Where’s the “swoon” emoji?
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I have a single bottle of the '09 Cristal Rosé. After looking at the 2012 and 2013 offerings, I couldn’t pull the trigger despite reading reports here that they’re monumental wines. They’re priced beyond my comfort zone.
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Good to know you have boundaries Warren. 
Alfred Gratien Brut Rose:
Rose Champagne is tricky for me. I am not opposed to them necessarily, but it is rare that I like them more than the blanc version, and they tend to come at a significant price premium. This is an exception. I adore the barrel fermented roundness this brings, the full body, and the electric acidity which really defines this wine. It is quite fruity, with cherry and cranberry on the attack, but the rose fruitiness is rather ephemeral, as the acidity starts to take over in the middle, transitioning to more tart orange and grapefruit flavors, and finishing with acid driven length. Smoke and saline flavors linger. This is a refined (though very muscular) wine of great sensual pleasure and tremendous refreshment value. The mouthwatering finish compels me to chug this. The blanc is tremendous too, but the rose is special. That I scored seven bottles for the absurdly low price of $38.50 each, only adds to the joy.
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I like Mousse, haven’t had that rose, though. Will have to look for it.
-Al
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Bought a bottle of this based on your recommendation. This is my son’s birth year.
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Double posted:
4 Champagnes tasted blind with dinner after a wine tasting event with 1 champagne standout
A friend invited 5 of us to attend a wine tasting promoted by his country club that featured wines from numerous different distributors and wineries, many of them from Santa Barbara County. It was a grand event with many superb wines ranging from sparkling, various whites and reds to dessert wines.
The highlight for me was a 2002 Duval Leroy Brut Millesime which was drinking beautifully and in perfect balance while showcasing ripe and mature mineral laced citrus and stone fruit notes with a coat of honey.
Following 2 hours of tasting, we adjourned into the dining room for dinner. Realizing we would be tasting a lot of wine over a couple of hours, it was decided we would bring champagne as you can never have too much and it goes down so easy. There were 4 bottles in all and true to our preference and Monday night dinner group MO that 4 of us are a part of, we tasted them blind.
Here’s some notes:
2016 CHAMPAGNE LE MESNIL SUBLIME BLANC de BLANC GRAND CRU BRUT LE MESNIL SUR OGER- blind; medium yellow color; the nose suggested something pretty bold and forward that will include mineral and licorice stone fruit and jujube [as in red cherry]; the taste had more of the same plus some citrus in the form of lemon and orange zest; it was full bodied and full on expressive but tempered with a nice creamy mousse; it finished impressively with layered depth and richness. A good QPR here.
2011 TAITTINGER COMTES de CHAMPAGNE BLANC de BLANC- blind; last tasted 8/17/23 with consistent notes; after a slow, not so impressive start initially, I rated it just bit better than the ’16 Sublime, but after 15 minutes or so, it expanded and opened up and gave aromas of fresh citrus fruit and mild hints of toast, ginger and apple which continued on as the citrus became more distinctly lemon zest with a touch of lime; it had a soft, frothy mousse which added to its allure and finished with grace and finesse contributing to its profound elegance and balance.
NV VILMART & CIE CUVEE RUBIS BRUT ROSE- poured blind, but the only rose of 4 champagnes; the nose was a wowzer with loads of strawberry and some red cherry and blood orange that were accented with spice, nutmeg and pepper; in short, it was strawberry short cake in liquid form with a whole lot more going on; it was delightfully rich and super tasty and yet had nice balance and a frothy feel good mousse which made for an extra special treat; it is comprised of 90% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay and was disgorged 12/17 at 9 gpl; no ML; purchased about 4 years ago.
I made a mental comparison to the vintage Vilmart Rose Emotion which is absolutely fabulous and I was surprised at how close this bottle approximated that superb wine as previous ones, although very good, fell short.
2008 H. GOUTORBE SPECIAL CLUB AY GRAND CRU BRUT- blind, 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay; the first fermentation is done exclusively in stainless steel; our bottle was disgorged in 2020; the color was yellow gold and the nose offered pleasant honeyed butterscotch and mango with a touch of baked apple; on the palate, additional notes of ginger and honeysuckle came in while being delivered in a creamy, almost honey like textured medium; this was full bodied and fully expressed while sporting bright acidity and a lingering finish; the perfect end to a wondrous wine tasting, dinner and evening with good friends.
Cheers,
Blake
@Steve_Nordhoff @Jon_Lawrence @Chris_Seiber @Mikael_OB @Warren_Taranow @Viet_Ly
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2002 Dom Perignon before Big Brothers Big Sisters charity gala, where our firm won an award for our decade-long partnership with BBBS, for which I am extremely proud. The wine was in very good shape. Maybe not the best, freshest bottle of 2002 I’ve had, but still excellent. This was a lovely golden color with a lovely, spicy nose of lemon, ginger, apple, toast, nice leesy richness on the back end. Acidity is solid on this wine, and it’s nicely balanced. I do think 2002 is a lovely vintage of Dom Perignon.
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Champagne tasting over the weekend.
Paul Lanois BdB - 2019 base 60% stainless 24mo on lees 1g/l
A mineral, fresh and zippy BdB. Lemon, green apple.
Bollinger - typical bolly nose, to me this was a bit fresher and less autolytic than I typically get with Bollinger. I believe it was a recent disgorgement, so that could be why.
2009 Billecart Louis Salmon - 11 years on the lees
More open than the 2008 that I had this past spring at Billecart, but still very young. Lemon zest, mineral. Something about this cuvee there’s so much power and tension that carries it along your palate and I really enjoy it.
2016 Marie Courtin Efflorescence - no dosage,100% Pinot Noir really fun and interesting. On the nose white flowers, and an herbal note and then on the palate it’s all bright red fruit.
Mousse Eugene MV - 2.5 g/l dosage 2020 base along with the 2 perpetual reserves from 2003-2020 that he keeps. 80% Meunier 20% PN. Another fun one, pleasurable to drink and I kept coming back to it. A bit more weighty and vinous.
Mousse Eugene rose MV - copy and paste the notes from the above wine, except 2% more Meunier. Fresh raspberries, bready. Also big and bold, persistent mousse.
All tasty, I enjoy the Billecart and it was nice to finally try Marie Courtin and Mousse’s wines.
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Before I write the tasting notes in might help to give a bit of context to this producer. Aurore Casanova comes from a champagne producer family, she was a professional ballerina at the highest level. When her balerina career was finished she returned to the Champagne and wanted to continue the family tradition of producing champagne. She worked under Anselme Selosse gaining experience before starting seriously at the family business. It is my feeling with such producers not starting from scratch but taking over a family business, one should wait three years before the influence can really be felt. William Kelley tasted here a few years ago and spoke of the potential but never followed it up. So now such a time has elapsed. We could have started before with her but the champagnes were interesting but not quite where we thought they should be. Earlier this year we visited the winery and could have started but were told to wait until November for the new releases as they were at a different level. When we were at the cellar we saw barrels with the name Prevost on them, apparently he stores barrels here and gives a bit of advice.
Normally I never try champagne so close to the degorement with the exception of Agrapart, these were degorged in October this year, but in this case my curiosity was just too great. The Aure is the entry level champagne an assemblage 45% Pinot Noir, 45% Chardonnay and 10% Meunier with 35 percent reserve wines. Firstly this producer is not in the 'Selosse school of winemaking, this is not an oxaditive champagne, in fact both my wife ad I could just not categorise this champagne, just so individual. There is an intensity and coiledness, this is as tight as a drum, the champagne is laser sharp and precise, sort of a hybrid Lamy, Emanue lBrochet and Guiborat, there is an intense lemon peels, bergamotte aromatic, spring herbs, estragon especially, the champagne has great persistence and balance. Without food this was champagne was exremely challenging, with crespelle with comté. parmesan bechamel and roasted, aubergine and dried tomato paste, a curious combination but in terms of umami incredible, this champagne jumped up a gear, the laser like precision softened, the champagne open up a bit. I would say if you like Hubert Lamy’s La Princée then you are going to love this champagne. I would need to taste it in 4 or 5 months to validate this judgement, 93 points with potential for more. This is a 100% food champagne not an apertif champagne, alone this champagne is challenging, with food brilliant.
Champagne Aurore Casanova Puiseulx Pinot Noir. An assemblage of 2019 and 2020, degorged in October 2023. Dosage 0,75g/l.
I don’t know what to write about this champagne, I was so curious and opened it but at the moment this is hundred percent potential. Their are faint glimpses of the pinot noir arömatics but they are fleeting, what comes across is the sheer power and linear precision of this champagne, the aromatics are so diffuse, there is wood but one feels this will be devoured easily, it would be easy to write red fruits etc, I feel they are there, more in the ripe strawberry direction in the scale of red fruits, there is also orange peel, and but it is way too early to be precise.
What one feels is the massive structure, the embryonic minerality and really nicely balanced acidity. Everything tells me this is a big champagne, just patience is required. Also with this producer degorgment is everything, I know the previous champagnes and they are not at the level of the October 2023 degorgement. This is a 95-96 point canditate in my book, just do not drink now, wait at least 4-5 months and with food, a 24 month old comté softened the edges. As champagnes go, this is about as close as it gets to Emanuel Brochet, there are differences, but if you want to know what Brochet is about, this comes close, such intensity and precison is rarely found in the grower champagne scene. Excuse the clichée. this is as if Lamy were to make champagne.
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2012 Remy Massin & Fils Champagne Millésimé - France, Champagne (9/2/2023)
– uncorked immediately prior to first taste –
– tasted non-blind over 2.5 hrs. –
– 60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir –
NOSE: apples apples apples apples, and apples.
BODY: medium-light bodied.
TASTE: apple juice; richly-flavored; this bottle isn’t showing much age yet (although a bottle I would have two months after this one would show a little); some underlying chalkiness/tannin; perhaps not very complex, but delicious nonetheless. Overall, I love it.
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We had this recently as well. Fantastic wine, and a similar experience to yours, with perhaps a faint bit of cheese rind on opening as well. It was wonderfully tranquil and layered, easy to get lost in.
Another new wine for me from Lacuisse Frères this evening: this time their 100% meunier brut nature. For me this is a pretty good expression of the fruit and, apparently, the minerality of the terroir. It’s going down rather nicely with some soft cheese and charcuterie and is a repeat buy for me at ~US$39.
Click here to expand my TN
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NV Lacuisse Frères Champagne Premier Cru Blanc de Noirs Minéral Brut Nature - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru (14/11/2023)
Essentially no information on the bottle or website about this wine beyond 100% meunier, and Brut Nature.
It is, however, a very nice bottle of fizz: the nose has orchard fruit, but also a strong, fresh saline/mineral aspect to it; the palate starts strongly with those crisp orchard fruits, but proceeds quite rapidly to a minerally dryness on the palate. The finish is quite short, but clean. The dosage seems well-judged: plenty of fruit, not austere.
Overall this is a very good wine as an aperitif, and is also working for me with some charcuterie and soft cheese. I guess it is classical 100% meunier. The bottle suggests very specifically pairing with "fillet mignon de veau et gnocchis à l'orange" but sadly I was fresh out of that.
I can see myself getting a couple more of these at the ~US$39 that I paid. (90 points)
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And a second fizz that is really very nice (amongst many different batches): a Tristan Hyest Bord de Marne Extra Brut.
Click here to expand my TN
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NV Tristan Hyest Champagne Bord de Marne Extra Brut - France, Champagne (14/11/2023)
Again another new batch: 40/30/40 PM/PN/C; 50% from solera; disgorged 7/2021, dosage 2.5g/l.
For me this batch is much more ready to go straight from opening. The nose is very open : green fruit, minerals, saline.
On the palate there's apples, a little citrus, a load of slatey minerality. Very clean and more-ish.
For me this is currently one of the better batches of this wine, and very decent QPR at the ~US$34 that I paid. (91 points)
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David,
A simplified definition is that a ‘gray market wine’ is a wine that doesn’t come in during a normal winery to consumer importation path where you have an official ‘defined’ importer who will bring a wine into a country/market. With an official importer, you normally can gain an understanding of the chain of custody from winery to seller. An official importer doesn’t mean that a wine is handled properly, but it does give you a way to understand how the wine is handled so you know what to avoid which mitigates risk. Gray market wines do not always have this traceability from winery to seller. The wines may have been handled perfectly, but maybe not as how the bottles got from the winery to the seller is not always defined. The wines may have exchanged hands multiple times before they arrived at the seller. Gray market wines can often offer lower prices as the overhead on the gray market wines is often much lower than wines that go through the official importation/distribution channels. Depending on whether corners were cut in handling and chain of custody, this can be viewed as good or bad. In general, gray market wines carry more unknown or risk unless you have done your research to understand how they got from the winery to the seller.
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true indeed. 92 Leflaive grand cru whites were baked as they traveled cross country in a non refrigerated truck. I saw them being unloaded and then refused at Wine Exchange years ago. From the importer.
Thanks for the detailed info!
I guess most of the champagnes I consume would qualify as “gray market” since I buy mostly from the UK / EU and services like Connoisseur International bring them in to the US. I do this because I can usually find what I want cheaper and more easily abroad (especially when it comes to older vintages). For example, I’m not aware of any US shop that has the kind of selection as the Finest Bubble in terms of having consistent vertical vintage stock across many producers.
Leclerc Briant 1er Cru Extra-Brut
70% PN, 15% PM and 15% Chard.
Vendanges 2015, 3 g/l, Disgorged December 2021.
I don’t drink Leclerc Briant often enough. I always like what I get from them. This is showing a deep golden color:
Before white background (e.g. cheap paper towel):
With paper towel:
Love that color! Deep layered nose with pastry, brown butter, red apple, strawberry, cherry, licorice and cardamome in pretty much that exact sequence. Bold, round mouthfeel with the citrusy acidity appearing as a tingling on entry and building up presence all the way to being assertive on the finish. This is showing great poise and balance and could put a lot of more expensive Champagne to shame. Great stuff.
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David,
Without getting into some of the gray market discussions that can come up about legalities, territorial rights, official channels, etc… the key is to trust the source of your wine and whether they stand behind what they are selling or are being very clear about buy at your own risk.