Drank the 1996 Salon Champagne and the 2005 Aubert Abreu Vineyard Proprietary Red tonight. I was holding my breath with the champagne because after some extraordinary bottles right after release and up to five years ago, I’ve been less impressed with the last two bottles. Both seemed less interesting and too lemony. This bottle was very good. Not sublime like the early bottles, but much improved in comparison to those more recent ones. I hope that the development curve will spike in a few years. This Salon had vanilla mousse, some green apple, minerals and a light lemon citrus.
The Aubert was decanted and poured. Round, balanced red and blueberry that paired well with lamb with dill and a little spice to it. Did not improve, but was very good and was quite tasty. Probably as good as it will get.