Champagne Help

Howard_Cooper · January 7, 2020, 7:44pm

Also, in my experience, young wines can jump about a bit. One person could taste a bottle one place and it is great. Another person could taste another bottle elsewhere and whether as a result of storage, just being shipped in and not settled down yet, barometric pressure, etc., it could be less good another day.

Greg_K · January 7, 2020, 7:59pm

Taking bottle variation into account on the Comtes (I’ve had at least one odd bottle at a tasting), I’m with you.

Bill_G · January 31, 2020, 6:34pm

Follow up here -

Great call on splitting up the champagne purchases between Dom Perignon and Comtes.

We drank more of the Comtes than the Dom and I definitely got more comments (all positive) about that wine. It was the crowd favorite.

As for bottle variation, I did notice one of the Comtes was closed or muted. I am not sure if it was too cold or not. I didn’t have time to dive into it. The other bottles were absolutely amazing and they are definitely ready to drink right now. I need to stock up on it…

While I am not a champagne expert, I think the Dom needs a few years (~5?). It is a gorgeous young wine and you can tell that it will be a knock out (for at least my taste buds) in a few years.

Comtes - 97 points & Mature
Dom - 95+ (2 points if it matures properly)

Thank you again.

Michael_S_Monie · January 31, 2020, 6:51pm

Glad it worked out well. The 2006 CdC Brut Rose is also excellent. If you get an opportunity to try it, don’t miss it.

Neal.Mollen · January 31, 2020, 8:28pm

First let me say, Brad, you are one of the last people with whom I would want to be adversarial. I’ve had the 08 twice and the 09 once, so I do have limited first hand experience. But when the chef de caves says that the 2008 Cristal is the best he has made in 30 years, I’ll roll with that.

Michael,

Good discussion is what this is all about. I don’t want people to agree with me if they feel differently. If we all agreed, it would be boring. Different opinions not only make things interesting, but should encourage us all to try a wine again (when possible) and look at it from a different angle to maybe discover something new or at least gain an appreciation that we didn’t have before. I never stop learning or discovering and am happy to be shown a different perspective.

Just remember that the 2008 Cristal was the 30th Cristal that Jean-Baptiste had a hand in at Roederer… what about number 31? Joking aside, Jean-Baptiste loves the classical style of the 2008 and is very, very proud of it and the potential it has. There have since been Cristals made that he likes more, but I won’t disagree with you that he has a preference for the 2008 over the 2009, but he loves both as well. I have a preference for the 2009 over the 2008, but also love both as well.

I have not had (and likely won’t have) the 08, but the 09 is a stupendous bottle of wine. I am happy (but not surprised) to see you sticking up for your own palate and offering a contrarian view, Brad. Keep up the good work.

LMD_Ermitano · February 1, 2020, 1:55am

First let me say, Brad, you are one of the last people with whom I would want to be adversarial. I’ve had the 08 twice and the 09 once, so I do have limited first hand experience. But when the chef de caves says that the 2008 Cristal is the best he has made in 30 years, I’ll roll with that.

Michael,

Good discussion is what this is all about. I don’t want people to agree with me if they feel differently. If we all agreed, it would be boring. Different opinions not only make things interesting, but should encourage us all to try a wine again (when possible) and look at it from a different angle to maybe discover something new or at least gain an appreciation that we didn’t have before. I never stop learning or discovering and am happy to be shown a different perspective.

Just remember that the 2008 Cristal was the 30th Cristal that Jean-Baptiste had a hand in at Roederer… what about number 31? Joking aside, Jean-Baptiste loves the classical style of the 2008 and is very, very proud of it and the potential it has. There have since been Cristals made that he likes more, but I won’t disagree with you that he has a preference for the 2008 over the 2009, but he loves both as well. I have a preference for the 2009 over the 2008, but also love both as well.

I have not had (and likely won’t have) the 08, but the 09 is a stupendous bottle of wine. I am happy (but not surprised) to see you sticking up for your own palate and offering a contrarian view, Brad. Keep up the good work.

For current drinking, I definitely would go for the ‘09 Cristal over the ‘08. I suspect the ‘08 will age well better; but, only time will really tell.

David_Kaufman · February 1, 2020, 3:09am

No love for the 07 CdC?

Ryan_A · February 1, 2020, 4:38pm

Too late for a curve ball? How about Krug?

Jay_Miller · February 1, 2020, 5:48pm

Retry the Comtes in 10+ years. I think you’ll be happy you did. Aged Comtes is a true joy but it requires considerable willpower to achieve,

David_Glasser · February 2, 2020, 2:43pm

Good idea. Not long after they were released we had a dinner with the 2006 Comtes and the MV Krug 164eme as starters. The group went through 3 bottles of the Krug and 1.5 of the Comtes.