Which Champagne are you drinking?

WINE TALK
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This Liquid Farm Champagne, a selected cuvee from Pertois-Moriset, was disgorged January 2023, dosed at 2.5 g/l. 100% chardonnay from Les Mesnil-sur-Oger. It is, unequivocally, champagne. Crisp BdB with a chalky profile, lemon citrus, granny smith, hint of saline, and light toast. You can feel the extra brut low dosage. It is crisp and chakly. Overall I’d say this is a nice champagne that would be great with oysters. Perhaps not the most complex or the most put together, but enjoyable and bright. I believe this wine is considerably overpriced. 90-91.

2021 Liquid Farm Blanc de Blancs Sta. Rita Hills - Extra Brut - This is a fairly intense and very clearly young sparkling wine vinified in neutral oak before spending a year on lees. Dosed at 3g/l, and all Liquid Farm chardonnay (which is very high quality stuff). There is something to this wine. The nose is interesting, flashing a stony note followed by nice layers of citrus, white peach, apple, then dried pineapple, a faint hint of ginger spice, and then a bit of biscuit. The hint of dried pineapple and spice become slightly more pronounced as this warms. Complexity and flavor profile are nice. It could be a bit more expressive on the nose, but there is plenty there and it is nicely layered. A different beast altogether from the Pertois Moriset and, to me, a more interesting sparkling wine. The mousse is very aggressive, and I would strongly advise giving this a couple of years time in bottle. Acid is satisfactory, and extra brut dosage is a good choice. This doesn’t have the fatness of a Domain Carneros La Reve, or the sweetness of a J Schram Blanc (like the 2013 in particular). It’s got some balance and crispness without losing a nice fruit profile. While less “champagney” than the chalky Pertois Moriset, I found this more interesting and exciting. Keep an eye on this. 92+

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I will personally avoid this like the plague on this note alone.

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That is kind of funny. Scott writes fantastic notes and finding descriptors can be very difficult. But based on his using “white chocolate” to describe two Dethune Champagne, I should avoid those as I find white chocolate both an annoying misnomer and a cloying abomination.

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Interesting tasting term but like @scottkieser have found it, too. I don’t like white chocolate either, Chris. I eat a lot of high % dark chocolate, usually some everyday (85-90 content), and white is to me just not my thing. But, I have found value in using the white chocolate term. I found that recently in something I wrote up, can’t remember what wine it was. And I recall when I visited Dominique at Marie Courtin, she poured me some 2013 Resonance and while not prompted to find this tasting marker, it popped into my head.

  • 2013 Marie Courtin Champagne Resonance Extra Brut - France, Champagne (5/23/2022)
    Tasting with Dominique Moreau of Marie Courtin (Polisot (in the Aube)): From the oenotheque. Disgorged 2017 so this saw quite a bit more time sur latte than normal, plus it's had another 5 years to age under cork. 100% Pinot Noir, no dose, from stainless steel. Just a little darkening of the color now starting to emerge, with white chocolate, lemon curd, grapefruit and my perception this is aging really well with a persistent lively acidity. Hey, Resonance at almost 10 years old, this is really evolving well. Bitchen, as I still have a bottle in my own cellar. What a treat!

Posted from CellarTracker

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I just learned black jelly beans can be purchased by the bag, uncontaminated by inferior jelly beans. I am very excited.

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Found the other one…it was just last week. Vilmart 2009 CdC. I tried to bold it in my note below but would seem my text skills are inadequate to make it work.

  • 2009 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru (2/4/2024)
    Vilmart--Emotion and Coeur de Cuvee (select vintages), the meal anchored by Astrid (My House In The South OC): It's been 4 years since I had the 2009? Man, I deprived myself as this bottle is showing beautifully. May 2016 disgorgement. 80% Chard / 20% Pinot Noir. Fortunately there was some of this leftover, which I am going to revisit later today with tonight's dinner but for now, let me capture last night's impression. This, along with both the 2013 Emotion and 2013 Coeur de Cuvee were my wines of the night yesterday evening, and a credit here to the 2009, as this has 4 additional years of time in the bottle, which it represents beautifully. The usual tangerine and lime is here, both bright and concentrated in tone, with a persistent, balanced push of flavor, finishing with a light imprint of graham cracker....retasted again on Day 2 from what was leftover, with a good pop of CO2 hangin' in there. This kinda reminds me of the 2012 Emotion, with that same seductive quality. There is a tropical green note in the wine today, maybe pineapple but also mint, so if we mash those up, perhaps I get the descriptor I want to use. Even some ginger is flowing into this, *plus some white chocolate* and a pure tangerine. The kind of wine that lights up my senses, with a long imprint of fruit that lays joyfully on my palate and into a long finish. Limey acidity, pure fruit and a gentle but persistent slate. Just a beautiful bottle of Champagne, a gift of joy for my evening and one of the best Champagnes I have had in some time.

Posted from CellarTracker

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Highlight what you want and hit the big B on the menu above. :grinning:

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I did that.:rofl:

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sick bastard

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Offered today by Collectible Fine Wine.

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I had another bottle of NV Ponson Champagne Premier Cru Prestige yesterday when I brought it to a small Superbowl get together. It doesn’t do much for me, but it was apparently a crowd pleaser as it was gone almost instantly.

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Fantastic 02 vs 04 tasting…

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No surprise about the '04 Comtes. I agree with the note for the '04 DP, but my numerical rating would have been much lower.

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A shame that the '04 Cristal was corked. Would have liked to see where it fit in the ordinal rankings.

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They should have gone into the cellar and pulled a backup bottle.

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One might think. It struck me as odd that they didn’t.

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Extracted from TNs 1 Champagne, 3 Burgundy

2008 Krug
To start, well what a start. More open and inviting than I expected. Oxidative and nutty almost vin jaune esque on the nose at first, but with a core of lemon and hint of white flowers. Lots of lemon on the palate, again more giving than I thought, flinty and a fair amount of toasted almond. As it opened the oxidative notes brushed aside the lemon became more prominent along with the minerality. I wouldn’t call it searing acid, but it certainly shows itself. Rich and luscious in body.

We put it aside as we waited for the rest of this to shine, after all we did have some other wines to get to. But eventually the floral notes appeared and we had to wait a couple hours. But they did show and boy it was like walking through a jasmine field. If you can keep your hands off wait 5 years. Like I said, it was more open than I thought though.

I’ll add another note from one of the other people at the dinner:

Somewhat open on popping. Toasted coconut, bruised apple and pain grille. Chalk, oyster shell. Very almond. The whisper of lemon kept getting louder. Eventually the fireworks came in the form of incredibly effusive jasmine. Really gorgeous wine that showed more lemon, lime and flowers as the night went on. Maybe hold five years. Explosive factor of the night.

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  • 2016 Déhu Père & Fils Champagne Cuvée La Rue des Noyers Extra Brut - France, Champagne (2/12/2024)
    Opened yesterday, still working on the bottle a day later. 100% Pinot Meunier, done without dosage. There is some discrepancy here on disgorgement, as the back label says February 2020, and the cork stamp says February 2021. Dunno which is accurate. Farmed biodynamic, no malo. Current release is 2018 so this is a few vintages older. Of note, I had some mixed experience with a few bottles of the 2013, with one advanced and another less so, and then one other that was fine. So, I finished off the 13s and when I saw this 2016 out for sale, figured I would give it a go. Little bit of gold here showing but the wine's energy is spot on. When we first opened this yesterday, it was softer, showing raspberry, tangy peach and orange rind. By the end of dinner last night, it had started to acquire some coil, a firm energy. Today, the wine is pretty consistent with the final glass yesterday. In terms of texture, the chill really shuts the wine down but when the chill is relieved, then some saline infused lime comes through with some of the fruit signature. The wine just needs the right temp to relax, and I just wonder how often people misjudge brut nature because they hit it with too cold a serving temp, then wonder why it's lean and coiled--an act of begging the very thing that is unwanted. Let this warm up so that you get the ground from the Noyers plot to talk, then the fruit from Meunier to join in. Finishes with some light seasoning of wood, adding an allpsice note. This is worth reloading as it's drinking really beautifully--tangy, a bit salty and I love the fruit.

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Had a guest yesterday over for dinner and opened some bottles. Didn’t take formal notes because I was hosting, cooking, and serving.

Started by serving some remaining Chavost Eureka because I’ve been wondering if it’s just me and my preferences that are not aligned with this particular brand. At first, my husband and my guest were like “this is fine,” to “I’m getting some green banana, yeast, and herbs,” and closing with “Wait… THIS is $110?!” My husband thought it tasted like a $40-ish champagne. Both of them finished their small glass (I didn’t). So, my husband and my guest found this drinkable, but not worth the price. If you are more open to interesting flavors in Champagne than I am, and if you like adventure, you may very well like the Eureka.

Upon opening the 2014 André Heucq Héritage Rosé de Meunier Phase 1 Extra Brut, my guest said something akin to “Oh, this actually tastes like Champagne.”
100% PM from 50-year old vines in Cuisle (le Bout de la Ville parcel). 20 hours skin contact, fermented in SS tanks, 36 years on lees minimum. Disgorged Jan 2020. Dosage 2g/L. This is one of my favorite sub-$100 rosé, and it is bold, full of red berry flavor, a small saline note, citrus zest (maybe blood orange?) on tje finish. If you prefer delicate and elegant rosé, pass on this flamboyant rosé de saignée. It went fabulously with cold cuts and was empty in no time.

2012 Louis Roederer Champagne Brut Nature Rosé Cuvée Starck was unfortunately corked. It’s a bummer because it was my last bottle :frowning:

NV Régis Poissinet Champagne Terre d´Irizée Extra Brut
84% PM, 16% Ch., with approx 40% of reserve wines. Vallée de la Marne. Aged in oak barrels and vats. 36 months on lees. Dosage 2g/L. Disgorged Sept 2022.
PnP, much too cold at 36*, and the oak was dominating for me. It was also an unsuitable pairing with Cornish hen and roasted winter vegs, so I ended up opening Donatsch Pinot Noir Passion (from Switzerland).
Retasting tonight: med yellow in color, very tiny bead. On the nose, yellow apple that’s starting to brown, yellow nectarine, and a bit of wood. On the palate, the yellow apple continues, nutmeg, pomelo zest. Nice finish of apple. Good value at $50. If you like Marguet, you may like this too.

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