What Is The Holy Grail Of Champagne?

WINE TALK
1

Just wanted some discussion on what the collective thinks the end-all-get-all bottle of Champers would be.

Here is what I hold to be true for some reds, so I was wondering on the bubbles side:

Port: 1931 Noval Nacional
BDX: 1945 Mouton/1947 Cheval Blanc
CA Cab: 1974 Heitz Martha’s
Rhone: 1961 Jaboulet Aine Hermitage La Chapelle

2

1928 Bolly?

3

Picking one bottle in any category is always difficult and subjective.

For the Rhone I would argue '66 or '69 La Mouline over the '61 La Chapelle.
Cali, one could argue '41 Inglenook
Bord, I’d probably say the '45 Mouton

For champagne the first one that I thought of was '28 Pol Roger Grauves
But again arguments can be made for others as well - '28 Krug etc.
If I could drink one champagne I would probably pick a 19th century Krug from a great vintage like 1892 or 1899 (assuming they made those vintages)

4

In 50-100 years I wonder if any more recent bottlings of wine from any region will supplant those currently regarded as the best of the best.

5

and to go with this, will the more recent bottlings be in shorter supply?

6

Interesting discussion.
Not sure what “future classics” any one has, might be cool to see a list.

Could be a lot of 96 Champagnes on that list.

7

'96 Krug should be on that short list for 50 years from now I think.

8

Going with something from 1928 makes sense. Of recent bottles (1960 onwards), I would probably nominate 88 Krug Clos du Mesnil.

9

Salon and Clos des Goisses also come to mind.

10

For me, it is something I can enjoy at a price I can afford to do so regularly. That said, some of the suggestions above sound pretty f’ing awesome.

11

The '96 Krug CdM is gaining ground on the '88 and may pass it by in a few years


12

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13

So many great wines…who cares what is the best of the best.

14

1959 Clos des Goisses , 1959 Salon, 1959 Bollinger, 1959 Paul Bara, 1959 Mumm Rose, 1959 Lagras… all birth year wines for me. BTW, my birthday anniversary is in 21 days if anybody would like to send me one of these bottles.

15

1928 Salon is supposed to be legendary.

16

Paul, didn’t mean to imply best of the best…rather, I meant what is rare, difficult to find and rumoured to be a great experience.

I think that right now the '96 Krug and Salon really don’t qualify as I can find them sitting on shelves right now. Even the CdM can be found easily if you look hard enough.

17

Bill, I would nominate Bollinger Vieille Vignes. Tough to get and expensive.

18

surprised to see no mention for Bollinger VVF. Amazing stuff.

19

Chris!!! [basic-smile.gif]

20

I don’t have the experience of people like Ray Tuppatsch and Brad Baker, but 1949 Krug is clearly my highest achievement, with mention given to 1996 Bollinger VVF for potential decades down the line. I’ve hears stories about 1911 Moët.