choice there!) and very popular. The high yield of Champagne houses mean it is a common vintage to see on wine lists. I wouldn’t be surprised if at least some of those 96s were on their list.

Vintage Champagne can be a real crap shoot in the USA.

About 15 or 20 years ago, there was a lot of very badly heat-damaged champagne floating around in the system.

For instance, a large portion of all the circa 1988 to 1990 Salon in the USA was completely ruined somewhere in the 3-Tier system.

Ask your retailer whether they will provide a full refund [or maybe a full in-store credit, with no re-stocking fee] if the bottle proves to be heat-damaged.

I’ve had the 95 Heisieck Blanc des Millénaires and the 96 Taittinger Blanc de Blancs recently and both were lovely. I preferred the Taittinger, but that is one of my favorite Champagnes each vintage. My guess is you will not be disappointed with any of the wines you listed.

Either way, check to make sure they are not already on the list as you don’t want to show up and be disappointed.

I would double check the list at the French Laundry…I’d expect the '95 Bd’M to be on the list.

The '96 DP is what I would choose from your list. IMO it’s better than the 90 and far less variable.
You might want to look for the '95 Taittinger CdC which is superior to the '96 CdC and isn’t on their list like the '96, which is.

Not to beat a dead horse about the French Laundry’s wine pricing, but assuming they purchased that '96 CdC on release they are marking it up around 1200%

96 DP is great but as with many wines there were some heat-damaged wines. A plus one for the 95 Taittinger CdC which is better than the 96. All of the bottles we’ve had have been great and that’s saying something for vintage Champagne. 95 is our wedding year so we hit all of the 95s pretty hard. 96 Taittinger CdC is no slouch but is not as consistent as the 95 in our experience with multiple lots.

Have only bought '96 DP in Europe on release or shortly thereafter. US transportation and storage is the reason why. And maybe pricing too

Exactly what I would do, great advice.