Yoo GA is so good.
You’re not wrong there. xD
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I haven’t had it side by side with the Cristal, so I’m not sure I can be that definitive. But the Bolly is so damn good, it is impossible to keep my hands off it; I really wish I had bought more than a case.
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I think GA has more flavor for me. I haven’t had these side by side, but from memory I was wow’d by GA and the acidity intensity was a bit more sharp.
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The Brut Nature is also really good. A real weight and intensity in the mid palate married with racy acidity. Great QPR
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I was really impressed by the evolution of GA at a recent tasting, to the point at the end of the evening it was evenly matched with the 02 BS Nicolas Francois and the 04 Bolly RD. Such an amazing wine!
We had a 2012 Bollinger GA at a late lunch this afternoon and it was glorious. Tight and mute to start, but it immediately started to put on weight, and grew more complex with every glass. Is GA the best value buy among the grand marques tête cuvees?
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The '12 GA rosé is really good too.
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I hope Friday and '13 vintage does not equate to bad luck. Drinking one the '13 Comtes tonight. Not planning on popping the Salon anytime soon.
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So much positivity for Bollinger… I had so many bad ones a decade ago I’m not really inspired to start again. Bad decision?
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For me '96 was all acid and '02 GA and VVF were oxidative flops. Since then I have really enjoyed '04/'12/'14 GA rosé and '08/'14 GA. '08 VVF is killer, but sooo expensive. I actually enjoy the current release of the Special Cuvée, which I am typically not a fan of.
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How well does Special Cuvee age? I have several bottles in the cellar that have been camping out for three years or so as part of an experiment on aging NV champagne. I presume they will hold up quite well, but I’m more curious as to others’ experiences as the SC gains bottle age.
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Really looking forward to your notes on this. Hope it treats you well!
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Are people similarly impressed with a GA rosé and the GA, or is one of them typically more highly regarded?
The couple bottles of GA Rose I’ve had have blown me away. I’ve never tried the regular GA, but I have some on pre-arrival.
It has a reputation of aging well. Several times over the past 15 years or so I’ve stashed some away for a number of years and my results have been very good. The last note I have is from 2022 in a bottle purchased in 2018 and I thought it showed the best of that lot. Supposedly I have six more bottles from that case but they seem to be lost in the cellar somewhere, or I drank them without noting it.
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Do you know how the ‘08 is drinking now? It’s available on a local restaurant list for a pretty fair price.
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It is definitely somewhat confusing amongst the grower champagnes that there are several of these multi-generational families that have split into different houses, but also sometimes invoke the ancestor’s name (Lancelot, Gimmonet, Vesselle, Paillard, etc). For Bruno Gobillard I’ve enjoyed a few bottles of his Cuvée XVIII.
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Unripe strawberries, sourdough bread, apples and bright acidity. OK QPR. On day 2-3 more caramel like tones appear. Not overly complex but also not too subtle. Fine effort. At this level the Laherte Brut Nature entry line does better.
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IMO, Deutz doesn’t always get the recognition it deserves here. The Wm Deutz, and Amour BdB and Rosé have been spectacular across multiple vintages
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Double posted
Birthday vacation in Zihuatanejo with Krug at sunset
In 2000, I bought an auction lot at a charity wine event for a week long stay at a resort in Mexico. I’d never heard of the resort, but the price was right and the photos reeked of class and magnificence.
I did not take wine thinking they would cook in the 90+ degree, high humidity environment and not having a proper container to transport bottles in.
As it turned out, our suite was continually stocked daily with pony bottles {7.4 oz} of Corona (now called Coronita Extra) and ice buckets were replenished throughout the day and it was an easy thirst quencher of preference before moving in to margaritas at dinnertime.
The resort is called La Casa Que Canta located high up on a bay overlooking the Pacific in Zihuatanejo and our current 11 day stay is our 10th. Each visit has been planned to encompass my birthday the 3rd week of December and I’ve taken at least a half bottle of Krug Grande Cuvee since the initial visit to open while enjoying the fabulous sunset, an every evening occurrence.
This year, it was the Krug Brut Rose 21 Edition and the Krug Grande Cuvee Brut 163 Edition.
We opened the rose on our first Saturday night and it was spectacular as was the sunset:
KRUG BRUT ROSE 21 eme- after removing 4 bottles of iced Coronitas from the ice bucket, this was nicely chilled and then poured into 2 decent Chardonnay stems supplied by the resort; the color was an amazing red amber and the nose first offered rose petals and cherry flavored apricot which was joined by some yellow peach, apple and red cherry after a few minutes; additional notes of bing cherry and red cherry cream soda came in while it was being delivered in a creamy mousse replete with effervescence; we sipped it for about an hour while marveling on its splendor and ever changing treasures; this fabulous wine consists of 51% Pinot Noir, 41% Chardonnay and 8% Pinot Member that received its cork in the autumn of 2014 with a cuvee range from 2002 to 2008 as provided by ID Code: 414078
Four nights later on my birthday, we opened the Krug GC before going to a nearby high quality gourmet restaurant, Tentaciones, which turned out to be one of our finest world wide restaurant experiences ever.
KRUG GRAND CUVEE BRUT 163 EDITION- the color was yellow gold and the nose offered a bounty of honey and ginger accented lemon, all of which continued on to the back end; a touch of toasty brioche joined in while all was being delivered in a creamy, oily textured medium; most surprising was its intense streak of acidity throughout that was most prevalent at the finish; there seemed to be a hint of oxidative notes forthcoming; but we caught this bottle at its apogee and I was extremely grateful. It was made from a vintage range from 1990-2007 with 73% coming from the latter which was amazing to me for how good it was; the bottle was corked in the winter of 2013-2014 and consists of 37% Pinot Noir, 32%, Chardonnay and 31% Pinot Meunier, as derived from the interpretation from the ID Code: 114005.
The sunrise are pretty special too
We enjoyed a few more wonderful relaxing days before returning home while planning our next visit. Life is good.
Cheers,
Blake
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Long may it continue!