A perfect place for it. Let the corpulent bottle strain someone else’s racks.
I just don’t put Champagne in racks, problem solved 
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Warren
I had the Guiborat '17 Prisme with the 2008 Pierre Moncuit extra brut and the Guiborat was preferred 4-0. I showed Frederic the wine searcher price and he couldn’t believe that it was cheaper than he could get it for directly.
Jerry
Of all of Bedel’s champagnes, the one I struggle with is the Origin’Elle. However, the new release, which is 100% Meunier based on the 2017 vintage and degorged in July 2021, is a standout. In the past, this champagne seemed a bit jagged, but this version is rich and creamy. The overwhelming aroma is unsweetened custard with shavings of black truffles, making it an umami-packed champagne. The acidity and mineral notes are subdued but present to balance out the richness. The long period between degorgement and release really benefits this champagne, giving it more depth and structure. Money is not a problem when it comes to Champagne, I wish more producers would do this.
Living in the northern Black Forest, options to buy ingredients that would be considered daily staples in a city are limited. Today, our supermarket had portobello mushrooms available for the first time in seven years since we have been living here. Braised with walnut vinegar, garlic, rosemary, sage, and oregano, the intense umami flavor of the portobellos pairs really well with this outstanding champagne
I agree with this as well. It’s consistent with my original notes on both the 2008 vintage and rose.
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That sounds delicious! What a good idea!
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@Warren_Taranow Saw this at Hitime today. Did not realize that the 1911 comes packaged this way. is this standard for them, or something special?
@Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m they also had the Mousse Les Vignes de Mon Village with the 2020 base. If I have time I will slide over there tomorrow, get it, open it for dinner this weekend and see how it contrasts with the 2018 and 2019 bases, since those are fresh in my senses. Not sure if Cedric made a 2021 base or not…have to ask him.
3 Likes
I’ll be curious to hear your impressions, Frank.
… Hi Time — man, it’s been what feels like forever since I’ve been in there. These days, I assume entry is more dangerous than it’s ever been more for me …
That’s standard for the 1911 as far as I know. The two bottles I’ve had of it came in that packaging.
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@Frank_Murray_III , when I buy a case, they come like that. If I buy a few bottles and have them shipped, it’s just the paper wrapping. They’re shipped from France wrapped in straw.
Cheers
Warren
Guiborat Prisme.17 Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra-Brut disgorged December 2021
Intense lemon and lemon oil with notes of green apple, ginger, and unripe pear. Fairly aggressive mousse with nice balance, acidity, and weight. Excellent value.
4 Likes
My first time trying this was at Eleven Madison Park in 2009. It was on the list and I loved it. I immediately bought a few cases from the Wine Library and it was like night and day, completely different, did not care for it. Somehow, Ian and I figured out it was a different disgorgement/blend. They came in the same straw wrapper back then. Does the booklet have a vintage reference in it?
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A fun night at Da Michele in the West Village this past Thursday. The WOTN and frankly my WOTY so far was an '08 Bollinger VVF. It was just so rich and yet so fresh at the same time. We also had '90 LGD from magnum and '04 from 3L, the latter generously brought by the head of Veuve US. I have had the '90 before from magnum and it is a really nice bottle. The '04 was another one of those '04’s that I have really enjoyed recently, the others being Comtes, Cristal and DP P2. It has started to pick up some aged notes, but it still has the cold vintage freshness. Interesting to note that I had the '96 LGD the night before and that was past its prime, happens a lot to me with '96.
We also had '11 and '15 disgorgements of Selosse Substance. I appreciate that other folks really love these, but they are not my style. The person who sat on my right is from Spain and she remarked that they reminded her of Manzanilla and I nodded my head in agreement (I had to Google it on my way home to find out what that was).
We had 164 and 166 Krug GC. The 166 was nice, but the 164 was on another level and so completely different than '08 vintage Krug. Probably the best bottle of GC I have ever had.
There was a bottle of Michel Fallon Ozanne that was fresh with white fruits, not as oxidative as I was expecting, as well as a steely and precise '14 Savart Expression.
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After that killer bottle of '08 VVF, I figured I would check in one of my '08 favs last night, Cristal. I could tell the moment I poured it this was not going to be a stellar bottle. The nose was muted and the palate was flat. I did not sense any cork but it was subpar. I did not mention anything to my wife, but when she tasted it she immediately said this Champagne is flat.
Huge thanks to @Frank_Murray_III for organizing this event at his house, and for the delicious Mexican food spread that was waiting for us upon our arrival! I’ve been wanting to attend one of these so badly, and my schedule finally allowed me the opportunity. It was tons of fun seeing familiar faces again, and meeting new folks, too. Like Frank, I feel compelled to give a huge proviso for my TNs here: we went through this lineup at a pace that was breakneck for me. I’m normally a slow taster. The blind tasting portion of this, from start to finish, was probably the amount of time I tend to take per TN at home (2 – 3 hrs). I have no doubt some of my impressions of these wines would be meaningfully different had I more time with them. These TNs are brief snapshots in time, and shouldn’t be taken as anything more.
That proviso aside, there were a few assessments and takeaways I feel pretty confident in: both Laval wines had a family resemblance on the Nose (a bitter, Campari, thing), and it didn’t speak to me in positive fashion; the '14 Vadin-Plateau was my favorite of the day, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it the “best” (not sure which one would get my vote there — maybe the '00 Ployez?); both Ployez I found very enjoyable, making me think I need to investigate this well-known producer some more; aged Veuve apparently has a tendency to go buttermilky on the Nose; I believe the Ruppert-Leroy was flawed; and between the two Mousse, I preferred the perpetuelle with the '19 included.
2009 Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Champagne Premier Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut Fleuron - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru (5/13/2023)
From mag… Yellow apple on the Nose. Bready, with high acidity, and something a touch bitter/green on the palate.
2000 Ployez-Jacquemart Champagne Liesse d’Harbonville - France, Champagne (5/13/2023)
Tasted blind. Nose is strongly suggestive of a wine with meaningful age. Palate is fruity, but dry; relaxed; high acidity; warm spices; a bit watery on the finish, but this is a very minor quibble. Overall, this is excellent and it was one of my favorites of the tasting.
NV Benoît Lahaye Champagne Blanc de Noirs - France, Champagne (5/13/2023)
Nov. '21 disgorgement
Tasted blind. Light; floral; interesting; very dry; a bit spicy; not much action on the finish. I liked it, but this is probably one of many wines that suffered from the break-neck pace at which we swept through the lineup.
2008 André Clouet Champagne Un jour de 1911… - France, Champagne (5/13/2023)
2008 base
Tasted blind
Bready; spicy; tasted aged; came across as Pinot Meunier.
2008 Veuve Clicquot Champagne Brut Vintage - France, Champagne (5/13/2023)
Tasted blind. A bit lactic/buttermilky on the Nose (of all wines I’ve had, it was a 1998 La Grande Dame that most showed this characteristic — interesting to see this might be a house thing). Came across as dry and crisp with high acidity; a touch woodsy; short finish. Did not like it — the Nose really ruined it for me.
2004 Hugues Godmé Champagne Grand Cru Millésimé - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (5/13/2023)
Tasted blind. Odd. Woodsy. Light sherry notes; aged(?); short finish.
2008 Pommery Champagne Grand Cru Royal - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (5/13/2023)
Tasted blind. A bit thin. Middle-of-the-road. Didn’t really move me one way or the other.
NV Georges Laval Champagne Extra Brut Garennes - France, Champagne (5/13/2023)
Tasted blind.
7/04/22 disgorgement
The aromatics on this were beyond weird: minty; astringent red fruits (strongly reminiscent of Campari). Tastes like cider. I like it, but was fairly convinced it wasn’t Champagne. I wasn’t even sure it was wine, quite frankly. Weird weird weird!
NV Ruppert-Leroy Champagne Cuvée 11, 12, 13 Brut Nature - France, Champagne (5/13/2023)
Tasted blind. Really weird Nose here: cereal; moussy; canned green beans. Don’t like the aromatics at all. Very dry palate; underbrushy. Not my thing at all.
2014 Vadin-Plateau Champagne Grand Cru Heritage - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (5/13/2023)
Tasted blind. Smells aged and spicy. Strong, bouncy, acidity. Tastes well-aged. Fruit presentation is dense, and tastes as if it’s Chard., or Chard.-dominated; little bit of woodsy and sherry character. Drink Now. Excellent. My favorite of the tasting for drinking today, notwithstanding my surprise a '14 tasted this advanced — I sooner would have guessed '04 than '14.
NV Georges Laval Champagne Premier Cru Brut Nature Cumières - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru (5/13/2023)
Tasted blind
7/04/22 disgorgement
Very weird Nose: all I wrote was “bitter bitter”. Weird taste, too: medicinal/bitter. Not much finish. Did not like it.
NV Edmond Barnaut Champagne Grand Cru Grande Réserve Brut - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (5/13/2023)
Tasted blind. Nose was super skunky. Dry on the palate, with good acidity, but not much finish. Ultimately, a second bottle of this was opened, which confirmed suspicions that bottle number one was flawed somehow. Second bottle was much better, but I didn’t take a note.
2019 Marguet Champagne Grand Cru Shaman 19 - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (5/13/2023)
Tasted blind. Vanilla oak and soap on the Nose. Underbrushy, with a hint of cinnamon, on the palate; hollow finish.
NV Moussé Fils Champagne Les Vignes De Mon Village (perpetual 2014 - 2018) - France, Champagne (5/13/2023)
Underbrushy. Rich on the palate – came across as almost sickly-sweet, which I have a hard time explaining given the zero dosage. This came across as “more Pinot Meunier” than did the '19 perpetuelle, which was overall brighter than this one.
NV Pierre Gerbais Champagne (perpetual 2011 - 2018) Champ Viole - France, Champagne (5/13/2023)
Tasted blind. Medicinal aromatics — smells like it’s going to be light on the palate, which it was. Probably would have benefited from more air and attention.
NV Moussé Fils Champagne Les Vignes De Mon Village (perpetual 2014 -2019) - France, Champagne (5/13/2023)
Light Nose. Brighter, and more Chardonnay-like, than the '18 perpetuelle. I liked this, and preferred it to the '18 perpetuelle — both when tasting blind, and side-by-side after the reveals.
2008 Ployez-Jacquemart Champagne Extra Brut Vintage - France, Champagne (5/13/2023)
Tasted blind. Light Nose. Tastes aged. I liked it, and wish I would have spent more time with it.
2016 Cabot Vineyards Blanc de Blanc Brut Zero Anderson Valley - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (5/13/2023)
Tasted blind. Light, lime water, Nose. Very dry on the palate, with good acidity. On the lean side. Feels like it might flesh-out a bit with a little age, and that would be beneficial if it happens. Overall, I liked this.
2015 Pierre Gerbais Coteaux Champenois Rouge - France, Champagne, Coteaux Champenois (5/13/2023)
From memory, this spoke strongly of cool climate — very savory, pine needles, cool red/purple berries. Not soft/thick/gloppy but rather stern and fresh. I liked it, but fear it likely costs more than I’d be willing to pay.
2018 Halcon Vineyards Mourvèdre - USA, California, North Coast, Yorkville Highlands (5/13/2023)
Tasted non-blind. As before, this wine overtly savory and delicious. Not-at-all your typical big burly Mourvedre, this is rather lithe and fresh. Deeply structured. This continued to improve through Day 5. Drinkable now (preferably with lots of air), but so much in reserve for the future. Hold.
2019 Domaine Chambeyron-Manin Côte-Rôtie Côte Brune - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie (5/13/2023)
Very savory and olive-dominated; excellent. Revisited on Day 2: lots of kalamata olive on the savory, purple-fruited, Nose. Blind, I’d probably call St. Joseph – a very serious one – tannic and savory. Tasty now, but clearly best to Hold.
5 Likes
I actually havent found this objectively terrible. We had a good bottle last week and bought more. I’d love to know who is producing this for them
Same. Would love to join.
Tsarine Cuvee Orium:
I kissed a lot of frogs at the Champagne section of Total Wine. Finding this made it all worth it. Remarkable consistency from bottle to bottle. Very ripe fruit which delivers a full bodied, broad and mouth filling texture. Bright citrus flavors of lime, grapefruit and a really seductive mandarin orange note. The richness is balanced by cutting acidity which lightens up the palate and positively demands another sip. Well integrated toasty notes from four years on the lees. This is a sashimi wine par excellence, but was fantastic with fish and chips tonight.
Equal parts Chardonnay, Meunier, and Pinot Noir. 3 grams per liter dosage. Excellent value at the coupon price.
3 Likes
It is objectively terrible. My (slight) enjoyment of the bottle should not be taken as an endorsement. It’s made by Jannison, not an estate I know anything about. I sure hope their labled wines are better. I can’t imagine why this gets the positive press it gets. So many 10-15 dollar bubblies are better. Bouvet, Mumm Napa, I think the mediocre Prosecco Costco sells is superior. I won’t be purchasing this again.
I dont know, i am super picky and can’t drink their prosecco. But found our kirkland bottle shockingly drinkable…. Will try again with a more critical eye, and if all else fails, maybe some OJ