June 2018 disgorgement with 1g/L
A richer Cramant, toasty and deep yellow fruits, the depth gives some early mature flavours. Very fine, but rich.
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Ok, here are pictures. Tell me what I am missing. Oh, and the one imported by Envoyer (on left showing front) is what I drank a couple of months ago, while the Skurnick import is my recent buy.
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Apparently, you are not missing anything! The mystery continues.
My bet is that Skurnik’s label is incorrect. If you check C-T’s website, it only shows the Pinot/Chardonnay blend, not solely Pinot.
I bought 6 packs of '16 Couarres from Grand Vin and Spectrum and my bottles are all blends.
I bought the three I just acquired - which are 100% pinot - from Grand Vin as well!
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R. Dumont and Fils: Solera Reserve.
100% Chardonnay from the Cotes Des Bars out of a Solera which is composed of 70% reserve wines going back to 1991. Five years on the lees prior to disgorgement. The resulting wine is full bodied and creamy in the middle, with plenty of nutty maturity, balanced by electric acidity from the younger wine in the blend. Mineral and toasty, with lemon curd, green apple, asian pear, ginger, salt, and a hint of smoke. Finishes very long and very dry. Excellent bottle for the money.
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Sounds great; I’ll keep an eye open for that wine. It seems unusual for the Côte des Bar. I think Chardonnay makes up only 10% or less of the vines planted. That’s Pinot country.
Cheers,
Warren
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NV Camille Savès Champagne Grand Cru Brut Carte Blanche Bouzy - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (10/04/2023)
This is the basic house fizz as I understand it, but it's really rather nice.
75/25 PN/C all from Bouzy GC. No disgorgement or dosage info except "Brut".
The nose is rather forward: sweet lemons, on swirling I get menthol, and a candied note that I'm finding hard to name.
On the palate there's a rich yeasty brioche, then a crisp citrus bite, which lingers on the finish which is quite clean and moderately long. There's quite a rounded mouthfeel but without it getting cloying.
For me this works well when chilled as an aperitif, but as it warms it's better with food. In my case it's going down well with a salmon poké bowl.
At the ~US$35 that I paid this is definitely a repeat buy. (90 points)
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Thanks Donald. Based on this note I found a local shop with this…2018 base and $15-20 more than it should run, but what the heck. Interesting wine, not exactly my style as this was quite oxidative, beyond bruised apple into some sherried notes, but well balanced and moderately rich, with pronounced and very nice earth and mineral notes, and a surprising rounded-red berry finish. Distinctive.
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Last night. Hadn’t opened a bottle in a couple years. Still very edgy. Needs a fair bit of air, but good material still.
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Two nights ago I shared a mag of Roederer Collection 242 (bottle already gone to recycling so no picture, alas) and what a freaking brilliant wine that is in mag. It tasted especially delicious as I got it for £66 (~$83) a pop. That candied fruit character from the reductive perpetual reserve has additional scale and complexity from an extra year in mag. It was a bigger, bolder, more structured wine in mag than in bottle, the dosage seemed lower as well. Flavours seemed longer on the finish and it just seemed more integrated and complete than a bottle of 242 I had recently. Happily, It only took a little bit of help for that mag to be in range of disability benefits - it was good to be able to (mostly) buy the SO a drink. Damned good drink at that!
Recently had a Grand Cru Sillery from Francois Seconde (2018 base vintage, 30% perpetual reserve started in 1982) that was perfectly reasonable and tasted like a cheaper version of Roederer Collection (but with no oaked reserve wines) and, as it was an Ayrton (~$12.50) a pop retail less than Collection, I suppose that’s pretty much what it was. I have a bottle of 2018- and one of 2019-base vintage left and I’ll leave the 2018 for at least 18 months and the 2019-base for 30+ months before I pop, just to do the experiment and see how well these things age.
I always have some Gratien NV knocking about the place. The way it makes you feel as if you have to pluck oak splinters out from your palate after a couple of glasses is a special, and I suppose rather perverse, delight. It ages very well for a NV.
Next through the door (then straight into storage) is Marc Hebrart’s Noces de Craie(Sp?!) 2018. One of my very favourite Champagnes. Should be charged with explendency in 2018. Will have to wait three years or longer before extracting the maximum pleasure from it. It is such a fine wine…
Those are my Champagnes of the moment.
Anon,
Davy.
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Vadin Plateau - Carac’Terre 2016 purchased from garagiste. Garagiste sold it as NV, the Paris wine co label said it was 2017, but the cork was stamped 2016 so I’m going with that. From hautvillers premier cru just outside of cumieres, 70% pn 30% chard with a disgorgement in jan 2021. 60% oak 40% stainless, no dosage, no malo.
All red apple and apple skin with brioche on the nose, and dominant on the palate as well. Theres some lemon and strawberry peeking through, as well as some sort of spice note which I’m going to call cinnamon for the time being. Fine mousse, not overwhelming in the least. Richer and more complex than expected considering the dose/no malo, can definitely stand up to heartier food.
For how hit and miss garagiste can be, this producer has been a really great discovery, and this just adds to the number of enjoyable bottles I’ve had from them. Bummed I don’t have any more atm, if you see a bottle from vadin plateau, buy it. They also have a cute cork+cap with a ladybug on it, big hit with my mom.
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Does anyone have any experience with the Alexandre Lamblot Champagnes? I’ve done a brief search and only seen a couple of mentions here and there - would be grateful for any thoughts!
I drank through a bunch of the '02 Grand Cru Millesime Bouzy back in the day. Those were delicious.
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Alan,
Sorry to hear that the bottle was just good. Did you happen to note if these were Kobrand bottles or direct import? I received a 6-pack from TWC last week and judging by the fact that I could not read the back label because it was in French, I assume these were direct imports. I won’t touch those bottles for some time as they have probably been in transit for a while. The 2 bottles that I have consumed so far and really enjoyed were Kobrand bottles that I picked up at my LWS. My guess is they were imported a while ago in anticipation of the release so less prone to bottle shock.
Jacques Lassaigne: Les Vignes de Montgueaux.
Quite similar to the Dumont I drank the day prior, though this was superior in all respects. How is this only $50?
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Champagne exports to the US up 31% since ‘19. Berserkers responsible for 28% of that. 
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And the prices have gone up 30% Berserkers responsible for 28% of that
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