Over the years, the Wineberserker website has connected me with lots of likeminded, wine passionate people from all over the world, some of whom I have now personally met and forged forever friendships.
One of those is Jon Lawrence who loves champagne in a similar mold as I do. Even though he lives just outside NYC, he traveled to the West Coast last year and dedicated a stay-over in Santa Barbara so we could share an evening together, and a fine evening it was, as it coincided with my Wednesday night dinner group’s outing and we created a wine theme of champagne and Burgundy that I knew would please Jon.
I was super stoked to hear from him that he would once again be traveling West in August and come here for another stay over as this is hopefully taking on the prospects of being an annual visit.
I was able to have one of my friends set up our dinner at his Country Club on a night that featured BBQ and no corkage fees. To keep this civil and to have a table conversation, it was limited to 8 people.
Part of our wine theme for this event manifested as a result of recent negative reviews of the 2011 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne, including one by Jon AND that I had one stellar bottle last month which seemed to be the antithesis of the reviews on Wineberserker.
Once Jon read my notes and after we communicated, he suggested we do some other Comtes blind including the 2011 and see how it compares.
As it turned out, we had 4, one from 2002, 2008, 2011 and 2012 which should be a huge challenge for the 2011 to match up against. So, our plight was to ID each of the 4 wines by vintage and for each of us to explain our reasoning and to see how the 2011 stacked up.
We had a starter wine thanks to one who had the foresight to bring one in the event some of us arrived well ahead of some others which is exactly what happened. Since it was a buffet BBQ night, Nebbiolo from anywhere became the red theme and to balance things out, we added 3 white wines, all poured blind.
The starter champagne:
2008 MICHEL ARNOULD & FILS CUVEE B.50 GRAND CRU- blind; this is sourced from north facing estate vineyards and is comprised of 50% Pinot Noir and 50% Chardonnay, intentionally oxidized with oak; although the color was medium yellow, the nose and taste suggested something much older with advanced oxidative notes; initially, it was very fruit forward and I’m thinking it is not that old when others are calling it 1996 and 2000; I even mentioned some producers have been purposely exposing their wines to air for more complexity and early on maturity, but not really sure that was the case here, but I held on and had it as a 2012 or 2014; the most prevalent notes were of ripe and fresh grapefruit juice along with orange marmalade, lemon, yellow peach and nectarine; in time, it seemed to balance out and the fruit forwardness got integrated into the body and it resulted in a pleasing wine albeit demonstrating maturity.
Now for the stars of the show:
2011 TAITTINGER COMTES de CHAMPAGNE BLANC de BLANC- blind; this was truly a beautiful wine from the nose through the tail; following its medium yellow color came aromas of fresh citrus fruit and mild hints of ginger and apple which continued on as the citrus was more distinctly lemon zest with a touch of lime; it had a soft, frothy mousse which added to its allure and finished with grace and finesse contributing to its profound elegance; I’m thinking this is the 2012 and for sure, I’m not recognizing it as the 2011 which the one bottle I’d had was much more full bodied, richer and creamier. Many others also had it as the 2012 made easier by 2 of the remaining bottles being more typical of what was expected from them, starting with the next one.
2002 TAITTINGER COMTES de CHAMPAGNE BLANC de BLANC- blind; what a beautiful wine this was, it’s hallmark was its perfect balance and in between it gave stellar notes generously and often; the nose had some toasty brioche laden citrus, apple and stone fruit that made up a major portion of the taste profile; it had a creamy, wondrous mouthfeel and held a steady course throughout; I’m thinking it’s the 2002 and struggling to see enough age in the yellow color to justify calling it such, but there was just enough subtle difference to merit that conclusion; this is great champagne in a very capable and ready place to please.
2012 TAITTINGER COMTES de CHAMPAGNE BLANC de BLANC- my first pass through revealed a very surprising aroma and taste of anise, licorice, pine and pepper which I had just experienced in 2002 Piper-Heidsieck Rare and I thought that character was unique to that release {although I found it in a recent Charles Heidsieck too and I’m thinking it’s a family thing}; regardless, this wine had also mild citrus notes, a medium body and was sort of wimpy, frail and understated; it seemed that the real 2011 had just stood up and I called it so as did some others.
Edited: We may have to create another blind format and test the 2012 which has been showing so much better than this one bottle variation, hopefully.
2008 TAITTINGER COMTES de CHAMPAGNE BLANC de BLANC- blind; having already pretty assuredly identified the 2002, this had to be the 2008 although it started out kind of slowly before building up momentum and crescendoing into the full bodied, complex, super rich and luscious wine I’d experienced previously; no doubt, this is a winner for future times and has all of the stuffing to be one of the greatest Comtes in the last few decades IMHO; toasty brioche accented citrus fruit highlighted the aromatics and taste profile, but it’s depth and complexity is more paramount and distinct and suggestive of being a long, lasting treasure.
Next up, 3 white wines poured blind that could be from anywhere:
2019 PIERRE-YVES COLIN-MOREY MEURSAULT- blind; this village wine is a blend of whole cluster fermented fruit with 60% from Narvaux, 20% Vireuils and 20% Grands Charrons; having had a ton of PYCMs over the years {and many from the one who brought this bottle}, it just reeked of this producer’s trademark flint and mineral laced citrus and apple fruit with a touch of toasty oak and loads of acidity; it finished on an upbeat with everything coming together and holding on for a long, grand finish.
2004 LEEUWIN ESTATE ART SERIES MARGARET RIVER CHARDONNAY WESTERN AUSTRALIA- blind; while dining at The Mansion at Turtle Creek in Dallas over 3 decades ago, Paul Botamer, the sommelier at that time suggested this wine when we were considering a white Burgundy; Ive been forever grateful since; this is one of the best Chardonnay’s outside of Burgundy Ive had over the years and this bottle did not disappoint; following its deceiving aged gold color, it had nice minerality and bright acidity, was well balanced and loaded with fresh and honeyed red and green apples, fig, yellow peach and pear; it expanded on the palate and continued on with an appreciated long finish.
2019 DOMAINE VINCENT DUREUIL JANTHIAL RULLY BLANC- blind; the fruit for this wine was sourced from many parcels throughout the appellation, the oldest among them planted in 1920; this was showing absolutely fabulous with super inviting aromas of matchstick laden citrus and apple fruit that continued on to be joined by minerals and spice and more pronounced lemon notes; it had a graceful soft texture and demonstrated nice balance which upon seeing this is a 2019 was even more impressive.
Our flight of 4 Nebbiolo from anywhere tasted blind completed a fantastic evening:
2000 GAJA COSTA RUSSI LANGHE NEBBIOLO- blind; this was truly an amazing wine and I’m already pretty much satisfied with all before it; it just kept on opening up and sharing its treasures which included cedar and dark chocolate laced black cherry, plum and black current with a touch of blueberry coming in past mid palate; it was full bodied with layered complexity and yet was soft and easy on the palate with a silky texture completing the iron fist and velvet glove analogy; I knew we were going to get a Gaja and I’m guessing this is the one, but as it turned out, we had another.
2004 ROBERTO VOERZIO LA SERRA BAROLO- blind; on the heels of an amazing wine comes another one as it was fully loaded and gracefully delivered; milk chocolate, tar, leather, licorice and coffee provided the perfect accents to the blackberry fruit that prevailed; it was full bodied with layered depth and sported a backbone on some significant and yet soft tannins to ensure longevity; it finished with everything coming together and yet strongly suggesting to wait another 10+ years to open up another bottle.
2007 CONTERNO FANTINO SORI GINESTRA BAROLO- blind; on the heels of 2 fabulous wines, here comes another that has it all from the nose through the back end; the color was a vibrant, dark purple suggesting this was ”younger” and the nose seemed to confirm it as it had super fresh and ripe dark fruit with a distinct note of milk chocolate; on the palate came a rush of tar covered black cherry and plum that was delivered in layers that reached immense depths and led to more immense length; this was just a bit bigger than the one before it which was BIG and again, I’m thinking it could be a longtime before I’d open it up again and how amazing it will be.
1997 GAJA NEBBIOLO SPERSS LANGHE- blind; what a succession of fabulous wines we are having as this fell in line to provide loads of pleasure albeit with a different profile than the first 3; the fruit came off as being more wild and wooly black raspberry, cranberry and red and black cherry with a touch of pyrazine bell pepper that dissipated with some time although this was our last wine and we did not have enough to give it its opportunity to fully shine; a decant would have been super helpful; there was a touch of heat as well, but again, it became less apparent with time as this wine picked up some momentum and shed some of its rustiness while tending toward excellence.
This wondrous evening was all about celebrating a visit by Jon Lawrence and enjoying the fellowship he brings from the East Coast to blend in with the West Coast. He even contributed 2 of the wines as well as adding good background information to our discussions and reviews especially when it came to explaining what traits we should be finding in the four Comtes to help identify which was which.
This was an evening of great wines and food while 8 of us enjoyed a table discussion and shared the passion of all things wine.
See you next time Jon.
Cheers,
Blake
Jon Lawrence seated 2nd on the right
@Jon_Lawrence @Mikael_OB @ToddFrench @Chris_Seiber @Steve_Nordhoff @brigcampbell @AstridKG @Frank_Murray_III @Andrew_Christiansen