2008 Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Pinot Blanc Champagne Blanc de Blancs La Bolorée- France, Champagne (5/24/2022)
WOW…what a bowl full of exotic, tropical, fresh and crisp orchard fruits…with a HUGE burst of fresh squeeze lemon and tangerine brightness brings you to attention very fast! Then you get all these wild nuances of grilled pineapple, bread dough drizzled with evoo, yellow apple skin sours, ginger shortbread cookies…very vinous with just tiny tiny elegant bubbles that freshens…pretty white flower and orchard blossoms…pillow soft honey and almond leesy mousse that gives way to crushed rock salinity and a finish that is just starting to show some lovely aged nuances of honey and roasted nuts…Krugish if you will…yet no doubt this is still fresh and vibrant as a daisy! SO unique, so intriguing, so mesmerizing, SO damn good…I just wish I could drink more of them! (98 pts.)
Brian … this is my favorite champagne. You do a good job of describing it here. I’ll add one more descriptor: There’s a subtle Bubble Up quality to the wine as well. So lifted and effervescent. Love it!
After having a few 12’s and this 08…I think it’s becoming my favorite CB as well! Champagne period…maybe?
One thing I did notice as we went through the bottle, although I noted it at first, their really wasn’t much of a mousse to it…even if you swished the wine in the mouth, it didn’t really appear. Not at all a negative here…as the wine still possessed an amazing softness to the brightness…it was truly a lovely wine!
I saw a note somewhere that Cedric doesn’t favor the mousse, as well as bubbles…is that really the case? What ever he is doing to try to NOT make Champagne…it’s working!
how do they technically control that? I thought when they disgorge, they just pop the bottle, remove the lees crap, add or don’t add dosage, and recork? How is pressure adjusted or regulated? And doesn’t pressure change as fermentation continues and more CO2 is produced?
Im sure I don’t know all the technicalities, but wouldn’t it be by adjusting the sugar levels in the Liqueur de tirage (not dosage).
Prise de mousse follows Henry’s Law…here is a cool physics article related to champagne and the law. Some other neat questions are addressed such as whether to use a flute or more traditional glassware ect.
I’ve had a few bottles over multiple bottlings, and liked it for a value Champagne. That said, I haven’t tried Bouchard’s PB…I don’t make Buzzini Bucks!