TNs: Champagne Done Blind

WINE TALK
1

BLIND CHAMPAGNE TASTING - The Winery Restaurant in Newport Beach, CA (The OC) (2/22/2018)

Steve Nordhoff generously put this together for the small gang that attended. Everything was done blind, except for the reds you see noted, as well as the Piper Rare at the end. At the end of each flight, we revealed the wines and had some light discussion but there was no information about the wines revealed prior to us starting the event. We did food alongside the wines, coursed to us accordingly. I didn’t write down the foods, but they all worked well for me, with The Winery did a terrific job with service and pouring.

Thank you guys for a great night, and for the generosity of Steve in sharing his cellar of bubbly with us.

2011 EMH Black Cat revisited
This was a revisit of the 11 EMH, following a bottle we had drank as a group about 6 weeks ago. We decided to give this another go, which in full disclosure had been provided by Merrill from the winery, as a replacement for the flawed one. I decided to taste the wine first, while my palate was fresh to really work to judge it as fairly as I could.

  • 2011 EMH Cabernet Sauvignon Black Cat - USA, California, Napa Valley
    Well, this bottle is very different than the one I wrote up back on 1/5/18. As opposed to last month’s bottle, the aromatics on this one are clean and vivid, with what I jotted down as spice box, cedar and lavender. The core of the wine is delicious, with black cherry, herbs, cedar and light touch of vanilla and powdered cocoa. The acidity and solid spine in the wine gives it good structure. Whether it’s vintage or winery style (or both), it avoids the heavier modern Napa touch and leans for me more towards the Matthiasson style, more traditional. Enjoyed this a lot, and FWIW, this was the very first wine I tried last night, without food or any other wines so my palate impression here was clean and focused.

PP Chetillons

  • 2006 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
    Poured blind as part of a mini-vertical of Chetillons. We neither knew the vintages nor the producer. Aromas of white flower and bread dough. When I tasted this, I noticed some red berry quality to it so I had guessed maybe a blend of PN and Chard but as with blind tasting, I was wrong there. Citrus zest, light mineral, saline and a bitter almond kind of thing. I appreciated this for the balance and the way it showed. Very good.
  • 2007 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
    Poured blind as part of a mini-vertical of Chetillons. We neither knew the vintages nor the producer. I did this wine a few years back and I found it then showing more decadence and richness than I would expect from Chetillons so in terms of last night’s bottle and the one from 2016, that experience was consistent for me. There is density here, some chalkiness early on and then when it breathed some more, it came off a bit soft and lacking edges for me. Richer and more approachable for sure than the 2006.
  • 2009 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
    Poured blind as part of a mini-vertical of Chetillons. We neither knew the vintages nor the producer. My notes on this start off with the following…“lemon power”. This wine showed a presence for me. Bread dough, green apple and plenty of lemony presence. Complex, lovely and lots of depth.

Bouchard

  • 2004 Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne Inflorescence Blanc de Noirs La Parcelle - France, Champagne
    Poured blind as part of a Bouchard flight. We neither knew the vintages nor the lieux-dits. Disgorged 04/2011. Started off reduced to me, which went away with air. Pear, creamy green apple, moderate amount of richness paired against a good amount of lemony acid, which carried very well into a long finish. This drank very good for me.
  • 2007 Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne Inflorescence Blanc de Noirs Cote de Bechalin - France, Champagne
    Poured blind as part of a Bouchard flight. We neither knew the vintages nor the lieux-dits. Disgorge date of 04/2011. When this first hit my glass, it gave off a sherried nose, which caused me to pause. With air, like with the reduction we saw on 2004 Parcelle, it too went away. White flowers, even something that seemed jasmine-like to me. Honey, tangerine, with a citrusy lemon-lime richness.
  • 2010 Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne Inflorescence Blanc de Noirs Côte de Val Vilaine - France, Champagne
    Poured blind as part of a Bouchard flight. We neither knew the vintages nor the lieux-dits. Disgorged 04/2012. Flinty, with a crushed rock nose. In this wine, my notes say ‘like tasting the ground, the soil’. Good structure, lemon-lime, round with a green apple tone that is very spicy, with a long finish. I liked the way this showed and despite the pricing on these that seem to be getting higher, I like what Bouchard does with his cuvees and site-based approach so I am sticking with the journey.

Vilmart CdC

  • 1998 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
    Poured blind as part of a Coeur de Cuvee flight. I saw the label poke out on this one and so I knew we were in this space, as Steve had said the wines were all the same cuvee. So, we knew that much, just not the vintages. This had a caramel-like nose, with an expressive, fresh palate of lime, orange, bright citrus and at 20 years old, a definite presence. This has held up well, and it shows the pedigree for me of how well CdC can age. Lovely.
  • 2002 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
    Poured blind as part of a Coeur de Cuvee flight. We knew we were doing CdC, just didn’t know the vintages. When this hit my glass, my immediate thought was dill. It wafted an aroma that reminded me of the sprinkled dill that my grandmother used so often when she made matzo ball soup. Across from me was Brig, who was tasting the wine with me, and he called it 5 spice I believe. Interestingly, as the wine breathed, it did show a definite 5-spice character, too. The composure on this wine is really spot on, with lime, mint, a mix of yellow and green apple, and in this bottle, my belief is the wood elevage really added an extra dimension. This was super good.
  • 2008 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
    Poured blind as part of a Coeur de Cuvee flight. We knew we were doing CdC, just didn’t know the vintages. Disgorged 06/2015. Ahh, the 2008. I have been smitten by this vintage of CdC and have some tucked away already for the years ahead. A smoky wood note on the nose, with piercing intensity, orange oil and blossom, lime and such a lovely opulence. The mix of the wood elevage and the higher dose, alongside the acidity, always make this wine stand forward for me. Probably the richest bubbly I buy and drink as I like the leaner side of things, and yet with Vilmart, I remain hooked. Excellent.

Mix and Match

  • 1998 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Grand Cellier Rubis - France, Champagne
    Poured blind as the final flight of 12 wines we did last night. There was no theme to the final flight, and this was the only Rose of all 12 wines. 60 PN/40 Chard, which I think is the standard composition these days for the GC Rubis. Pours a light peach color, bright acidity, red fruit and citrus rind. Very good.
  • 2004 Philipponnat Champagne Brut Clos des Goisses - France, Champagne
    Poured blind. Liked the aromatics, which were a mix of floral, green apple and crushed rocks. The palate I enjoyed less, as it had a bruised apple/oxidized quality and the intensity of the wine was a bit soft for me, too. Overall, seemed gentle and lithe and left me with an average impression.
  • 1996 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut - France, Champagne
    Poured blind. We had no clue as to the producer and vintage, although in terms of any bias we were given, there was some talk at the table as to this being something of a wow wine perhaps. I say that because I want to be candid about bias/influence in terms of my note that follows. I don’t believe those short clues influenced me, as I truly sat there with the wine and tried to experience it for myself. Putting that potential bias out there to be fair, I will say this wine was quite the standout. I had never had 1996 Krug before, and my experience with what I was tasting was in that respect unique. The wine shows but a subtlety, a gentleness, and what my notes say ‘perfect balance’. Fresh lime, minerality, freshness, youthful. Nothing seemed to stick out of place, everything just folded together. While the bottle was still unrevealed, I continued to swirl the wine and sit with it, and from what I could tell at the table, I might have been the last person to finish their pour. Really a tremendous wine with a long, beautiful finish and the best champagne of age that I have ever tasted. Tremendous.

Why Not

  • 2002 Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Cuvée Rare - France, Champagne
    Poured non-blind, just after we had finished a 12 bottle, blind champagne tasting. I didn’t take well to this wine, as it seemed dosed too high or made in a style that seemed too candied for me. Flint, green apple, honeyed and zesty, yet the palate had a sweet edged quality.
  • 2015 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
    Was served from decanter and based on the timing of when we ran into the bottle’s owner and when we tasted it, I can say the bottle was in the decanter for at least 2 hours. Light 5 spice aroma, perfumey. Juicy, red fruited, spicy apple and some brown spice. Finishes with some opulence and yet some moderate structure, too. This showed really good to me and left me with the idea of that I need to track more of this down. I remember the only other bottle of this that I had in 2017 and how much I liked it then so this experience reinforced that the wine is continuing to show well and exhibit some really strong presence in the glass.

Posted from CellarTracker

2

Fantastic evening right there, perhaps my three favorite producers back to back to back. Bravo!

3

I totally agree on that 96 Krug. It really is something special. It also gets better throughout the night and is even more stunning after 1-2 hours.

4

Wow! What an array! Must have been a blast. Thanks for the notes

5

Great line up. I’m also a huge fan of the Bouchard Val Vilaine and although prices have risen I still feel this is one of the better QPR champagnes in my cellar. I hope the Rare shows better for me and more in line with most of the notes in CT. Thanks for sharing.

6

Great notes Frankie!
I will add that the 98 Rubis just kept getting better in the glass and was close to WOTN for me, along with the Krug, the 02 and 08 CdC.

7

I was fortunate to get to share in Steve’s generosity at this tasting. I am not nearly the enthusiast of Champagne, and thus not nearly as experienced with it (or good at writing about it, as you will soon see unless you’re smart enough to stop reading my post at this point), but this proved to be a great experience for me.




2011 EMH Cabernet Sauvignon Black Cat - USA, California, Napa Valley. We had tried a bottle of this together last month, and while it was not unmistakably flawed when taken on its own (i.e. when not tried alongside a good bottle of the same wine, or tasted by one who has good bottles of this wine before), the bottle was strange enough that Merrill correctly spotted in our notes that it was not representative, and she generously sent me a replacement without having been asked. This one was a beauty. I tasted a bit before leaving for dinner to make sure I had a clean bottle, and it was great on the first pour. Pure and focused wild purple berries, very fresh tasting overall, with a significant note of tobacco leaf, some hints of menthol and gravel, good acidic and tannic structure. I had intended to follow Merrill’s aeration suggestion and decant this for the length of dinner and try it afterwards, but circumstances were such that we just tried this before dinner got going, and then the second half of the bottle after dinner, and it showed well at all phases, though I kind of liked the intensity it had just shortly after the cork was pulled. 13.7% alcohol, yet not underfruited or thin at all.


Blind Champagne flight #1 was three 100% chardonnay wines from Pierre Peters. The vintage difference was huge, in an interesting way, such that nobody at the table thought they were tasting three of the same bottling.

2006 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru. This was generous, opulent and with broad appeal, tasting very much like the luxury cuvee of a top Champagne house from a good vintage. Plenty of toast and yeast, ginger, citrus peel, and an overall warmth to it. If you tasted it blind and were told it sells for $250, you wouldn’t find that surprising, it had that sort of air of importance to it, in a good way.

2007 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru. This was leaner and less complex. Tart lemony flavor, perfectly nice, but not a standout. No bread/yeast characteristics - it’s interesting that this is something that varies so much just by vintage with the same wine.

2009 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru. This was a very nice medium weight Champagne. More to the green apple, lime and ginger side, with a mild rye toast dimension which was very pleasing.


Blind Champagne Flight #2 brought us three bottles from Cedric Bouchard.

2004 Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne Inflorescence Blanc de Noirs La Parcelle - France, Champagne. This had a big nose of stinky cheese, funk and sulfur for a short while before blowing off - I don’t know about others, but I actually find that kind of thing interesting and positive, especially when it moderates with time. Somehow, it more often signals an interesting wine than something negative. Anyway, this was indeed a very fine Champagne, with fairly aggressive and intense flavors, balanced nicely against the acids.

2007 Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne Inflorescence Blanc de Noirs Cote de Bechalin - France, Champagne.. This was perfectly decent, but my least favorite wine of the evening. It had a green hard candy note on the aroma and taste which I found odd and not particularly compelling, plus a bit of a metallic dimension. This also went flat fairly early in the glass.

2010 Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne Inflorescence Blanc de Noirs Côte de Val Vilaine - France, Champagne. This had a strawberry and red candy flavor, and was otherwise fairly simple, but better than the 2009.


Blind Champagne Flight #3 turned out to be three vintages of Vilmart Coeur de Cuvee, a favorite of mine, and an easy one to spot in a blind tasting due to the creaminess and richness that comes from Vilmart’s use of oak. I know oak is supposed to be a bad guy, but it really works in Vilmart.

1998 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru. Great concentration and intensity of flavor. Some creaminess and caramel offsets nicely against the bright acids and notes of mature earthiness, mushroom and tea. At peak maturity but probably with plenty of years of greatness left.

2002 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru. Probably my favorite of the night outside of the 96 Krug. This has the richness and complexity of the 1998, maybe a little less of the aged characteristics, but adds a beautiful beam of salinity, along with lots of clove and baking spice. Glorious.

2008 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru. My notes start to taper off at this point in the evening (surprising, right?). This was another great one, just younger, and it improved considerably in the glass and with repours.


Blind Champagne Flight #4 is a mixture of heavy hitter bottlings. Just when you think it can’t possibly get better . . .

1998 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Grand Cellier Rubis - France, Champagne. The only rose of the night was a great one. A light blush color, pretty strawberry fruit, good acid and balance. Not as complex as the white Vilmarts, but quite delicious.

2004 Philipponnat Champagne Brut Clos des Goisses - France, Champagne. This was dark, a little bitter, and lacking any sweetness of fruit. Seemed a bit oxidized. However, I noticed at the end of the night that this was starting to open up, and I took the last third of the bottle home to pour for my wife, and by that time (maybe 2.5 hours after opening), the color had lightened and the wine was fresh and beautiful. Actually, this turned out to be one of the best wines of the night. Go figure. Meanwhile, I brought a pour of 08 Vilmart home and it had kind of lost something – in fairness, it had been open longer and was the last 3 ounces left in the bottle.

1996 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut - France, Champagne. I can’t do this justice in notes, especially my 13th note of the evening. But it was everything they say about this wine. It was kind of everything at once - honeyed and rich, floral, saline, spicy, complex. I wish I’d had more time and energy/focus to reflect on it at that point in the evening.

This was as educational as it was enjoyable. What a chance to learn and to enjoy the fruits of an amazing cellar. Thanks again to Steve.

8

Nice notes and a great lineup. You might want to give the Piper Rare another shot sometime. I and everyone I’ve served it to have really enjoyed its aged rich flavors. Beautiful bottle as well.

9

Damn. First 96 krug huh? It’s in quite the zone right now

10

Agreed. While my tastes differ from Frank’s, since I first tasted it I have bought four more bottles.

11

Sounds like a great tasting and a very generous gift.

12

Damn. I need to start drinking with you nuts!

13

I’ll wind my way through the Champagne notes, as I have become quite a fan of Champagne in recent years.

I was pleased to see here and on CT this morning that my 2011 EMH Black Cat showed well. I had been disappointed in the previous notes, not because the guys did not LIKE my wine, but because none of the descriptors of that wine rang true with my experience. I concluded that it was a flawed bottle, sent out a replacement bottle and a back-up, and hoped that this experience would be better. It appears that it was. Thanks for giving it another go, gentlemen. [cheers.gif]

Now back to those Champagne notes…

14

Merrill, thanks for sending the extra bottle to look at. I gave the first bottle last month, as well as this one, both honest looks and notes. I know you, and many who are in the industry, take their craft to heart and when you see TNs like mine last month, it strikes a cord. I’m glad that you see this personally, and it means something to you in that way. Stay at your craft, the 2011 is a terrific wine.

Kyle, the best blessing I have found the past 15 years since finding my way onto the old E-Bob forum, and then leaving it in 2009 for what Todd has with hard work and effort creates here, is the blessing of relationships. Steve has introduced me to champagne (as has Cris Whetstone) and I found my way into that space and have really embraced it. But my point is that the relationships are what have mattered, and the sharing of meals, cellars, diverse wines and great times together. These were some great bottles, chosen and placed by Steve, and it’s great to have this kind of sharing.

15

Frank,

Based on other threads, I’m curious about a few things:

  1. What glassware were the champagnes served it?

  2. At what temperature were they served?

  3. How long did you have to evaluate each flight?

Cheers.

16

CHAMPAGNE - BLINDED BY THE QUALITY - The Winery, Newport Beach, CA (2/24/2018)

Steve had threatened to have a blind champagne only tasting and that’s what he did. Oh my, the lineup was relentless. Each flight had a theme and I was off balance the entire time. Loved the wines but the breath and depth was incredible.
Pierre Peters
Guess the dosage - the correct answer is they are all 4.7 Lesson learned here was don’t bet your life on the dosage.

Wild bread aroma, baked dark rye. I was hungry just smelling this wine. Baked apples, light gentle bubbles. Sweet apple/lemon note at the finish.

I thought this might be a Krug. WTF do I know.

The blazing acidity look me down the zero dosage trail. Yellow fruit and Melba toast aromas. Sharp and angular mouthfeel. Lemon and lime rind.

Cedric Bouchard
The aromas of these wines made my night

Vilmart
If you could only purchase one champagne producer would you make a mistake choosing Vilmart? The answer is clearly no.

  • 1998 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
    Blind: Looks like the oldest wine of the flight and it was and the brass color was representative of the age. Really demonstrated a full body and more weight. Great mouthfeel. A bit of citrus and marzipan. Must be the effects of oak? Excellent.
  • 2002 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
    Blind: Wow, beautiful wine. Amazing aromas of what I ultimately decided was Christmas spice but it was more than that, earthy herbal thing going on. Mid palate was a blast of menthol. Long finish, so tasty.
  • 2008 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
    Blind: I really liked this bottling at New Years and it was very good this time. Extremely intense wine. Comment of the night was “This champagne is like two bottles in one” Perfect description as it has the lemon, rind, acidity, and bang for two bottles. Super wine.

The Closers

  • 1998 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Grand Cellier Rubis - France, Champagne
    Blind: Looks like a Rosé with a copper red color. The nose was initially muted but it really opened up. I’m a sucker for Rosé. Hint of oxidation, complex crushed berries and I keep coming back to this wine as it was paired with the duck. Amazing combination by Steve.
  • 2004 Philipponnat Champagne Brut Clos des Goisses - France, Champagne
    Blind: light yellow. Hum, first impression was “young”. There’s an alkaline note on the sides of my tongue. Some discussion around what’s going on here. It’s tight. The fruit is light and buried in the structure. I wrote backwards at this stage.
  • 1996 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut - France, Champagne
    Blind. This looks like has some age on it, a very deep gold color. Medium plus level of oxidation with yellow apple and complexity and concentration supported by salinity. This was very nice and I understand the fanfare but it’s not my preferred style of champagne or maybe it’s just I don’t enjoy the aged effects as much.
  • 2002 Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Cuvée Rare - France, Champagne
    Not blind. This taste very young, very surprising. There’s a light oxidation and a brassy flavor surrounding my mouth. Pear and apple fruit. Showed okay but I’d hold for another 5 years.

Posted from CellarTracker

17

I am liking the description of the 2008 Vilmart.

As was noted by one of my senior vineyard guys this morning, I have a lot of empty Champagne bottles (and some Cab and Bordeaux and Chardonnay) in my kitchen bay window! Probably 80 or so… I put them up there, and instead of taking notes, I gaze at them and pull them forward when I see a note on something I have had. Quirky, I know. But guilty as charged: I am quirky. I just saw my 2000 Black Cat there, and I know that was opened over 18 months ago. Some empties do get carried to the recycle bin…

Found this bottle up there: I liked the Vilmart Grand Cellier, discorgment November 2015, quite a bit. I don’t study this stuff. But the notes on the 2008 strike a chord. I think I like things just a bit richer than Frank. But my Champagne palate is wide open. Best I have had recently was a gift bottle of Herve Dubois, 2010 Blanc de Blancs. Maybe it was the moment…maybe that it was an unexpected gift from a client…who knows? I would probably fall on my face if I were to try to assess that many Champagnes as were just done in this tasting. champagne.gif

18

Wow, if I didn’t love the Pacific Northwest, I’d want to move to California to be near these tastings. Great notes by all of you, and some of my favorites (although the '08 PP Chetillons was conspicuously missing from that vertical).

Cheers,
Warren

19

Larry, we used a Bordeaux-shaped stem for all the flights. The temps on all them were served cool. We dined out on the deck so the outside temp was already cool, as well. The flights were spaced, with about 20-30 mins for each one.

Cheers back.

20

Some very nice wines and appreciative of the notes.
02’s at top addresses and certainly for the Grand Marques are currently very shutdown.
Piper Rare in 10 or so more years will then be otherworldly.