Please to hear I am not the only one! I love Agrapart if I want to splurge, but in general, I find this such a solid offering and everything I want in a Champagne.
Notes on this thread. We had an awesome vacation, traveling with friends and wine. Here are the photos. I forgot to photograph the ‘09 Dom and maybe a couple of others.
Cheers,
Warren
Egly-Ouriet Brut Tradition Grand Cru
Disgorged January 2017.
Excellent. The nose is rich and deep showing grilled hazelnuts and caramel notes around a core of citrus and white fruits. The palate is vinous and complex with nice texture (creaminess) and very good length. It’s dry and taut but still allowing that richness that the nose was eluding to. Really excellent. Super expressive with nothing austere for this disgorgement at this point in time.
1 Like
2012 Louis Nicaise Extra Brut Millesime
First time with this producer won’t be the last. Lovely.
His Premier Cru Rosé NV is quite good and not expensive at all.
Extracted from a future thread to be posted:
2002 TAITTINGER COMTES de CHAMPAGNE BLANC de BLANCS- disgorged 1/16; of all of the stellar champagne vintages of the 2000s, 2002 has got to be at least the 2nd best and for this house, their 02 has to be as good as any including the deservedly highly hyped 08 and the my repeated fav, the 06; compared to many other bottles I’ve tasted in the past, the 02 has now come together beautifully and is giving up a bounty of treasures while maintaining impeccable balance; it`s super rich, creamy and full bodied possessing power and finesse; following its bright yellow gold color came aromas of toasty brioche and ginger joined by mature and honeyed citrus and stone fruit on the nose which more specifically translated into lemon, orange zest and yellow peach on the palate; it’s just the complete package and there’s no doubt, this wine will continue to express beautifully for many years to come. Epic.
Cheers,
Blake
Extracted from a thread to be posted and additional bottle of one recently reviewed:
2002 BILLECART-SALMON CUVEE NICOLAS FRANCOIS BRUT- I took this as a treat for the one who brought the 02 Comtes knowing he had not had it; this was first released in 1964 as a tribute to the founder of this house and is comprised of 60% Pinot Noir from the 1er and Grand Crus from the Montagne de Reims and the Grande Vallée de la Marne and 40% Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs; as with the 02 Comtes, it was disgorged 1/16; the notes for this bottle are consistent with the another recent bottle in that it had a light yellow color, a nice, refreshing citrusy nose and an initial taste of freshly zested lemon which by mid palate was joined by ginger, clove and honey infused lemon and lime which then faded back into more pure lemon zest at the end; this is a lovely, nicely rich and full bodied bubbly that, IMHO, can stand up to most, if not all of the other Grande Marques in this vintage.
Cheers,
Blake
This wine deserves two posts, so I’ll duplicate it from its own thread.
NV René Collard Champagne Cuvée Ultime Ultra Brut
You have to like old champagne to enjoy this, and I do and I did! It’s a beautiful wine. Light amber with a moderate bead. Perfect sweetness and acid balance. Mostly tertiary, with dried apricots, mushroom, coffee, tobacco, salty hazelnut and toffee. No cider notes.
This is 100% Pinot Meunier, and I believe it is all 1995. I loved it; happy to have more.
-
NV Jacques Lassaigne Champagne Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Le Cotet - France, Champagne (5/9/2021)
The palate reveals apple, lemon oils, brioche and lightly oxidative flavors. Initially quite linear. Seemed a touch austere at first, but the wine unfurls with some air. High- acidity and a refined mousse. Comes off as fairly vinous. Quite good now and should improve with short term aging.
Disgorged 3/9/20. (92 pts.)
Extracted from a thread already posted by Todd re “More in-person blind tastings with friends…”
I pulled this particular champagne to share with the guys at the outset of our blind tasting as it came in first at a rooftop champagne event I held 2 years ago. It competed against some heavy hitters including many top notch Grande Marques. Although not up to the same standard as that bottle, this one had some redeeming qualities.
1995 CHARLES HEIDSIECK BLANC des MILLENAIRES blanc de BLANC- 750ml; 100% Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs with 4 Grands Crus and 1 1er Cru which spend over 20 years on the lees and as such, is the house’s flagship wine; I got a touch of advanced notes in the aromatics that was not present in the previous bottle from 2 years ago although the color was a light to medium yellow and some even remarked they thought it was a much younger champagne as a result; the nose had fragrant floral and citrus fruit notes which on the palate were joined by white stone fruit, it had a creamy mousse and finished on an uptick with a bit more energy even 40 minutes later.
Cheers,
Blake
And one more from another thread already posted and certainly worthy of being included in this one:
2006 DOM RUINART BLANC de BLANC BRUT- disgorged 12/ 2016 with 4.5 gpl dosage; comprised of Chardonnay Grands Crus: 63% from the Côte des Blancs (predominantly Chouilly, Le Mesnil and Avize) and 37% from the northern slope of the Montagne de Reims (predominantly Sillery and Puisieulx); this was at least my 6th bottle of this treasure and thankfully it held true to form with consistent notes from those before it; there is a sense of royalty in the nose with inviting aromas of spicy citrus in the form of lemon and lime which continued on to be joined by ginger infused grapefruit, orange zest and white peach; it is super rich and full bodied and has a semi heavy mousse, amazing balance and bright acidity; as I’ve noted previously, it’s all I ever desire in a champagne and exudes class along with its charming elegance; poured into Sophienwald Grand Cru Champagne stems.
Cheers,
Blake
Benoit Dehu Initiation - Nov 2018 disgorgement (2016 base?) - I picked up a fun sixer of grower champagnes a month or so ago and this was one of them. I’ve heard about this producer but had never had any of his offerings. He is known for relatively low dosage meunier and pinot noir offerings. This wine, Initiation, is 78% pinot noir and 22% meunier. Galloni referred to this as “one of the most singular champagnes I tasted all year” when giving it 94 points. No dosage. I disagree with Galloni about this wine. Instead of ethereal, it is ephemeral. This wine opens with a nice soft floral note, followed by lemon and chalk, with the faintest hint of tangerine and minerality. It has nice acidity, which is not overwhelming even despite the zero dosage. The issue is with its relative lack of intensity and absent midpalate. This is a relatively soft wine, lacking real punch. The finish is clipped and it is light of body. It is both fine and hollow at the same time. What I mean by that is you can tell it is not a cheap or poorly made wine. It just lacks stuffing, complexity, and length. This is in the 88-90 range for me, poor QPR, and a disgorgement/base I will not buy again. When this was dead, I opened a glass of another champagne for a bit of a comparison…
2013 Marc Hebrart Rive Gauche Rive Droit Grand Cru Extra Brut, 4.5g/l dosage. I’m a fan of Hebrart’s lower end cheapies, which I believe are typically sensational value. I’d never had one of his big boy wines, and so grabbed one with some other grower bottles. Coming off of the Dehu Initiation, I was hoping for something good. This too was 94 points Galloni, but it’s in an entirely different universe of quality than the Initiation to me. In fact, these two wines side by side are unfair. The Hebrart humiliates the Dehu, and it boggles the mind that one could rate both of these wines the same. This is wonderfully balanced, with a richness and intensity of fruit totally lacking in the Initiation. This is 50-50 pinot/chard and brings biscuit, jazz apple, lemon curd, vanilla cream, and honeysuckle. Just the right balance of richness, acid, fruit, and minerality. This, to me, is in that 94 range Galloni was fussing about. Delicious.
Motha’s day with all the children & grand Children at Biscayne Bay CC; A PAIR OF 2008 Veuve Grande Dame !! 
Opened our first magnum of the 2013 Marc Hebrart Special Club over the weekend to raised eyebrows all around. This was a stunner, with plenty of fresh but ripe orchard fruit to flesh out an elegant and taught frame. I loved its subtle complexity, confident mid-palate and sheer joyousness. It was also terrific with all sorts of different foods, including a raw Hokkaido scallop with shiso chiffonade. Shiso does not play nice with most wine, but this not carried it off, it took the sweetness of the scallop combined with the shiso’s herbaceousness to another level. What a terrific wine, especially for the price and out of magnum. So glad we gave these the time they needed to settle down after importation, having had a few disappointments with other wines early on out of the same shipment.
1 Like
last night i opened krug cuvee 168em and loved it!
Shit. My finger was hovering over the Place Order button a few days on the Hebrart, and I backed down. This note will put me over the top. The 2012 also blew away almost every other Champagne at the Skurnik tasting last year in NY. Only 2 or 3 even in the same league.
I haven’t had the 2013, but very much a fan of the 2012 Hebrart Special Club.
-Al
1 Like
Extracted from an upcoming thread:
2008 GUY LARMADIER CUVEE SIGNE FRANCOIS VIEILLES VIGNES GRAND CRU BLANC de BLANC BRUT ZERO- this is made from their oldest parcels of Chardonnay in the grand cru village of Cramant (along with a small amount of fruit from a holding in the Grand Cru Chouilly), and it spends 5 years on the lees before disgorgement and as headlined and surprisingly once tasted, has no dosage; this is an amazing champagne that is super rich and full bodied possessing a creamy mousse and layers of flavors including lemon, white peach, pear, red apple and honey dew melon; there’s a hint of a ginger and saline accent along with some underlying minerality that joins in at mid palate, but it’s the coat of honey that belies the absence of any dosage that tricks the mind; additionally, this is one of the very few 08`s that is showing well out of the gate and it is superlative now and structured to evolve and subsist for a long, consumer pleasing ride.
Cheers,
Blake
I’m taking Mousse Fils l’Or d’Eugene BdN to oysters tonight. 80% PM 20% PN 4gl/l. Bottle in January I noted: lemon oil, pears, burnt toast, white flowers.
I also just got a few bottles from A. Lamblot, a small grower/producer in Champagne. One is a PM BdN and I’ve heard good things (along the lines of Bouvet, Romain Henin, Calsac, etc).
A NIGHT OF CHAMPAGNES - Yummy Palace (15/5/2021)
Last dinner before the semi-lockdown in Singapore. Interesting tasting that divided opinions, I think the good thing about champagne is that there is something for everyone. I do like a contemplative champagne but in a line-up the bolder, brasher ones tend to stand out.
-
NV Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Cuvée Rubis - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
One of my favourites of the night, very good despite the poor 2011 base vintage. High-toned red fruits of strawberries, Vilmart favours high dosage but doesn’t stick out in any way. A little simple but who cares if it is so delicious? -
NV Egly-Ouriet Champagne Grand Cru Brut Rosé - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Disgorged July 2014 which means 08 base I think. Some liked it and some didn’t. Lighter colour than the Vilmart, a little oxidised and tired with a caramel note. The other bottle that I opened last year was much better. Definitely show glimpses of the character and depth but I belonged to the camp that thought this was slightly flawed. -
2006 Charles Heidsieck Champagne Blanc des Millénaires - France, Champagne
Under Mytik. Heavier than expected for a BdB, the powerful style and ripe fruit probably was a result of the hotter year. Lots of red fruits and weight, very fine bubbles that suggested a quality champagne but thought this was slightly sweet and coarse for me. Others liked this a lot more than I did I think. -
2013 Champagne Suenen Champagne Grand Cru “Les Robarts” Extra Brut Millésime - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
I liked this a lot compared to others. For me it had a perfect balance of weight, acidity and sweetness. More green apples and vinous after a while in the glass, unlike previous Suenen I’ve tried that was austere and lean, this was very giving and generous. Some mentioned this is pretty much all it had to give but I thought that this has a long way to go yet, I’ll keep my bottle for longer to find out. Definitely delicious now though. -
NV Laurent-Perrier Champagne La Cuvée - France, Champagne
Very toasty and generous in dosage, can imagine this being a crowd pleaser for sure. -
2009 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Millésimé - France, Champagne
This had the sweet and sour element that I don’t like in grand marque champagnes that you find at duty-free. Probably one of my least favourite on the night. -
2012 Louis Roederer Champagne Vintage Brut - France, Champagne
The quality of Roederer throughout its range is very impressive. This had reductive gunflint, and a matchstick element on the nose. Very high acid but still well-balanced with green apple and citrus fruit. -
2015 Ulysse Collin Champagne Les Pierrières - France, Champagne
For a Ulysse Collin this had a surprisingly ripe, exotic nose. But on palate it reverted to type, austere and serious wine that was still too young. -
2011 Agrapart Champagne Grand Cru Minéral Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Still don’t get Agrapart, this came across as thin and dilute, severely lacking in fruit.
2 Likes