maybe I expected more. Solid wine. Nice creaminess and orange-flavored sweet fruit but didn’t have the depth or layers I had hoped for. Lovely fine mousse. Nothing off, just not real on.
Tried it twice last year and agree with you - on the surface it is easygoing, perhaps too easy
Though it might be label bias on my part I’ve convinced myself there’s some incipient complexity waiting in the wings, and have resolved to give my remaining bottles a good bit longer…
what’s this bottling?
I would be careful with 2002 Chardonnay from the Cote des Blancs. It can be very good, but many were over-ripe. This made for sexy wines when young, but not anything that would age well or develop the complexity you might expect.
Charlie I could be horribly off base but this should be the regular Chetillons with a typo 
Ah interesting. So much for vintage of the century. What would you do if you had a few bottles left?
Not that I am happy to read about such results but I do often wonder why vintage hype is still such a thing, especially with a region as complex and diverse as Champagne. I find it very unlikely that any vintage could be universally superb (or horrible, except in some very rare cases) for all the sub-regions or grape varities.
In general, I’ve never found 2002 to be the vintage that many hype it up to be. It is very good, but I prefer 2008, 2009, and 2012 over it (and possibly 2018 and 2019, but we need to wait and see). For Cote des Blancs Chardonnay, my preference runs towards 2004.
2002 is a year where the Pinots shined and the Chardonnay did very well in the Montagne de Reims. In the Cote des Blancs, the grapes got ripe very quickly and you really needed to time your picking right to get optimal ripeness. For a lot of people the grapes got too ripe and the wines were showy in their youth and sometimes tropical, but lacked structure and complexity. As they have aged, they have gotten a little flabby.
I think you have to be careful with straight Chardonnay BdB from the Cote des Blancs in 2002. Some blends that have a good deal of Chardonnay from this region are also affected (2002 DP original release is starting to show some of the Chardonnay flabbiness as it matures). Doesn’t mean the wines are awful or not enjoyable, but if you go in with high expectations of an all-time great vintage, you may be disappointed.
here’s the bottle. I think it was a single. Appreciate all the comments.
I really like the 02 Chets, but feel the 04 is a better wine. For my palate, the 08 is better again. I’m not as enamoured with 2012 as others are.
I was at the winery during harvest in 2013 and expectations were extremely high for a good vintage. I guess it will be released soon.
Had it twice in the last year and felt it was getting tired, alas.
That worries me a little. I went pretty deep on the 2012 Chétillons, which is another vintage of rich wines that favored Pinot. That’s probably not a good comparison as while they both produced ripe wines, the weather conditions were very different in '02 vs '12.
My last bottle of '02 Comtes, maybe a month ago, also didn’t show very well. A pity as I loved that wine.
Damn, more bad news! I just backfilled!
2012 is an awesome, awesome vintage… everywhere except the Cote des Blancs. The Cote des Blancs had issues in 2012 with quantity and quality. Hail did a number on a lot of vineyards in the region, mildew hit, and ripening was uneven. Some very good wines were made, some skipped vintage wines completely, and some made decent, but not great wines. For the Cote des Blancs, 2013 is going to be better than 2012 in most cases. Not all, but most. This region is the only thing really keeping 2012 from being a potentially all-time great vintage. All of this being said, there are still some great 2012 BdBs from the Cote des Blancs; you just have to be a bit selective.
I will also add that I would take 2012 over 2002 in the Cote des Blancs for a vintage wine because a lot of producers were much more selective in 2012 than they were in 2002. This holds true for Peters in my book.
I’m feeling better. The '02 Comtes I opened tonight was just beautiful.
I have a mag of the 2002 PP les Chetillons in the queue so will report. A recent bottle of 2002 Comtes was great - beautiful is a good term. Cheers all.