All I have is '12 and '13. I’ll add them to my “drink sooner than later” portion of the cellar.
With thanks to @Frank_Murray_III for his notes, tonight for me a Shaman 19 rosé which is a really excellent wine and great value.
Click here for my TN
- NV Marguet Champagne Grand Cru Shaman 19 Rosé - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (13/02/2024)
77/23 C/PN disgorged Oct 22, zero dosage.
I previously very much enjoyed several bottles of the Shaman 18, and this is very much in the same vein and equally excellent.
As others have noted, a few minutes air and just a little warming from fridge temperature is beneficial. Then we have a complex and interesting wine.
On the nose, strawberries, redcurrants and cream, plus a chalky minerality. On the palate slightly tart red fruits with a spicy aspect initially, then a creamy note, then a more-ish crisp and minerally finish. Remarkably rich in overall feel for a zero dosage wine.
My note doesn't really do this justice, but it's an excellent wine to be contemplated at length. And very decent QPR for the ~US$48 that I paid. I shall be getting more in. (92 points)
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Fascinating. I’m unsurprised that Dom, Krug, Comtes, and Cristal showed well and that Bollinger RD and older Lanson showed among the bottom. Also I do not think that Dom Ruinart Rose is all that good, generally speaking. I was surprised that the vintage Dom outperformed the P2 because, from my recent experience, the P2 is usually extremely fresh and bright and dense, relative to the more normal vintage. That may have actually played in the normal vintages’ favor because I’m sure bottle pedigree was excellent for these folks. The comment about whether the 2004P2 may need more time was interesting (I did not find it lacking in fruit). We (Carnes, French, Alfert, Jorge, me) all had 2004 Salon, P2, Cristal recently, among a series of other wines, and found them exceptional.
Our regular champagne group is doing an 04 dinner soon which should be interesting.
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From another thread:
Léclapart:
A. Bergère:
And a “clean” Georges Laval, as pointed out by @Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m , which is not a guarantee!
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Enjoyed reading your travel notes, and glad to hear A Bergere was a hit. I just picked up more of the Solera from them. Managed to get it under $50, which is a lot of wine for the money.
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Okay, breaking the rules here as it’s not champagne, but this traditional method sparkler from Hungary is quite interesting, and different…in a good way.
Pours a deep golden hue in the glass. The nose starts with red apples and honey, but then reveals a woodsy, almost pine needle like note that also carries onto the palette. Maybe a little juniper berry there as well. The wine is labeled brut and drinks more like an extra brut. There’s good ripeness here, though, so it works. Acid is great, medium plus. Texturally the wine is a bit simple (likely full malo, some creaminess), and I don’t get much in the way of autolytic notes. But it’s a good wine nonetheless and a solid value at just under $30. I’m finding this wine to be much more interesting and thought provoking than many entry level grand marques.
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It’s a good note, but civil order demands draconian punishment. The Gazpacho police are coming for you, son.
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Source for this? My best friend spent time in Hungary in college so this would be a fun one to enjoy with him.
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I suspect Jancis is using quite a bit of editorial discretion in her description of the 2004 vintage as one of the best this century.
A number of us did a 2004 retrospective about a year ago with most of the higher end wines (we didn’t have Pommery, Moet, Deutz, Lanson, etc) and the clear standout were the Comtes and the Krug. The Cristal felt very closed, but from our Cristal tasting last year, the mid 2000s was not my favorite period of the lineup. We also had the Peters’ oenotheques recently and I thought both showed well, though not as well as the 08 that we had with them. Most of the wines felt solid but unspectacular, with the caveat that the 2004 Clos de Mesnil is a monster - like drinking very young grand cru Chablis.
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Jon - I first had 2004 with you and it was smashing. Recently got to pull the trigger on a case.
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It’s imported by the rare wine company. I didn’t check to see if they sell it direct online, but I purchased at Vin in Chicago (great independent shop).
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You will be very happy with that purchase.
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Greg,
I agree with your assessment. I think it would be interesting to do a blind retrospective tasting of '02/'04/'06. Maybe a couple of rounds starting with Krug/DP/Comtes/Cristal. Second round could be Salon/Vilmart/Peters/Bollinger. 3rd round could be the top 4 wines against their '08 counterparts.
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Not my style of rose
Jean Josselin Audace poured very dark, some tannins, whipped creamy fruit and still quite light despite the colour.
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Whoa! The color on that!
Dammit Greg! Why couldn’t I have read your note earlier this morning, before I picked out the ‘04 Cristal to open while visiting my brother and sister-in-law. I agree, the ‘04 Comtes and Krug drink well, but overall, it remains a questionable vintage in my mind.
Cheers
Warren
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Vilmart & Cie Cuvee Rubis
October 2019 disgorgement, I’ve seen conflicting things on whether this would mean 2017 base or 2018 base. Maybe our resident Vilmart drinkers can help out with that.
If I had one word to explain this it would be juicy. That character of the fruit is just that, fresh and vibrant raspberry, strawberry, pear and lime. Some autolytic notes, hints of minerality along with an herbal character that I enjoy.
As it opens up the mineral note turns into a side show of chalk on the palate. Good balance of acid and body. Nice finish, wishing I had more of this wine. I also love the color of this. Rose champagne is just fun.
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Very pleasantly surprised with this $40 bottle, which has an unusual density and power at this price point. It is not at all complex, but neither is it mind numbingly simple. Excellent purity of fruit - mostly green apple and pear - and floral and almond notes on the attractive nose. Much better than the throw away bottle I was expecting when I chose it to keep a case within budget.
Pairs beautifully with Kalamata olives. Very much clashes with nacho cheese Combos.
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Oh, I think it’ll be a really nice wine Warren. I wonder if we now compare Cristal’s “lesser” vintages to Jean-Baptiste’s best, which isn’t really fair.
Besides, I’m going off a sample size of 2 over 1.3 years. 