Blake,
I’ve run into it quite a bit in China and Italy, but I also don’t go out of my way to look for it. The most likely place for it will be Duty Free shops in the airport.
Great idea- I`ll check when we leave.
Thought you had some. Good to know.
FYI, this is in the US now. K and L has some.
I find this thread fascinating. Veuve has some of the most beautiful and instantly recognizable labels and is the most well-known brand of mid-level luxury champagne out there. They make tons of money.
But I don’t know many serious champagne lovers who will touch the yellow label and I’ve only heard a few people mention Grand Dame in the same breadth as any of the other Grand Marques’ prestige bottlings.
Veuve really doesn’t need a prestige bottling to make money. Why bother? Pride? We’re talking a huge corporate holding producing hundreds of thousands of bottles a year.
And, as a buyer, there are literally hundreds of exceptional and compelling wines being made across Champagne (most of them sold by Envoyer?) at every price point from Cuvée St Anne from Chartogne-Taillet to Gimmonet Special Club to vintage Krug and Selosse . Why would I bother with an overpriced offering from Veuve ostensibly made from the same reserve wines that go into their cloying yellow label - EVEN IF IT WERE GOOD?
Just curious. And for north of $70?
Sorry my completely offtopic ramblings, but this little piece struck me as a bit odd - hundreds of thousands of bottles is a relatively small producer in Champagne. Even a million bottles annually doesn’t make you particularly big.
VC’s annual production hovers in the ballpark of 10,000,000 bottles - that’s a few magnitudes above “hundreds of thousands”! 
I meant millions of cases, but also didn’t want to overstate the case. My point doesn’t change, but certainly 10M bottles is more accurate.
It should be stated that one Moet and Veuve sell over a million cases per year. Comparing France's 10 Largest Champagne Houses [INFOGRAPHIC] | VinePair
I haven’t had many Grand Dames, but have enjoyed every one thoroughly. Based on my limited experience, I would not mark them down as second class among the grand marques. I would be interested to try this wine too. I am betting I will be able to do better than the $85 at K&L, so I will wait.
I think the main thing with veuve is the ubiquitous mediocrity of the yellow label NV. It sounds like they’re working to improve it, though. Laurent Perrier has also really improved the la cuvee of late.
Yellow label is (or certainly was) not aimed at enthusiasts like ourselves. I would seriously encourage you to look at the 2008 though - it’s an unbelievable wine and I’m regretting only having 4. Veuve have made big changes as Brad mentions earlier in this thread, and their more seriously bottlings now should not be dismissed. The 2008 and presumably 2008 Grande Dame (I don’t think it’s available yet?) are great value.
Thanks for the notes, Frank (and everybody else).
Stylistically, the NV Veuve Clicquot Champagne has never been my thing, but I have definitely enjoyed sweeter and drier style Champagnes. The tasting note for this one sounds very interesting…
I say this as someone who almost solely focuses on the small guys, but, there is a ton of condescension in your post here that is horribly misplaced towards Veuve. I haven’t had this, but am extremely interested as the vintage offerings are quite good (that said, I’m not always a fan of the La Grande Dame).
While this isn’t being treated as a Solera, that is the idea behind this release and thus makes it massively different than the normal NV Yellow Label. It is also an extra-brut and from what Brad noted, is bottled at a lower atmosphere. So, how do you figure that it is ostensibly the same as the Yellow label given all of that?
My post WAS fairly condescending, and I AM being a total wine snob. Not denying that. I think that VC Yellow Label is crap - I’ve been pretty clear on that and so have many others.
My point is not that this bottling will suck, but that (a) why does VC bother making a mid-range bottling like this when they make cash hand over fist on their yellow label and (b) when there are so many wonderful and expressive grower champagnes sold for considerably less money, why should I give the wine a chance?
I can’t believe I’m actually making an argument for Veuve, but, why are you even bringing up the yellow label? It has nothing to do with the Extra Brut Extra Old.
As far as why shouldn’t you give this a chance? How many blends with this vintage range are out there and at this lower atmosphere? The argument for this is that they can do something like this when a small house can’t.
I’m just a champagne geek who would want to try it for all the reasons above and after reading what Brad wrote. I’m not nearly arrogant enough to just write it off and act like it is just a better Yellow Label.
I now have some Veuve labels in my head to try again after reading many comments above after probably a decade of not trying them.
Thanks for the heads up all.
This is an easy answer. I’ve yet to find truly compelling grower champagnes. We drink alot, alot of champagne and I’ve tried dozens of growers. I have found the best good to great, but they are rarely the style we prefer and many just don’t hold up to food (admittedly, I’ve only had a few of the Selosse wines). I’ve yet to find the truly compelling and complex wines that I can find with the houses that can hold them back and age on the lees for a long time.
As for the extra old? I think $70 is a good value for a champagne with a mature profile on release… assuming that is what you value. For us, maturity (depth, body, vinosity, autolytics, and oxidative notes) are what we value. If you can tell me where to buy a reasonably mature champagne for $70, please let me know.
Envoyer has this up atm
At $84, if I buy 3 including shipping, is simply too expensive for exploration purposes.
Easy pass. So many good champagnes out there for less…
I view this as being more like grand siecle; I’m a fan.