Glad to see you take a stab at one of these. Juicy with a red fruit core and minerality is a well-captured narrative there, Kevin.
To your question, and I welcome correction here, but if I remember the ‘formula’ correctly, you take it backwards 2 years to get the base. So, you’re right with 2017, then you back it up with 2 years of reserves from the previous 2 vintages, so 2016 and 2015 of reserves.
Diebolt-Vallos was an early RM champagne producer readily available in US. Cramant is all Grand Cru fruit, so this was historically a great value along with the Prestige and Fleur de Passion.
Haven’t had much since they started selling some fruit and had to become NM, but will grab one next time I see it.
Yes, I sold these for years in WA when they were with Martine’s.
That’s what I thought as well. But I saw a note from someone who said they had the same disgorgement date and that it was 2018. I think you’re correct though.
None of the fruit comes from Cramant. Cuis, Chouilly, and Epernay are what’s listed on the label.
One of the frequent mistakes in the CT database which I report quite often is people believing that champagne made in a GC village (e.g. “Diebolt-Vallois à Crémant”) means that the wine is a GC wine.
Yes, I see that a lot as well. I am thinking this may have been all Cramant fruit in the past, however.
I’m a bit confused by this. Why does selling some of your grapes force you to move from RM to NM? It seems to me that it is buying some of the grapes that you use which would trigger this change.
Serendipitously, soon after I read your tasting note, my brother opened this when we arrived in Colorado tonight for a visit. I had given him this years ago. It was joyful and fresh, as you described, graceful and charming; lots of raspberries, strawberries and cherries, plus some complexity that comes with a little bottle age.
Cheers,
Warren
My understanding as well. NM is when the domaine buys grapes, must or still wine to produce their champagnes. Mind you, you can still apply for NM status but use only your own grapes. This gives you the option to buy some if need be (and I think it has fiscal implications).
With thanks to @D_Pennet for the earlier note, I grabbed a couple of bottles of the 2016 Dehours Terriscope and I’m very much enjoying the first one this evening. It’s an excellent expression of full-on Meunier. One thing I’m slightly confused about is that this wine has been entered in CT as " Dehours Champagne Terriscope Rive Droite", whereas in the previous note you said that the grapes were sourced from the Rive Gauche, which makes more sense since that is where Dehours’ plots are and hence, I assume (although it isn’t said explicitly) those of their “voisins” (neighbours) which is where they say the grapes come from. Maybe I should submit a change request to CT, although I don’t really have any hard data to support it?
My beautiful wife and I opened our third bottle of Andre Clouet 1911 NV last night. We liked it again. Our first bottle we gave an 8, the second was a little odd giving it a 6, and then last night was in the middle 7 out of 10. At first what I found a really delicate and soft sort of impression that was very elegant, this time maybe came across as a little less complex than I would have liked and/or hoped for. Still very nice, and it seemed reasonably priced at $65(US). I’m not sure I’m going to buy more at this point but certainly will keep it in mind in the future.
Probably dating myself, but this was when I was selling it back around 2005, so the producer was much different as was the makeup of the wines and holdings.
Perhaps it has changed but RM was you grow and vinify your own grapes. DV started selling some to a family member or friend in the alte 2000s and told us due to that they would be NM moving forward vs. RM. This was back when some Wine Directors had NM and RM lists and it made a difference for me in sales and sales strategy to move from grower to the side of list with Veuve and others as no one recognized DV amongst big house names on wine lists.
De sousa mycorhize 2017 base year. Drunk over 2 nights. Pale yellow/gold colour. Promising nose and attack but still so tight on the mid palate. Attractive, fresh, elegant attack but a base note kicked in immediately that was quite bitter and offputting. With air, it began to integrate a little but I’d definitely give these a few more years.
I keep hoping to find wines as good as this for less money, but every time I open an Egly wine I’m reminded why these are such brilliant wines and why they’re worth every penny (sigh).
Beautiful earthy, autolytic nose. Not a “fruity” Meunier here at all. The wine has acid for days, rich body, and complex on the palette (fall leaves, freshly baked sourdough, white pepper, coconut). And what’s most striking and different here is the texture. It’s mouth coating and it wraps around the tongue delivering great acidity and aroma for a shockingly long finish. Beautiful wine, what else can I say.
Now, I do have to hand it to Mousse. The L’Or D’Eugene Perpetual Reserve clocks in at roughly half the price of the Egly, but delivers at least 85% of the satisfaction, and shares many similar characteristics. This may be one I need to stock up on (with a few more Eglys for special occasions…like random Thursday nights 
)
July 2023 disgorgement
2g/l dosage
2017 disgorgement or base year? I had to find my empty bottle after your note to see what I had. The bottle I opened was a 2018 base and a 2022 disgorgement. It was open for business and explosive in the middle. Maybe the riper vintage makes it an earlier drinker or perhaps I just got lucky. Might be worth a shot if you have a bottle of this disgorgement.
The topic of aging NV Champagne comes up periodically, and one of the ones many people have mentioned as worth aging is Bollinger Special Cuvée. I first read of that in some book by a British author decades ago, and I’ve stashed away a few bottles here and there. Tonight we opened one from a case I purchased in 2018 and it was fantastic. According to CT I have five more bottles from the case but I only know where one of them is. Perhaps someday I’ll find the others
Hi Scott, your impression mirrors mine. Considering price this is a surprisingly intense BdB. And IMO this is really chalky stuff.
What were the base vintages of your bottle? The combo 2016/2017 is particularly nice.
My only experience of this was a bottle of Bolly that I acquired for free and which had been stored for several years in very sub-optimal conditions.
It was almost entirely unlike champagne but not a totally unpleasant drink. Although maybe I’ve misunderstood, and those of you who keep champagne for decades actually aspire to this?
My mistake - 17 base year. Amended accordingly.
