Which Champagne are you drinking?

WINE TALK
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Had a small gathering at my place this past weekend and the power of the group is to provide bottles, which allows everyone to learn, share comments as we taste, and ultimately, be together and have some fellowship. Most of the bottles were blind (I think except for the 2012 Laurent Perrier). In this kind of setting, you get the natural diversity of palate preference, so the wines that were brought (I didn’t ask for a theme) and the conversations we had on the wines generated some good discussion.

p>CHAMPAGNE IN MY BACKYARD (MOSTLY BLIND) - My House (2/18/2023)

  • NV Savart Champagne Premier Cru l'Ouverture Brut - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
    Served blind. April 2015 disgorgement, so either this was held for sale over a few years or my friend held onto it for the same. Pear, lemon rind, leaner pineapple and stony. With air some peach and pear flesh pop through, along with cherries in the finish.
  • 2015 Larmandier-Bernier Champagne Premier Cru Terre de Vertus - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
    Second bottle this month of the June 2021 disgorgement. Served blind, and different from most of the other wines we had for our tasting, I was able to taste this bottle over 3 nights, so I got a real good look at it. On the first day, this showed golden apple, pears and mineral. And despite the sans dose, the wine still reflects plenty of texture. Mint and citrusy finish, along with some brown spice aroma. On the second day, a hint of caramel comes through the aroma. The structure has held up very well, with good presence driven by a cool beam of mineral and acid, along with a kick of ginger and lime zest. The pear has stuck around, helping to frame the balance of the wine. On the third day, with the last few ounces, the wine has really fleshed out and just drinks what I call 'delicious'. Of note, this bottle does not show the mango or green banana quality of the bottle from a few weeks ago.
  • 2015 Déhu Père & Fils Champagne Cuvée La Rue des Noyers Extra Brut Rosé de Saignée - France, Champagne
    My second of two bottles, and in candor, this one tastes as weird and kinda disappointing like the first one back in 2021. Burnish/salmon color, with blood orange, cinnamon and cedar. Universally around the table people just kinda scratched their heads at this wine. It just doesn't reflect any grace or verve, but just comes off with a strange expression.
  • 2002 Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Cuvée Rare - France, Champagne
    Served blind. This showed me a distinctive aroma, what I first called reduction but later arrived at more of a smoky, barrique-driven toastiness. It's very present, even with air when I retasted it the following day. Pear, kumquat (kinda jammy), cut pineapple, green apple and structure. Richens up with air, showing some lime candy chew. On the second day, along with the enduring toasty aroma, there is a green apple/pear pastry tart, which reminds me of the Pop Tarts here in the US I ate as a kid. There is some heft in this wine, and for me it's a bigger, oak-driven style that is like a meal. Haven't had one of these in a while, appreciate Cris W sharing this with us.
  • 2015 Louis Roederer Champagne Brut Nature Cuvée Starck - France, Champagne
    Served blind. Bright and stern with citrus, lime zest, green apple. Finishes with a saline and dried raspberry note, both providing a clean kind of finish. Second bottle in the past month, this bottle was as good as the first.
  • NV Dehours Champagne Œil de Perdrix Extra Brut - France, Champagne
    Served blind. August 2021 disgorgement, base of 2019, made from Meunier and Chard. Faintly rose in color. Strawberry, orange citrus and nice inflection of spice. This is a fresh wine, lively and given the middle weight, I really enjoyed it.
  • NV Domaine Nowack Champagne Assemblage SA - France, Champagne
    Served blind. I have liked and rebought some of the Nowack wines but never got around to trying this one. Disgorged January 2021, 2 grams of dosage, Meunier and Chard, not sure of the base but had reserves from 2012-2017. Spicy and taught, with bitter citrus and a touch of cinnamon. Yellow apple, orange flesh, wet slate, light licorice and saline/drying finish.
  • NV Fallet-Gourron Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra-Brut - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
    Served bind. This seemed richer in style to me, more in the vein of 7-Up in taste, which I don't typically like to drink (that drink for sure, and wines that express that same essence). Pastry tart, candied apple, brown spice and apple pastry. Overall not my style.
  • 2017 Marie Courtin Champagne Eloquence Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut - France, Champagne
    First bottle of the batch I bought of the 2017. I knew the wine (as I provided it) but served it blind. September 2021 disgorgement, 100% Chard, no dosage. Juicy is what I have underscored in my notes. Green apple and lime. When I was tasting it, a sense popped into my awareness of the dessert from my childhood called 'orange creamsicle'. As this warmed up some more in the bottle, it showed a purity, good length and what to me drank really well. Not as structured as the 2014 or 2016.
  • 2014 Larmandier-Bernier Champagne Premier Cru Rosé de Maturation - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
    Served blind from my cellar. Like the bottle we had last month (also blind), there is no disgorgement etching to be found. I do know this is Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc from Vertus, too. Last month's bottle was a bit of a let down, not bad but didn't wow me as I had wanted it to. Yet, the bottle from this past weekend to me showed a bit better than last month's. Peach colored. Red apple, crushed berry, mashed apple, stone fruit (I had this underscored in my notes) and a finish of limey citrus. Delicate in style. I did hang onto the bottle and tasted over three days, too. It didn't hold up to the third day, and like the bottle from last month, I just feel like this vintage is missing a gear.
  • 2012 Laurent-Perrier Champagne Brut Millésimé - France, Champagne
    Served non-blind. Polished, refined style, good density.
  • 2018 Elise Bougy Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Chetillon de Haut - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
    Served blind. Disgorged March 2021, with 1.5 grams of dosage. Concentrated with a floral character, what I listed as lavender in my notes, although Ramon called out 'jasmine' which I thought was an ever better core descriptor. Creamy too. I should have given this another pour later in the day but never got around to it so my notes here aren't great.
  • 2013 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier d'Or - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
    January 2018 disgorgement, from the bottles sourced from B-21 last Fall. The usual 80/20 Chard/Pinot Noir for those who may not know the composition. Kumquat, golden apple, apricot and lime. Finishes with a chalky, tense presence with orange jam/lime. Saved the remainder and enjoyed over two additional days. The wine remained fresh and zesty with green apple, lime and tangerine. Best way I can describe it is from my third day note which says 'concentrated'. There is just a zesty tang that marries to the concentration, creating a long finish. I really like the 2013 Vilmart cuvees, and for those who either don't know the wine well, or have been thinking you want to try it, go grab some of this 2013 GCdO while it is still around. You get 10 years of age already achieved, for a wine that has no signs of reaching its ascent yet.

Posted from CellarTracker

3 Likes
5569

Truett, I do think your thought is correct here. I’ve had 2 bottles of it already this year, and I just resourced more of this wine, as I really dig it. Have you had tried it yet?

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Scott, that is a steep price. Putting the base year aside for a moment, I know that Longitude is still around less than $60 and even some places are offering it in the $60s. Now, as to the base wine, which for me is relevant when we talk about Longitude (and Latitude too), which base did you have? L-B makes it hard to know, but if you can copy down the short bottle etch code when you drink these, then you can know. In part, $80 is context, as the more recent bases of Longitude are more expensive, although you can get 2019 base right now for under $60.

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Frank, I haven’t tried it yet. It seems I should pop one soon.

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Yes, and if you would consider posting a note too, I would appreciate it. I like to see how others are reacting to things i like, it gives good context. Like I have said before, don’t kill this wine with chill. I have found that with Dominique’s wines–both Resonance and Efflorescence–that the red fruit will come through if the temperature is moderated.

5573

Well, I bought both 2015 Efflorescence and the Resonance based on your notes and comments. Actually, I’m a relative novice when it comes to champagne appreciation and have really learned a lot from this thread. I have moved away from traditional champagne stems to larger glasses and am not drinking the wine beer-cold anymore. Baby steps.

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Truett, great to hear that you moved to a larger stem for your Champagne. It’s a journey to learn, and also to figure out what you like. I’m glad the notes helped, this thread too.

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European producers engage with US national importers for a variety of reasons but I think the biggest is to insure that their wines are available in many if not all 50 states and that they do not have to deal with each state in terms of the individual regulations.

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  • 2014 Pertois-Lebrun Champagne Grand Cru Derrière le Mont Aigu N°14 - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (2/22/2023)
    BdB from a .59 hectare plot in Chouilly, disgorged after 6 years in bottle July 2021 with 2 g/l dosage. Vinified 67% in concrete vats and 33% in oak. Initially it’s full on lemon curd acid on the front with a little sweet fruit hiding underneath. After some air, the acid falls to a level where it plays with the sweet pear and bit of creamy texture nicely. This is certainly young but definitely has really good upside potential

Posted from CellarTracker

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Thanks @Curtis_Chen for messaging me about this one

4 Likes
5577

Sadly, this is one of the better priced independent local merchants. Wine, and Champagne in particular, are over priced locally. Sec Wines in Portland is offering it for $63, which seems about right for quality. I have seen Cuvee St. Anne go as high as $80, which is pure madness. Total Wine carries the Mailly Champagnes, which I love, and with their generous coupons I can drink vintage offerings in the low $50’s, and I have been drinking gallons of it. I want to explore more but it is hard to justify some of the price tags.

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This a base year of ‘19, if I am reading it correctly. LON190222.

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Your friend is probably the culprit here since last I heard Savart was still releasing his wines quickly because of cashflow considerations.

You have some cool friends. This was a very nice assortment of Champagne. Cheers!

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I don’t know anything about US. I am talking more of Europe. Italy especially hiked the prices up over the last two years considerably, the speculation is that there are 4 or 5 importers working together. The backlash now, more and more italians are visiting the champagne region and buying there, they have replaced the english contigent which before Brexit was pretty strong. You even have dealers buying with tax and selling cheaper than the importers in Italy.

Over the last two months italain sites have been offering discounts of 30 to 50% to clear stock for the new arrivals. This is something producers do not like seeing.

I think also producers are seeing the benefits of social media etc and to give all your product to one importer and they do not represent you properly or charge inflationary prices is detrimental long term. The grey market did a great job of reducing the champagne prices in Australia, this is well documented. I think we are going to see more of this now here in Europe.

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5581

And that is at least a $10 jump for Sec in the last year or two. It has just been in that period that Frank and I talked about how sub-$50 Longitude might be a thing of the past. :frowning: At these prices, I’d say there are plenty of better BdB buys.

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5582

Double posted;

THE MOST WANTED CHAMPAGNES IN THE WORLD

https://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2023/02/the-most-wanted-champagnes-in-the-world

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5583

For Longitude, I like the 2019 base, much more than 2018 too.

But, save some money and get the 2019 Latitude, which I find to be better than the Longitude in 2019. You can get the 2019 base Latitude for $50 from B-21, and the shipping is a flat $12.

1 Like
5584

Which ones do you like? It’s relatively unexplored territory for me, as I love Pinot heavy Champagne. I have been eyeing Jose Dohndt at $55 or so.

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I love Dhondt, but they are not known for Pinot. They’re located in the Cotes de Blanc.

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I am mostly a newbie too, but I steer towards BdB. Marc Hebrart, Doyard, and Diebolt Vallois are all good values. Laherte Freres also gets lots of love. If you do some digging, I think there have been a ton of posts/threads of favorite/value Champagne.

For more Pinot, I recently posted:

Hure-Freres NV Invitation

Brut, 2018 base, 25-40% reserve wine, 20% Chard, 40% PN, 40% PM. 4g/l. 1/2022 disgorgement. 50 yr old family winery in Montagne de Reims.

This is their entry level “Invitation” wine. Elegant, mild nose, fine mousse that dissipated almost immediately leaving a practically still wine despite a nice pop from the cork. Really nice balance with nothing out of place or standing out for attention. Good acidity level and the dosage seems just right for this wine. It paired perfectly with pan fried Lion’s Mane mushrooms that I grew. I’ll happily drink my other two bottles and would like to try other bottlings from this producer. Indeed a good invitation. A Lopa import.

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5587

Yes, I was eyeing the Dhondt with the intent to try a few more Blanc de Blancs.