Last night we started with a magnum of '02 Comtes. I have had some stellar bottles of this, but this one was a bit advanced unfortunately. More yellow fruits and oxidative flavors, none of the creaminess that it usually has. Still drinkable, but usually so much better. After the reds, we drank the '04 Bollinger rosé and '12 1522 rosé. The Bolly is always great. The last time I had the 1522 was about a year ago, and it was overpowering and seemed out of balance. This bottle, however, was outstanding with the same flavor profile of red berries and chalkiness, but this time so much smoother and balanced. Happy New Year! 
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I drank a bottle of this a month or so ago. It was rich and somewhat decadent with coffee, chocolate and aggressive raspberry jam notes. This was an entirely different wine, less decadent, more energetic and nuanced, and tasting of peach, pineapple, apple sauce, subtle custard, smoke, a faint hint of mocha, and truffles. It possessed an overt chalkiness, which was entirely absent from my last encounter with this wine, and a pleasing smoky core. Finished long with more truffle complexity and spice. Good density and presence in the mouth while never feeling anywhere close to heavy or overbearing. A nice way to ring in the new year.
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Our New Year’s Eve magnum was the Laurent Perrier Grand Siécle 23. It drank much younger than its composition of 2002, 2004, and 2006. 14 years on the lees, 7gm dosage. Elegant, regal and cerebral rather than showy. We loved it, but its best days are ahead.
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A little new year’s brunch with the family, and I opened this Francis Orban to try out the producer. 100% meunier here. The wine started off with very little aromatically, and little to give other than lemon on the palette. I gave it 30 minutes to warm up and see some air, which was a good move. The wine improved, showing much more elegant lemony and red fruited acidity, some peach notes, and nice balance. That said, nothing here felt exciting. Good; and certainly very drinkable, but I had hoped for more interest here.
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Our NYE choice this year left us unimpressed. This is a major step down from their 08 Special Club. Very fat with no midpalate to speak of.
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NYE bottle(s) it was a subdued night after a week + of holiday running around.
I had a bunch of the Kirkland Champagne in the last week to not open a bunch of special stuff with family who could care less. But this batch has been pretty good, showing a little pink tinge in color too.
Marie Courtin 2015 Resonance
Disgorged May 2019 and I believe 0g/l dosage
These wines are fun in a way that they’re 100% Pinot noir, yet don’t show many characteristics of a BdN. It’s fun to drink and they’re just really good, unique wines. I’d be curious to see this with more age, it felt young and lively.
Herbal notes on the nose with hints of red fruit if you really look for them. On the palate it’s really mineral and steely.
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I was lucky enough to try the '02 DP several times after it hit the shores. A couple times it was definitely just a bland sparkling wine without any hint of TCA. A few other times it was real nice. We were still on EBoob back then and it came up a time or two. Some of the big buyers were adamant it was all great but I always suspect that was more about the image more than actual tastings. I’ve always believed there was some sort of bottle variation from that vintage.
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Egly Ouriet V.P - 2014 Base last night - Such a vibrant, vervey wine in which the bracing acid bolsters bright citrus fruit, chalky minerality, and good leesy accents.
2006 Henriot Cuvee Hemera - Opulent for an extra brut wine, 50-50 chard and pinot, 12 years on lees. Fruit is the star of the show here, with nice complexity, toast, shortbread, apple tart, lemon cake, and a hint of coffee. I quite liked this! Pardon my ignorance but I didn’t know this cuvee existed until this year. Happy to have 2 more!
1996 Dom Perignon Oenotheque - Popped this with my mom and dad on the 1st. I’ve posted about her before but my mom loves champagne but would never buy or open a wine like this, so I like to share some with her (and gave her a 2008 Dom Rose for Christmas with a bunch of other non-wine stuff). This was in great shape, with pear, vanilla cream, white flowers, citrus, and white peach. Good complexity and spice. Pretty sensational stuff. GREAT way to start the year.
2015 Roederer Phillipe Starck Brut Nature - Bright, chalky lemon citrus, jazz apple, white toast, saline. It’s a good rendition, with nice balance for a brut zero and reasonably ripe fruit. This was quite good too.
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I think the Starck is made in warmer years to provide fruit intensity to balance the lack of dosage. I picked up a couple of bottles of the 2015 recently (also the 2015 Rose).
-Al
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This is the best bottle I have tried from this estate yet. It’s mostly Chardonnay with just enough Pinot to give it a little density, at least relative to the NV Blancs. It hits you immediately with some cherry and strawberry fruit, but the fruitiness is ephemeral - murdered by the downright operatic salinity and uninhibited chalk notes. Finishes long with mouthwatering acidity. This is Kramer dropping a junior mint in a surgical cavity refreshing. I want to drink this everyday!
This ultimately put on some weight and became a little more complex and fruity as it warmed. It didn’t suffer any diminution of it’s refreshing qualities, however. Its refreshing persona is its calling card, I think.
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I like this wine a lot too - I was about to say something about giving a little air when you edited this in!
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Opened a magnum of 2008 base Egly rose for New Years. With more age Egly takes on a much more vinous note (it can be a bit nervy when young); a brilliant wine with a slight tangerine note on the finish.
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@D_Pennet, I’ve been wanting to try these wines for so long. Guillaume is flying under the radar.
@ChrisJames, amazing wine! Was fortunate to taste this with Guillaume and my wife during a visit last January. Incredible juice and terroir. The vineyard can’t be any closer to their press than literally a stone’s throw. It’s a dream plot.
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After a day under Coravin, it was a bit more mellow, the flavor profile was still IMO not very pleasant. It had a strong gunpowder nose… then the taste is mildly sour chalky carbonated water with a hint of lime.
I don’t see why anyone would give this a high rating, but Cellartracker and reviews are high. If this is a bottle defect I wonder what it could be?
I’ve had it twice in the last three years, and have a third at home. A couple of years ago, we opened this next to 2002 Krug, 2002 Cristal, and 2002 Billecart Salmon Clos St. Hilaire. It was tremendous, and easily stood its ground with those wines. It was, to me a neutron star of density, so packed with bright fruit and complexity, with seemingly decades of bright life ahead of it. The second time I had this I felt pretty similarly about it though thought it was a bit more giving on the fruit profile, while still being classic Dom Perignon. Here are my two notes, about 2 years apart:
2002 Dom Perignon P2 Holy shit the density and intensity on this champagne is unreal. The color is intensely yellow. The nose is a hair shy at first but opens up to intense lemon oil, chalky minerality, ginger, and kiwi with a tiny hint of lemongrass. This is so packed with intensity. I think this is really phenomenal stuff. So dense, so fresh, so intense, citric and just killer. A ball of vinous energy. Phenomenal. Where the Cristal is open and lush and fruity and giving, this is a dense ball of verve and bright energy. Stunning. Can age another 20 years. 97-98.
2002 Dom Perignon P2 - Beautiful bottle of wine with great density, great lemon oil and apple, pear, cool mint, almond, and pound cake. Creamy and lithe, more youthful and bright than the Cristal, with a vivacious mousse. A whole different wine and still absolutely delicious. I think the 2002 Dom P2 is a great longer term prospect if one is inclined to aging champagnes. But this is in my wheelhouse now. Also in that 97ish range.
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How did the CdPs show? Those are two awesome vintages for that wine!
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So I take it that it actually “sort of” lives up to the hype - but maybe not completely the crazy market prices?
Posting my notes on the Blanc Comme Niege 2017 now.
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It was time to give one of 2023’s maybe most newly-hyped champagne producers another go (have tasted the L’Appel de la Fôret before).
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2017 Romain Henin Champagne Grand Cru Blanc Comme Neige Extra Brut - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (24-12-2023)
Finally got around to giving this a taste. 100% Chardonnay from Chouilly from the 2017 vintage. Disgorged October 2022 with 3g/l dosage. A fun and flashy label by Bur.
Nice pale golden color showing some maturity and depth have developed.
Green apple, quince, ripe lemon, unripe peach and some lime adding a really nice freshness and acidity, while brioche, toast and hazelnut added balance, depth and complexity. Extreme minerality and a nice showing of the Chouilly terroir. Showing nicely now and can be enjoyed already.
Overall this is a great BdB for the supposed price of ~€60-65 but I don't feel like it can stand up to the crazy market prices. (93 points)
Posted from CellarTracker
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Well I suppose - but as I said before I am not sure what the market price really is… What we see listed by definition is the price they aren’t selling at! :
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