2023 La Fete du Champagne Grand Tasting

WINE TALK
1

Finally finished typing my notes.

All the usual caveats. Small pour, generally tasted quickly. Some bottles were just opened, others were opened for a while. The wines with longer notes were from earlier in the event. Grades might be affected by what I tasted just prior. I made it to about half the tables before deciding it was time for coffee and the trip home.

My main take away is how much I dislike almost everything from 2018. The distinguishing characteristic was not, as I might have expected, ripe fruit but what I identified as a heavy bitterness on the finish. Maybe it will integrate with time (and there are exceptions) but for now I’m not a buyer as they show big but without complexity or finesse.

Jacquesson
I haven’t revisited Jacquesson in a while and my impression is much more favorable than it my memories. A decade ago I felt they were mishandling their low dosage regimen. Much like the below 746 in fact.

Cuvee 746
2018 base. Meh.
C

Cuvee 741 Degorgement Tardif
13 base. Very good Champagne. Showing quince and melon notes.
B+

2013 Avize Grand Cru Champ Cain
Yum. Structured but holding a lovely complexity.
A-

2013 Ay Grand Cru Vauzelle Terme
Very good, just a little four square
B+

Bereche & Fils, Raphael Bereche

Les Beaux Regards 1er Cru 2017
So good, biggish but complex.
A-

Cramant Grand Cru 2017
Very similar but even better
A-/A

Le Cran 1er Cru 2015
Not sure what happened here as this is usually one of my favorites from Bereche. Not showing much on the nose and rather harsh on the palate.
B-

Mailly Grand Cru 2017
Gorgeous nose, exotically perfumed. Entirely satisfying on the plate
A-/A

JM Seleque

Solessence Extra Brut NV
nice nose, quite good. B

Soliste Meunier
Feh. Heavy, bitter on finish. When I saw the remaining 2 wines were also 2018s I didn’t try them which which a mistake as a friend told me the Pinot Noir based wine was much, much better. Never made it back to the table, oh well.
C-

Soliste Pinot Noir 2018
not tasted

Soliste Chardonnay 2018
not tasted

Piper Heidsick

Piper Heidsick Cuvee Brut NV
perfectly pleasant
C+/B-

Piper Heidxick Essential Extra Brut NV
nicer, good nose
B-

Piper Heidsick Essentiel Blan de Noirs NV
quite good
B

Rare Champagne Millesime Brut 2013
all out

Rare Champagne Millesime Brut 2014
I preface my score with the caveat that Piper Rare it not really my style
B

Louis Roederer
Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon

Collection 244 NV
Didn’t bother tasting as I tried it and loved it the day before. My favorite Collection to date. 2019 Base.

Blanc de Blancs 2016
Best of the three remaining wines by far. Honeyed and layered.
B+/A-

Millesime 2015
Nice
B

Rose 2016
So so
B-

Le Grand Dame by Veuve Clicquot

Le Grande Dame 2015
Nice but a bit rough
B-

Le Grand DAme 2012
Nice but also a bit rough (which surprised me in a 2012)
B-

Le Grand Dame Rose 2012
again, nothing special. These are Tete de Cuvees?
B-

Larmandier Bernier

Rose de Saignee 1er Cru Extra Brut NV
Good but with a slightly weird bubble gum note
B-

Longitude 1er Cru Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs NV
I got the first pour from a new bottle and it was quite tight. Never made it back to revisit
B

Terre de Vertus 1er Cru Brut Nature Blanc de Blancs Millesime 2016
Clear step up
B+

Vieille Vigne du Levant Grand Cru Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Millesime 2012
and odd distracting background note. Not my thing
B-

Lanson

Le Black Creation 257
Not particularly complex but good round flavors and a fun wine
B

Le Rose
Pleasant, but no more
B-

Le Green Label
2018 vintage
feh
C-

Le Vintage 2012
quite nice in a citrussy style
B+

Christophe Baron
all wines are Pinot Meunier, all wines are from magnum, all wines are 2018. But wonder of wonders, I liked them! I don’t know if it was the magnum effect but these were the only 2018s I had all weekend which I enjoyed. I’ll have to try them in a better vintage.

Les Hautes Blances Vignes 2018
Lovely nose, best 2018 so far
B+

Le Dessus du Bois Marie 2018
even better B+/A-

Les Alouettes 2018
A-

Les Clouseaux 2018
B+/A-

Leclerc-Briant

Extra Brut 2018
50% malo
C

Mont Ferrus vertus 1er Cru Blanc de Blancs 2018
I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that I hate 2018 Champagnes.
C

Blanc de Meuniers 2016
Lovely
A-

Henriot

Brut Souverain NV
Okay, mousse a bit rough
C+/B-

Blanc de blancs NV
Similar style
B-

L’Intendue 2016
A clear stp up
B+/A-

Cuvee Hemera 2008
A much more hamronious and complete wine
A-/A

Brice
Christopher Constant
This is embarrassing. I regarded these as my finds of the day only to discover that 2 years ago I tried the lineup and wasn’t impressed at all. Have they gotten better? Has my palate changed? Did they show better because I was having them with food from the table next to them? Whatever the reason I loved the whole lineup this time around.

Heritage Brut
Very nice. Soft, creamy, amazing match with the Breakfast Taco.
A-

Heritage Rose
More structure than the Brut, might benefit from more time
B+/A-

Blanc de Noirs
Again a lovely lovely wine, stylistically a combo of the above two combining the creaminess of the first with the structure of the second
A-

Blanc de Noirs Bouzy Le Poteaxu 2019
I took this to one side to contemplate, fell into a discussion with someone, and forgot to write a note
My recollection is it was my favorite of the 4

Chartogne Taillet
all tasted like 2018. some nice noses but heavy and bitter on the finish.
C
Heurtebise 2018
Chemin de Reims 2018
Les Barres 2018
Les Couarres 2018

Laurent Perrier

Brut Millesime 2012
Quite pleasant, needs food
B

Grand Siecle Iteration No26
3 vintage blend - 07, 08, 12
Really good
A-

Grand Siecle Iteration No25
3 vintage blend - 06, 07, 08
Nice chalky persistence, minerally
A-

Grand Siecle Iteration No23 en magnum
3 vintage blend - 02, 04, 06
consistent quality, slight differences stylistically between the blends
this is a bit rounder but almost as good
B+/A-

Vilmart & Cie

Grand Cellier NV
base 19 with some 17 and 18
delightful
B+

Grand Cellier d’Or 2018
Not my thing, the vintage dominates
C

Coeur de Cuvee 2015
Gorgeous, opulent,grand style, lots of citrus
A

Emotion 2015
Wow, so good! Always one of my favorite roses this had a perfect mousse, perfect balance, and was light on its feet
A/A+

Drappier

Brut Nature Sans Soufre NV
I was looking forward to trying this but it was a bit too lean for me
C+

Clarevallis NV
beautiful complex nose, lovely palate , notes of melon and ripe orange
A-

Brut Nature Rose
great as always
A-/A

Grande Sendree 2010 en magnum
okay
B

13 Likes
2

Thank you for the notes. My partner and I attended for the first time this year as newbies to wine and champagne and it’s reassuring that some of the ones you highlighted were our favorites. He loves the richer, riper styles in particular. Tarlant’s 2006 La Vigne d’Or was my favorite discovery. We also enjoyed Christophe Baron’s Les Alouettes and Les Closeaux 2018, Leclerc BdM 2016, Brice BdN 2019, and Pierre Paillard and Mousse, which were already known to us.

We didn’t make it to every table but we tried Krug and Bollinger for the first time. Krug was a bit of a letdown, which is probably better for my wallet.

1 Like
3

That just shows you have good taste in Champagne. :innocent:

4

Brice have improved massively over the last two years. In terms of the appelation Bouzy, they offer tremedous value at the moment.

3 Likes
5

In many ways I would have to validate the sentiments about the 2018 vintage, at first I hated it, especially the champagnes with short lee aging. I don’t know the time difference exactly to what we get direct from the producers and when they arrive on the american market. Champagnes with longer lee aging have more feshness, they are big brutes but one feels the potential, they sort of contradict my inititial impressions. Of all the vintage 2018 is the most difficult one to make any sort of general statements. 19 has the feel of a big vintage. From the vin clairs 2022 also has that feel.

6

What do you mean by “big vintage”? In terms of the scale of the wines or the level of the concentration?

Or do you mean “big” as in a very good vintage?

7

2019 has what I would call the structure of a big vintage, everything I have tasted points in that way, something like a mixture of 2002 and 2006, acidity leaning toward 2006. I do not want to become a prophet for vintage predictions, I for instance really like 2017 and from the grower/biodynamic side it is definitely a big vintage, just a shame the maisons screwed it up so badly.

Numerous producers have told us after 13. 2016, 2019 and 2022. 2023 is very difficult is the initial assessment.

If I start taikng about how I believe longer lee aging is definitely benificial for the freshness and complexity of 2018 and also how a certian level of dosage, just minimal is benificial for the complexity and creaminess of the champagne even in the hot year of 2018, I will end up in a discussion which with Christmas appraoching, which I do not have the time to participate in.

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8

Jay,

Brice has definitely gotten better. We are finally seeing the wines that Christophe Constant made come to market and it is a clear uptick. Christophe made the wines in 2019 and really took control of things starting in 2020. This would be my bet on why you enjoyed the Brice wines more now than a couple years ago.

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9

Glad to hear my palate wasn’t completely shot back then :slight_smile:

10

Haven’t tasted all the bottles listed here but I have to strongly agree re:2018 vintage. Most of them need at least a few years to settle down, and this was felt even for cuvees that normally had good approachability.