Value of knowing the date of disgorgement?

[alan_weinberg]

sometimes one disgorgement is way better, likely for reasons WK mentioned—for example the April disgorgement of 96 Clos des Goisses.

[adam_caldwell]

Anyone have a list or link of Egly base wines for thier NVs?

[William_Kelley]

Anyone have a list or link of Egly base wines for thier NVs?

You can work it out from the bottle. For example, for the Egly-Ouriet Extra-Brut V.P. on my desk, it says on the back label that it was disgorged in July 2019 (Egly disgorge all their releases for the year at the same time, July, every year), and that it spend 84 months on the lees. So you can see that the wine was bottled in 2012; which means that is it based on the 2011 vintage. Reserve wines will be from 2010 and 2009 (the Extra-Brut V.P. and the Brut Grand Cru are always a blend of three consecutive vintages).

[Gerhard_P]

The DD is valuable to know how long the Champ. did develope in the bottle off its lees … 2013 DD seems quite young to me, except you like it only fresh without any bottle age. I have dozens of Champ. from the 80ies and 90ies drinking fine (for me), I like the taste of brioche and bread crumbles in aged Champagne.
DD is useful to know the used vintages only if you know the house style anf practice.

[John_Danza]

When I buy NV champagne at auction, it’s always a crap shoot on the disgorgement date. I would like to know so I can estimate the evolution of the wine in the bottle. But sometimes it’s great not knowing because it becomes a surprise when you finally find out.

A recent example was some bottles of Mumm Corton Rouge that I bought through Winebid. After receiving the bottles, I was able to decipher the code on the bottles to determine that these had been disgorged in September 1997. To me, and my appreciation of ageing NV champagne, that was a fabulous surprise! The wine in the bottle is much more complex that new Corton Rouge, further proving that NV champagnes can age very well.

[Jim_Stewart]

When I buy NV champagne at auction, it’s always a crap shoot on the disgorgement date. I would like to know so I can estimate the evolution of the wine in the bottle. But sometimes it’s great not knowing because it becomes a surprise when you finally find out.

A recent example was some bottles of Mumm Corton Rouge that I bought through Winebid. After receiving the bottles, I was able to decipher the code on the bottles to determine that these had been disgorged in September 1997. To me, and my appreciation of ageing NV champagne, that was a fabulous surprise! The wine in the bottle is much more complex that new Corton Rouge, further proving that NV champagnes can age very well.

I like the way you describe the “rolling the dice” aspect of a possibly old NV. That is life in a nutshell isn’t it; wonderful surprises await, but it still stinks when you crap out.

[DougS]

While I sometimes use them to try to figure out the base years, more often I use them to make sure an NV has not been sitting on a retail shelf for too long (at least when buying in person).

David, so if you saw the bottle that I bought on a retail store shelf, the date of disgorgement might give you some reservation about purchasing it because of possibly less than ideal storage conditions?

I think this is even more important than knowing which release and base vintage(s) you have (although I like to know that too, especially with wines like Pierre Peters NV where some releases are so much better than others). Personally, I would definitely not buy anything disgorged more than 2-3 years ago. I have opened many such bottles that have been in some combination of wholesale warehouse and/or retail shelf for most of that time, and well over half have not been in good condition.

[adam_caldwell]

Anyone have a list or link of Egly base wines for thier NVs?

You can work it out from the bottle. For example, for the Egly-Ouriet Extra-Brut V.P. on my desk, it says on the back label that it was disgorged in July 2019 (Egly disgorge all their releases for the year at the same time, July, every year), and that it spend 84 months on the lees. So you can see that the wine was bottled in 2012; which means that is it based on the 2011 vintage. Reserve wines will be from 2010 and 2009 (the Extra-Brut V.P. and the Brut Grand Cru are always a blend of three consecutive vintages).

Thanks William That is helpful. Cheers.

[Curtis_Chen]

While I sometimes use them to try to figure out the base years, more often I use them to make sure an NV has not been sitting on a retail shelf for too long (at least when buying in person).

You run that risk in a private sale, too…

[Frank_Murray_III]

It’s worth adding here too that on some producers there is a disgorge date etched into the glass on the bottle (Marie Courtin comes to mind for sure and either Jacquesson or Larmandier-Bernier–I can’t recall, in part because I am 54 and have CRS). It’s cut right into the glass and will give you a disgorge date indication. Sure, not everyone does this and it’s not a industry standard but there is sometimes info lurking on the bottle and it can be decoded, in some instances easily enough.

[Jim_Stewart]

It’s worth adding here too that on some producers there is a disgorge date etched into the glass on the bottle (Marie Courtin comes to mind for sure and either Jacquesson or Larmandier-Bernier–I can’t recall, in part because I am 54 and have CRS). It’s cut right into the glass and will give you a disgorge date indication. Sure, not everyone does this and it’s not a industry standard but there is sometimes info lurking on the bottle and it can be decoded, in some instances easily enough.

You ain’t seen nothing yet, Frank!

[Frank_Murray_III]

Oh gee, thanks, Jim. At 54, on some days I FEEL like I have been disgorged.

[Jim_Stewart]

Oh gee, thanks, Jim. At 54, on some days I FEEL like I have been disgorged.

At 70, I have perspective. Just giving you a “heads up” for the road ahead.

[LMD_Ermitano]

Oh gee, thanks, Jim. At 54, on some days I FEEL like I have been disgorged.

We’re the same age. I think I know what you mean.

[Jim_Stewart]

FYI. I have a half bottle of Roederer Brut Premier on deck and was poking around to see if I could figure out the date of disgorgement. That info and more is available on the Roederer site. Just plug in the code on the back of the bottle and voila! FWIW.

https://www.louis-roederer.com/en/bottle-identification

[Marcus_Dean]

Roederer is one of the best NVs to age IMHO

[DougS]

The DD is valuable to know how long the Champ. did develope in the bottle off its lees … 2013 DD seems quite young to me, except you like it only fresh without any bottle age. I have dozens of Champ. from the 80ies and 90ies drinking fine (for me), I like the taste of brioche and bread crumbles in aged Champagne.
DD is useful to know the used vintages only if you know the house style anf practice.

There’s a big difference between sitting on a store shelf for 6+ years and sitting in your cellar for 10+. On is often good, the other almost never.

[Jim_Stewart]

The DD is valuable to know how long the Champ. did develope in the bottle off its lees … 2013 DD seems quite young to me, except you like it only fresh without any bottle age. I have dozens of Champ. from the 80ies and 90ies drinking fine (for me), I like the taste of brioche and bread crumbles in aged Champagne.
DD is useful to know the used vintages only if you know the house style anf practice.

There’s a big difference between sitting on a store shelf for 6+ years and sitting in your cellar for 10+. On is often good, the other almost never.

Doug, I am going to lower my expectations for the bottle that I posted about.
. . . maybe I can at least use the bottle as a festive decoration

[DougS]

It might be fine. At least, it’s worth opening. I just wouldn’t expect a pristine bottle, and maybe not even one worth drinking.

[Marcus_Dean]

The colored bottle actually works to your benefit by negating the effects of light strike on the wine, Lanson screams out for a bit of bottle age to drink well anyway.
You might be surprised at how much you enjoy it.