In 2015, I prefer les Rosies! In 2014, it was the Enfers. In 2016, I couldn’t choose.
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A 2015 Ulysse Collin Les Pierrieres 48 mo this weekend was still quite tight and not quite sure what it wants to be when it grows up. The nose was spectacular, though, reminiscent of the nose in an '02 Comtes the night before.
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Roses de Jeanne, 2013 Presle.
Very, very good but different compared to Ursules and Val Vilaine for example. Not the obvious grower style, fresh and elegant with effortless power. Concentrated, sweet yet light and very smooth yellow fruit accompanied with perfectly balanced acidity. Blind I don’t think I had guessed Pinot.
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2017 Marguet Shaman that just arrived from Europe. Not sure if it’s the extended travel but this was totally ready to drink. Nori, seawater, salt candy, very little yeast notes. Juicy on the tongue with subtle ginger spicyness that reminds me of the Collin le maillons that I drank for 2x the price- dare I say a little better, even? Did not improve over time but I’m curious where this will end up with extended aging in the bottle. Needless to say I ordered another bottle along with some 2019s.
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Krug GC 168 (‘12 base). This 375 was so different from the 750 I drank a year ago, it’s hard to believe it’s the same wine. In the half bottle, it’s very expressive and open. Lemon cream, fresh apricot, ginger snaps, toast and pastry. Initially a very aggressive bead. Nice acidic cut balances the density and extract. It’s hard to resist in this format. To me, no winery does half bottles better than Krug.
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Champagne Aubry Le Nombre d’Or Campanae Veteres Vites Brut is magnificent for the price. It’s really competing with champagnes that are $30 more expensive. Really firm acidity on the 2014 that was over the top or painful. A chardonnay hater felt like it was well balanced in the blend. I go a lot of baked apple on the nose and stone fruit on the palate. It’s gone up in price it seems but for under $60 still a deal. I had paid $50 last year. I’m considering ordering 6 bottles right now from FirstBottle, but I’m going to wait to see if a current supplier for my store has it.
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2008 Besserat de Bellefon Cuvée des Moines - surprisingly better than I expected. Nice fine mousse. Initial palate of green apple followed by a brioche finish. Will definitely last several more years
Nice bottle! Red and green apple, tangerine bright acidty and a hint of baked bread. Opened up nicely an hour in.
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My (limited) experience with these wines is that they are the most savory, herbal Champagnes I have ever tasted. Interesting. And I am very interested to see how they evolve with some time in the bottle.
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This wine is bad ass! Blood orange/persimmons/dried roses, wonderful aged ox and lemon squeeze sours…will post a more detailed note when we are done celebrating our 25th!
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Extracted from another post.
NV Vilmart Grand Cellier, disgorged June ‘17. Fortunately, this winery takes “entry level” to new heights. Trademark Vilmart balance. Elegant with orange, sweet brioche and orchard fruit. I loved this bottle. These get better with time.
Clouet Un Jour de 1911. I’m a big fan of this wine. It’s a bit of a beast, but has good acidity to balance the dry extract. The old solera portion likely accounted for the hazelnut, plus apples, white flowers and spice. I think this will be amazing in years to come. I had an old bottling a year ago which led me to go deep on this rendition.
2008 Pommery Grand Cru Royal
I don’t know how to read Pommery’s code above.
May be a more recent disgorgement. 50% Chard 50%PN from GC vineyards. I have read either 9, 10 or or “more than 10” years on lees. Dosage is 9g/L.
Medium yellow color. Small vivid bead. On the nose: classic brioche, sweet lemon, not too yeasty. On the palate: red apple, citrus, with a nice long finish. It’s not particularly complex for a vintage, esp. one from 2008. Sorry about the lack of descriptors; we really enjoyed this and forgot to analyze. Objectively speaking, there are better 2008’s, but the Pommery is competitive with pricing and distribution. I have two more bottles and am looking forward to seeing how they develop.
Gervais Gobillard Rosé Authentique
Disgorgement date: Not specificed & forgot to take a photo of the back label. Equal parts Chard, PN, PM. Dosage: ?
Medium salmon color, by far the best attribute of this champagne. Anemic medium-small bead. On the nose: blooming yeast (not brioche), that fades to overripe strawberry. On the palate: over-ripe strawberry, red apple, and an artificial cherry cough syrup note. No acidity. Tastes as though on the highest end of the brut spectrum in terms of dosage. I disliked it and will not repurchase.
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Suenen c+c: good as always, a little less funky than the 2020 deg(this one was 2021)
Suenen les robarts 2014: pnp. Sufficient, not over the top acidity with wood and vanilla notes, good yellow fruits. Nicely paired w/sushi.
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Last night, we held an informal tasting of three champagnes as we’re planning for an upcoming event. The venue offered three options, all quite different. We tasted them single blind.
Pierre Peters Cuvee Reserve – Disgorged March 2022. Somewhat quiet nose at first. Some powdery, chalky features to the nose. I felt this was well balanced and likely to appeal to a broad audience. Opened up a bit after about a half hour.
Corbon Avize 2010 – Disgorged March 2022. Very vigorous mousse. Quite rich on the nose, perhaps showing the influence of 10 years on lees. Palate is kind of like a pastry with butter-based dough – nice in a moderate amount (a glass), but a bit over the top for more for my taste.
Marguet Shaman 18 – Disgorged January 2022. This wine is 75% pinot noir, and that influence is clear. Quite floral nose – I got some rosewater here. Palate has some apple along with some herbaceous/spicy notes. Long finish. Vinous and energetic – my sense is this wine is still figuring itself out, and would be more cohesive with time open or in bottle. Of the three wines tasted, this was the most complex to me.
We ranked the wines based on those we felt would be best suited for our event. Oddly, we all agreed on the order. The Pierre Peters was the winner as we felt it would have the broadest appeal. The Marguet was the most interesting wine, but I felt it needed time and would likely be divisive.
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Dang, I gotta run by my shop on Friday and pick up some fun champagnes I’ve not tried yet so I can contribute to this thread more. That’ll be my excuse for sucking down champagnes all weekend.
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Who knew there was a Champagne Magazine that could tell us the best?
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Last night at Chez L’Ami Jean we drank Selosse Lieux-dits Extra Brut Mareuil-sur-Ay Sous le Mont (2015 disgorgement, bottle code LSMO315). Golden color, apple cider nose, orchard fruits on the palate. Typical Selosse interplay of fresh and not so fresh. Low atmosphere pressure. It was more interesting than delicious. I generally prefer Initial to the other/more famous/more costly expressions, and this was consistent with that preference. Would I buy it again (the only rating that I impose on myself)? Likely not, but it was a worthwhile experiment. And was a good compliment to our meal, especially the black ink risotto with homard bleu (the best lobster in the world), which was called a starter on the menu but was more than enough for my main course.
Our neighbors for the night (he works at Majordomo in LA), were very enthusiastic about both Selosse we shared and their meal. As always at L’Ami Jean, late night is best. Coincidentally, I literally ran into Chef Jego and his young son earlier yesterday on Rue Cler; it was great to catch up a bit, having been unable to do so during the pandemic or during our visits to the restaurant this trip.
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Looks like the ‘07 Heidsieck Blanc de Millenaries hit WHWC at $195, up ~33% over ‘06