Nicolas Maillart Platine Premier Cru, 57% PN, 28% CH, 15% M, disg. 4/22, dosage 3.5 g/L, 70% in barrel, 30% in stainless
Nice nose of citrus, yellow fruits, and red apple skin. Palate has lemon, green pear, yellow apple, hazelnut, and bread. Has good balance of fruit and toast, wonder if a tad smaller dosage would give it a bit more zip. Much better than the champagne earlier this week.
Francis Orban Extra Brut. 100% Meunier. 2017 base, bottled in March 2018 and disgorged July 2020 w/ 3g/L dosage. Poured a pale straw color with a moderate bead. Autolytic on the nose, but that quickly gives way to bright citrus and apricot. On the palate, citrus and minerality; warming and with some air the minerality becomes more pronounced. It is crisp and refreshing, providing pleasing but not bracing acidity; the dosage feels right. All in all, not bad though not extraordinary.
Well, there you go! I had to pause for a minute as I thought this was the new Blanc de Noir they’re making. I then blew up the photo larger and see it’s the CdA. This stuff has become expensive, I buy it every release but it’s getting up there…glad you liked it, Rat.
I think you know this already (?) but look for the etching code that is on the glass. It will give you the disgorgement info if you want it.
I know. I saw this wine for around $85 on another site over the last few days, yet it’s still doable for under $60. It really is a terrific wine.
We had a Laurent-Perrier NV brut La Cuvee. Smelled creamy from the jump and was very much so. My partner said it was “like drinking brie” in the most complimentary fashion. I’d say it had an elegant softness which we both loved. I’d like to find it for under $60(US) but strong contender to have on hand at all times. I’d give it 16/20
Also had Vilmart & Cie, NV Grand Cellier. It was clearly well made but had a bit much acid tones for my liking. A bit like sharp lemon that was too much for me. It was still good but just not what I’m looking for, maybe if I had it with food, but I like a champagne to savor on its own, not just play second fiddle. And at $85(US) it’s way too expensive for me. 13/20
Celebrated my fiancé’s birthday last night by opening our first bottle of Ulysse Collin!
2017 Ulysse Collin Champagne Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut Les Pierrières
(Disgorged 2/16/2022, bottle # 1865)
TN: Notes of yellow apple, honey, beeswax on the nose.
Granny smith like acidity, but notes of yellow apple, pastry, light oak on the palate. Light minerality.
I’ve read notes on previous vintages having “laser focused” acidity and I understand the reference now. The acidity does seem shocking upon first sip, but felt more balanced as the bottle opened up.
Wasn’t sure what to expect with all the hype around UC. It was a interesting bottle for sure and piqued my interest in trying more of the range, but given the current pricing / availability in the U.S. it seems unlikely we’ll get an opportunity.
Though, I did notice that Les Maillons was added to the bottle list at our local jazz bar (Solar Myth) here in Philly. So, maybe it’s just more retail availability? PA’s archaic liquor control board certainly doesn’t help on that front!
Over the last few. years, we’ve moved away from Pinot based Champagne in favor of Blanc de Blanc, but man is this really good. Popped and poured while slumming at the local soft serve place for Gina’s birthday, which just so happens to make an amazing Lobster Roll and fried whole belly clams, this 2012 Comtesse is an absolute firecracker. Punchy red fruits, tingly acidity, this is the perfect foil for junky fried food. Couldn’t have had a better night!
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who loves this wine! And the 08 for that matter 
NV Vouette & Sorbée Fidele
With some air, a nice sweet cherry note coming through to add to the lemon soda.
I’ve only had a vintage, or two, but I like that wine. Paul Bara for those who don’t recognize the bottling.
-Al
06 was particularly good, and Envoyer sold it hard for a while. I’d love to find more…
NV Paul Bara + NV rosé both good values, too.
Besserat de Bellefon Cuvee 1843:
10 years ago, I decided to change careers, broke up with my long term girlfriend (and got stuck with the pricey lease on our swanky apartment), and was living on mac and cheese and gas station burritos, thanks to a humiliating and low paying transitional job. By suffering the indignities of gas station burritos (ok, I loved it) I was able to afford my lone weekly luxury: the $39.99 Cuvee de Moines. It was the only bottle I could afford at the nearest shop. I daydreamed about the bottle all week long. My station in life improved dramatically over the next couple of years and I forgot all about that wine. When I saw this bottle in the locked display case at Total Wine, I had to have it.
This is a multi-vintage blend of 2008. 2009, and 2012. It’s 45% Pinot, 45% Chard, and 10% Meunier. Dosage is 6 grams per liter and the wine forgoes malolactic fermentation.
It’s round and full on entry, with an obvious oak presence and barrel spice. it’s full of lemon curd, creamy meringue, cherry, asian pear, and citrus. Long, tart finish with smoke and salt. It is quite similar in character to the Lanson Noble I drank a couple weeks prior, though a bit more brawny and inelegant. It’s more complex, at least at their respective development levels, than the Noble was.
This is a very good bottle, it lacks the excellence I was hoping for, but I certainly don’t regret the impulsive splurge. It was very expressive as soon as I popped the cork, and it didn’t evolve much over the four hours it took me to drink it. I am not sure what, if anything, that means about it’s ability to improve with age, but thought it worth mentioning.
Paul Gosset Summer didn’t have the zing of spring, a bit brooding, and just a little appley.
80% 2018, all PN from Ay, 2g/L, 1527 bottles.
2009 Vilmart CdC- been sitting on my stash for a while. This was in a great spot. Generous yellow fruited nose and palate, but the trademark structure and acidity were there on the back end. Delicious. Year in year out, this is one of the best bottlings in Champagne.
@Steve_Nordhoff
I was just eyeing a bottle of the ‘09 last night before choosing the Emotion. I’m happy to hear it’s drinking well. I’ve found Vilmart’s CdC takes longer than any of my champagnes to hit an ideal drinking window. Even the 2009 was tight a year or two ago. For most other champagnes it was a precocious vintage.
Cheers
Warren
I hate missing out on discussions like this and here I am on Monday morning, 4 days behind, desperately trying to catch up in my favorite thread.
I agree that there are differences between sweetness and dosage, but adding dosage is akin to a reintroduction of residual sugar. Sugar combats the perception of acidity. Extremely ripe fruit tends to begin with lower levels of acidity and so ripe fruit shows sweeter even in dry wines in which all sugar has been converted into alcohol. Have a leaner wine and add sugar and you get a different result but with some similarities in that the residual sugar mitigates the perception of strong acids. This isn’t really an issue of debate, and it’s a technique frequently used in cooking. Add an acid component to balance sweetness. Add a sweet component to balance acidity.
While all of the things you’ve mentioned affect perceptions of sweetness, dosage still does play a role. Take the same wine and bottle one zero dosage and bottle the other 11g/l and one will taste richer and sweeter. That of course does not mean that a very ripe wine bottled at 3g/l cannot taste richer and sweeter than a leaner no malo reductively produced steely champagne bottled at 8g/l. And on that, I agree that one cannot simply point to dosage and say this shoe will fit.
What I can say is that having had dozens of zero dosage champagnes, the style is not typically my preference. Perhaps it will be with global warming. I can also say that a wine like the recent 2018 Ultramarine Heintz Rose I had, which came across as over-ripe, unctuous, and sweet-tasting, was way over the top.
The upside of champagne (and other sparkling wine) is that there is an incredibly broad spectrum of producers and styles. Sometimes I want Bollinger, sometimes Gosset. Sometimes a low/no dosage Marie Courtin, sometimes a lush Billecart-Salmon.
For a fun note, 2008 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne is bottled at nearly 10g/l, but is at 3.04 PH…
looking at this debate, it seems there’s a tendency to oversimplify and equate dosage in champagne to the addition of residual sugar, which has the potential to seed misconceptions. Wereally need to dismantle this overgeneralization to truly understand the subtleties involved, especially the Maillard reaction.
Yes, dosage—a mix of sugar and wine added after disgorgement—brings a degree of sweetness to champagne. Yet, to parallel it directly with residual sugar isn’t entirely apt. Residual sugar is the leftover unfermented sugar in a wine, often leading to a sweeter profile. Conversely, dosage, added after the fermentation process, is more about instilling balance and amplifying flavor than merely sweetening.
The sugar in the dosage isn’t just a sweetening agent; it also significantly influences the final taste and character of the champagne. It aids in tempering acidity, highlighting certain flavors, and enhancing the champagne’s body and mouthfeel.
Not to forget, the frequently neglected Maillard effect is a crucial aspect of the champagne aging process, which dosage helps to catalyze. This chemical reaction leads to an array of flavor compounds, infusing the champagne with depth and complexity.
So again, though dosage does add sugar to the champagne, it’s misleading to directly equate it with residual sugar or sweetness. Its role is far more nuanced—it shapes the flavor profile of the champagne, balances its acidity, and sparks the Maillard reaction, contributing to the complexity of the final champagne.
Cool post, Warren. The recent 2014 that was served to us blind was excellent. If that is a predictor of the next bottle, perhaps even yours too, then I’m thrilled. I hope to pick up my 2014s this week, as I think they are here.
Side note…working last night and tonight on a bottle of NV VIlmart Grande Reserve. Last time I had it was when I visited Laurent in May 2022, and before that it had been some time. So, bought one recently as I had forgot about it, and particularly the reminder here from you about the usage of Pinot Noir by Vilmart. The GR is a clear version (no vin rouge), so it was enlightening again last night to taste Pinot Noir (with some Chard) and remember that Vilmart can make a damn good Pinot Noir. Finishing tonight, will jam a note up later. $42 for it. Still amazes me how the price of GR has not moved much in the past several years.
