champagne on the beach for NYE

A group of about 30 of us celebrated the last sunset of 2018 on Butterfly Beach named after the Monarch butterfly which has been migrating to this area of Santa Barbara over the eons. For over 25 years, we have been bringing champagne and stems and raise a glass before, during and after the sunset which on this occasion was uber glorious.

Since there is a current charity benefit champagne thread at this time on this board, my notes will also be posted there and are limited to champagne only although we did have some nice sparkling wines.

NV CHARLES HEIDSIECK BRUT RESERVE- fresh tropical and citrus notes in the nose followed by more distinct ginger infused lemon, apple and grapefruit on the palate; it had bright acidity and a nice mousse which contributed to the fine mouthfeel.
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NV PIERRE GIMONET EXTRA BRUT BLANC de BLANC- no dosage; crisp and refreshing, this had lots of citrus and a bit of minerality all the way through; I found it very satisfying without any cloying sweetness.
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NV LAURANT-PERRIER BRUT ROSE RESERVE- here comes this mysterious wine again as I’ve had numerous NV L-P Brut Rose, but never had nor seen the Reserve and can’t seem to locate any info about it; I`ll send off an email to Brad Baker for some input; nonetheless, this is similar to the “regular” in that it has nice spicy strawberry and red cherry flavors with lots of effervesce and a palate pleasing residual effect on the back end.

After completing these notes and prior to sending them out, Brad replied with the following: “As for this bottle, you got me. I have never seen one that says Rosé Réserve either. Other than these two words, this is the latest version of the label.
My gut tells me that Laurent-Perrier might be changing something on the label for certain markets/events. The wine inside is probably identical to the NV Rosé without the reserve wording. Maybe this is a restaurant edition that sees more time aging post disgorgement before sale so that by-the-glass pours are a little more round and relaxed due to the extra age? Along with this just being a new label variation, that would be my guess. Do you know where your friend got this bottle?
Nice little mystery you discovered. I will try to find out more.”
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NV HEIDSIECK & CO BLUE TOP MONOPOLE BRUT- in magnum; significant acidity is easily experienced in the nose and all the way through; it had spicy and toasty apple, citrus and pear which hang out in a medium to full bodied texture.
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MV KRUG GRANDE CUVEE 166eme Edition- ID Code 416035- 375 ml; 45% Pinot Noir, 39% Chardonnay and 16% Meunier. a blend of 140 wines from 13 different years from 1996 to 2010; it was composed around the harvest of 2010 and made largely from 2000, 42% come from young reserve wines with some 2006 from Verzy and Bouzy blended in; lots of yeasty brioche, spicy and honeyed lemon zest and orange peel are most evident with some mild nutty notes in the background; it has that special Krug, oily texture, complexity and length and at this early stage, is just moving into puberty before it matures into the expected transition of teen and adulthood years which are guaranteed to be most glorious like our sunset.

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Cheers,
Blake
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