I wanted to die after drinking a current release CdG.
It made my jaw hurt all night.
Thank you, Rick. It’s a preference to be able to track a bottle over several small pours, aeration and time.
I hope I will be forgiven for adding here from the cheap seats a Blanc de Noir from the Etna DOC which I have rather enjoyed this evening and feel is on a par with many entry level champagnes (unlike the same producer’s BdB which really didn’t work for me).
- NV Firriato Etna Gaudensius Blanc de Noir - Italy, Sicily, Etna DOC (04/04/2024)
4 years on from my last TN, and I feel I was a bit niggardly in my earlier appraisal.
This bottle from lot L122181, which perhaps means bottled in 12/2021, is rather nice indeed.
After a little air, the nose offers slightly sharp fruit (somewhere between lemon and gooseberry!). The palate is crisp, citrus, a tiny hint of brioche, and finishing moderately long with clean flavours of tart red fruit.
Overall this a a very nice bottle of fizz - definitely on a par with many house champagnes, and great value for parties or just general enjoyment at ~US$19. (89 points)
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I have another 96 CDG, a late disgorged version. Very oxidative style but punchy acidity. Not really my favored profile, to be honest. It’s not going to get better, so I know I need to drink it, but I just am not super jazzed about it.
2018 Ulysse Collin Champagne Blanc de Blancs Extra-Brut 48 mois Les Pierrières
Sometimes when a door closes a window opens. Went to dinner tonight and both the wines I wanted to order from the restaurant’s wine list were gone. I assume this was because the wine list posted online is older and not up to date, which often happens. But lo and behold, a new wine which was not in the online wine list showed up in the restaurants printed wine list and for the amazing price of 120 Euros. Best young Pierrieres I have had so far, usually these can be quite acidic when young but being from the 2018 vintage probably softened the usual acidic streak. Anyway, amazing wine, ginger candy, grapefruit, almond shells, granite and limestone all in this seamless package that just oozed deliciousness.
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Yeah, I find '18 champagnes to be interesting. Several I’ve had seemed a little wan and wimpy, but some others, which I think can lean towards the very acidic in other vintages, find a nice balance in '18 (I’m thinking '18 Blanc d’Argile in particular, though an '18 Hebrart Special Club was also quite good).
I was initially feeling fairly dismissive of '18, but those two champagnes have me reconsidering my initial attitude.
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I can’t handle the Berserker shaming (or resist enabling) 
. I’m going to open my first 2008 Comtes on Saturday at a wine dinner I’m hosting to benefit our local Hospice House.
No shaming coming from here; just a suggestion in case you want to drink something extra special and in your wheelhouse.
Should your bottle not be up to standards, put a cork in it and send it to me and I’ll pay you for it plus shipping.
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- NV Marguet Champagne Grand Cru Shaman 18 - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (4/5/2024)
November 2021 disgorgement. No dose, using 75% Pinot Noir and 25% Chard. I wanted something tonight I didn't have to really get to cerebral about, something more overt with some stuffing. Decided to go with this, as it's my last one. Same moderately golden color, same as the previous bottle in 2023. This has a salted butter note, I believe coming from the wood elevage. Yeah, I know the wood is a turn off for some concerning Marguet, but I am well-aware now of what I am getting when I open/buy the wines. If the wood isn't your thing, then perhaps find something else in Ambonnay or the Bouzy slope. Back to the wine...plenty of acid here, mainly lime that drives the energy. Kiwi too, along with coconut. Given the color, and the way the apple shows to me, I'd say there is some oxidation here, and my comment from a past bottle about apple pie with cinnamon and crust is accurate again, yet the lime adds a freshening edge. Finishes with the citrus, along with some brown spice/clove. I like this, I don't love it.
Posted from CellarTracker
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First miss from Godme. This is going to be a treat for the drain, because I don’t want to put any more of it in my mouth. There is no fruit, no complexity, just acidity and a strange spanish olive flavor. I have only had this bottle for two months but it looks like it was disgorged in January of 2018. I suspect that might be the issue, and if this is the way low dosage NV Champagne ages, I’ll drink them as soon as I acquire them.
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I note that @Frank_Murray_III was drinking and enjoying this disgorgement in August 2019, so I think your policy sounds like a good one!
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@scottkieser I never recall an issue with the Godme Rose, and I went through a lot of splits and 750s of that wine. One thing I thought about with your bottle is where it was sourced? With Paul’s fancy tech of linking my note, I was drinking that disgorgement 5 years ago. You’re drinking it now. Where was that bottle stored/maintained over those 5 years (I’m assuming it left Godme in Verzenay roughly the same time as mine but this is my assumption only)? I’m not saying your assessment of the wine is wrong, only that it differs from mine, and positing one reason why it might be.
Paul, I am selectively aging some of my Marie Courtin stuff. I have some Resonance now that is past 10 years from vintage, plus some Efflorescence, too. The Marguet from 2012 has held up, although tonight I may open another 2012 Crayeres to see. In total, I am not the best scientist on this topic of sans dose and aging, as I tend to drink all of my Champagne (aside from Vilmart which I have a lot of with age, and some Larmandier-Bernier) on the young side. I find the energy, cut, brightness and freshness more to my liking.
I had a few friends over the other night and we enjoyed some great Champagnes. The '90 Cristal seemed to get most votes for Champagne of the night, but the '82 Krug and '04 Cristal were not far behind. The '08 DP seemed a bit lighter than normal, and the '15 Cristal is nice, but I think the '14 is better. Not pictured was a fine drinking bottle of '04 Comtes.
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Crap. This is probably the same disgorgement of my last remaining bottle that I have at offsite. I purchased in December 2018.
Thanks for the note, Scott; I’ll have to pull mine next time I’m at my locker.
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Jon, I’d be interested to know how much advanced notes were in the '90 and '82?
Hope I just had an off bottle. I am curious as to your result.
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These were very fresh bottles. My concern with anything '82 is that the acidity will have outlasted the fruit. I try to be very careful when pulling the cork, but this cork popped out like it was New Year’s Eve. It still had good bubbles to start, red orchard fruits in the mid-palate, some lemon and then a touch of caramel and nutty flavors on the back-end. The Cristal had less acidity, which you would expect from a '90, more sweet flavors, honey, orange, butterscotch, caramel, almonds, but still showing Cristal chalk on the finish. These were in a good spot with just the right amount of oxidation for me and they would never be confused for Selosse.
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I’m curious, too. I drank my first one back in December 2019 and felt it was good-not-great; sounds like that may have been its peak. 
- 2017 Stroebel Champagne Héraclite Brut Nature - France, Champagne (4/6/2024)
No disgorge info. Tirage July 2018. Presumed Pinot Noir based on back label and I believe no dose given some web research I did and the back label. From Villers Allerand, just west of Vilmart. This needed air to unwrap and it does just fine at room temp of 70f. Smoky with light clove signature (oak imprint?). Saline, red fruited like a juicy raspberry flesh. Tangy orange, citrus zest, ginger. Finishes with juicy orange and cranberry. For a no dose style the fruit here shows plenty of purity and expressiveness.
Posted from CellarTracker
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2008 Jean Laurent Champagne La Griffe de l’Ource Blanc de Noirs Brut - France, Champagne (4/6/2024)
100% PN from Celles sur ource. Disg. Aug 2021. Dosage 5g/L.
Light golden color, soft mousse, small vivid bead. On the nose I can already tell this is oaked. Candied apple that is lightly oxidizing, lots of sweet fruit, richness, nutmeg and noticeable oak. Mid palate has some acidity, but it is quickly overwhelmed by a sweet nutmeg-y oak finish. Overall, comes across as higher dosage than it is.
Bottle 1 of 2. I really wanted to like this and tried valiantly for over a week. I don’t think there is anything qualitatively wrong with this; I just tend to dislike lots of oak, and when combined with the dosage and just a bit too much oxidation, this is too heavy for me. The candied vanilla+nutmeg+tropical aspect is not my style and there isn’t sufficient acidity to balance it out. Not a single glass was finished. In its defense, this champagne had astounding stability - it held up over the crazy number of days it was open. I am bummed about not liking this but am not deterred from trying younger, less expensive, bottlings that likely see less oak.
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