TN: Bubbles 2014

WINE TALK
#1

BUBBLES 2014 - Home (11/15/2014-12/19/2014)

We’ve had a lot of Champagne the past few weeks. It is an annual tradition in this house. I bought a few 6-packs of various wines three years ago and we open one bottle of each wine every year, making this the 4th bottle. It has been a tremendously interesting experience.

All of the wines are well made, I can recommend each for various reasons (and to various tastes). Personal favorites have been Selosse’s Substance, Vilmart’s Cellier d’Or 2006 and then a dog fight between Prevost, Lassaigne and Laval (the last two being far too young).

  • 2004 Dehours Champagne Extra Brut La Côte En Bosse - France, Champagne, Vallée de la Marne, Champagne (11/22/2014)
    Strong orange agrume. Almond with a tendency towards marzipan. Chicken broth. Very fresh, complete, tight on the palette. Very approachable and easy but great with food. After time it moves towards the chardonnay side. Cool butter, fresh nuts, round, rich. Very good. Hold for a few years, it’s only going towards better places and on opening it is a little pinot meunier. That’s not an insult, but it is to say that it’s a shame to miss the chardonnay today.
  • 2006 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Grand Cellier d’Or - France, Champagne (11/29/2014)
    Classic truffles and buttery apples. Meursault with tension. Excellent. Unmistakably chardonnay. Went excellently with Trappe Échourgnac (a cheese finished with liquor made from chestnuts) and even better with brie aux truffes.
  • NV Jacques Selosse Champagne Brut Initiale - France, Champagne (12/6/2014)
    Dégorgement in Aug 2009


    Toast, a lactic character, apple and a strong chalk note. A slightly smoky and black truffle note. The lactic, butter and cream note is predominate with the fruit and chalk aspects providing diversification. With time there is a strong note of nuts (walnuts) that evolves.


    Extremely good and well suited to an apéro. On the palate the wine is full but lithe, ripe but fresh. Extremely well made, classic and a nice counter point to the Substance last week which was a very different wine.
  • 2002 Pierre Moncuit Champagne Brut Millésime Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs - France, Champagne, Le Mesnil Sur Oger, Champagne (12/8/2014)
    Fresh apples, a bit one dimensional. Very young, taught. A few hours later it shows some diversity of character but little beyond a note of agrumes and a bit of salty caramel. Perfectly classic if not a little bit uninteresting.
  • NV Jacques Lassaigne Champagne Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Cuvée Le Cotet Montgueux - France, Champagne, Côte des Bars (Aube), Champagne (12/19/2014)
    2008 dégorgement. Lemon, feve tonka, cumin. A subtle dose of lactic notes, butter. Paired perfectly with “flutes” (salty pastry with loads of butter). Chalky. Almost dusty on the palate. Incredibly young. Plays the line between classic and “bobo” very smartly.

Not at all rich, rather tense and nervy wine. But with a lot of savory flavors.

On the palate the wine is gourmand, full and well balanced by its acidity. Minerality of the wine is tense, almost tannic. The wine is broad and carries a smokey finish.

Extremely complex even if it is tightly wound today. And terribly easy to drink…

Dried lemons and a salty sherry nuttiness are the primary notes. An undertone of lime with a light smokiness. Delicately truffled.

This champagne is very atypical. There isn’t any creaminess or lactic notes. It shares a lot in common with Chardonnays from the Jura, with agrumes being the primary note. Extremely good, marked by it’s freshness coupled with profoundly rich characteristics.

Posted from CellarTracker

#2

The greatest notes create thirst.

Yours did, in spades!

#3

Thanks Anton! Time to go quench that thirst…grab a bottle of bubbles and toast in the holidays!

#4

Wonderful selection Paul, and great notes.

I don’t drink enough bubbles.

#5

Thanks Geir, we enjoy champagne year round but the frequency of bottles picks up during the Nov / Dec time frame.

We had a second Dehours last night, the Pinot Noir (Blanc de Noirs). His line is interesting in that he has classic blends as well as BdN (both pinot noir and pinot meunier) and BdB. It provides the drinker a unique opportunity to evaluate cépage and terroir (the wines are single vintage).

  • 2004 Dehours Champagne Extra Brut Maisoncelle - France, Champagne (12/20/2014)
    Warmer, richer fruit profile. Apples, grosseille (green), vanillin tonka bean, smoky mineral earth (tobacco). Palate starts off a bit gourmand, round and without a sense of rigid structure. Time and air pull the palate together. Acidity is very different, following the fruit profile. It is slightly bitter and spicy acidity.

Grand vin. Sophisticated rather than refined. Still young. Great with a rich dish such as the foie gras aux figues we served.

Posted from CellarTracker