Three of our small Monday night blind wine tasting group enjoyed another dinner out while tasting 3 wines and righteously being served some of our favorite dishes.
As per our MO, each of us brought a predesigned wine type, in this case, a bubbly, white and red. Here’s some notes:
2006 CHARLES HEIDSIECK BLANC des MILLENAIRES BLANC de BLANCS- poured blind for the others; this is the 6th iteration of this release for which the fruit is sourced from 4 grand cru villages (Cramant, Avize, Oger and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger) and from one 1er Cru village, Vertus; this was the last and best of 6 bottles purchased; the color had a touch of age darkness from its original light yellow to a slightly darker hued version; not many would know the comparison unless they had tracked more than one bottle; that’s where age left any and all conversations as the nose and taste profile were much more youthful albeit evolved to a perfect place; in a word, this was delicious; in 3 words, it was delicious and balanced; it had definitive citrus aromatics with lemon most prevalent along with an accent of ginger and honey, all of which were clearly evident on the palate; it was full bodied, rich and opulent while possessing crisp and bright acidity; the others had it as a BdB Champagne, but one called it a small grower/ NV wine ateend the other, a Grand Marque from 2012 or older.
2018 SAMUEL BILLAUD les GRANDS TERRIORS MONTEE DE TONNERRE CHABLIS 1er Cru- blind; this comes from 2 parcels - one in Chapelots, the other in Montée de Tonnerre itself and sees 20% wood aging; following its clear yellow color came aromas of apple, both green and yellow and I kept dancing back and forth over the next hour as to which was most expressive and finally I concluded it had “apple” notes as some red apple showed up as well; this was also the experience once tasted and thereafter except some lemon came in about 15 minutes after the first pour and it made up a good portion of the finish of each taste from then on; the nose also had some funky petrol laced flint that should have been my marker for Chablis, but I called it Meursault; it was mineral driven, had an oily mouthfeel and a bit of sweetness in the mid palate; this was a very interesting, fulfilling and fun wine.
2012 LUCIEN LE MOINE ECHEZEAUX GRAND CRU- blind, but clearly red Burg and a really good one at that; its youthful medium red purple color suggested something in the 2010- 2015 vintage; the fabulous nose had talc, cinnamon and spice accented black raspberry which deliciously made up most of the taste profile; it was super smooth, big, rich and perfumy with a nice tannic structure showing up at the end of each sip; it just reeked of class and clearly was a stupendous wine that I gave ravs to from the first sip on. The best wine I’ve had in a long time. How wonderful it is to have such a treasure.
Cheers,
Blake