Is that the Ayatollah Khomeini on the label?
It looks like you had a Williams Selyem wine as well Brother Frank. What was it and how was it?
Gabby Hayes-Stroebel was a huge fan
Scott…Héraclite — Wikipédia
@Blake_Brown…you know the back label well. 2021 Carignane.
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Great notes. Both Dom Oenos over 96 Salon, a recent WOW wine for me, is monumental.
Extracted from another thread.
@Blake_Brown and @K_John_Joseph, thanks for suggesting I check in on the '08 Comtes.
- 2013 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Rosé Emotion
We started the evening by sabering this bottle. Served cold after pop and pour (more of a whack and pour). It started out restrained and savory, dissimilar enough to my previous bottles that I pondered whether it was slightly corked. It simply needed alone time and warm air to blossom into the wine I know and love. Jubilent strawberry, cherry, orange peel. Some stony mineral notes. A delicious rosé with plenty of structure and material for longevity.
- 2008 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut
Outstanding, paired with ostetra caviar. I’ve been delaying trying the 2008, as I’ve found the vintage in general to be fantastic but late maturing. No regrets, this is in the zone, early in its drinking window. Opens with some flinty matchstick which I love, followed by a perfectly balance throng of flavors and textures. It has that Comtes creamy texture, but remains edgy; pure class. Lemon cream, white orchard fruit, lightly fragrant floral notes, honey, chalk, brioche. It lives up to the hype.
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I am curious what is the purpose of sabering a bottle of champagne other than show and adventure? I can see the point of doing it with a many decades old bottle of port, but why do it with a bottle of Champagne, especially a young one? I can imagine plenty going wrong.
It’s a benefit wine dinner for people who paid generously to a local charity. It’s purely for showmanship and to entertain the guests. I’ve only done it at these events.
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It’s fun and relatively safe unless you are a French Laundry Douchebag™️. Wear eye protection, loosen or remove the wire cage, run the sabrage device (saber, knife, kitchen spoon) up the seam of a very, very cold bottle, and you and the wine will be fine. For more pyrotechnics, submerge the bottle upside down in an ice water bath for a half hour to create more pressure in the bottle.
French Laundry Douchebag™️ Sabrage. https://youtu.be/YkxHfHERrZM?si=j6TX2FlAoeigxWbh
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Wow. Everyone is so happy and excited over wasting a double mag of Champagne.
Rich and oxidative, baked apple/strawberry, mallo…yet piercing lemon cut, chalk dust…nice full mouthfeel and energy…really engaging…I like it!
Love all the info on the label too!
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I’ve had 2 different base vintages of this - one was the same base/blend as yours simply disgorged 6 months earlier in October 2018, and that was very much as you described, and rather enjoyable.
But then I had one based on 2016, 50% reserve, disgorged December 2019 with zero dosage, and that really didn’t work well for my palate: too austere and minerally.
So it seems that the style of this wine is far from constant.
His father owns the restaurant directly across the street from where we live.
I hope the father’s restaurant is better than the son’s saber skills.
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Extracted from a thread just posted re 14 wines, most from the N. Rhone:
2008 de VENOGE LOUIS XV BRUT MILLESIME- I was first attracted to this champagne by its packaging when I saw it on the shelf at one of my favorite wine shops in Amsterdam over 20 years ago; It was pricey, but nonetheless, I bought some and loved it and discovered it was a lot more than just another pretty decorative bottle that Roelanda would want to save and use as a candleholder; I’ve had many bottles of the 1995 and 1996, all being stupendous, but now consumed; so when I saw a recent offering from a nearby wine shop in So Cal, I opted for some from this vintage and this was the first one opened; it is comprised of 50% Pinot Noir from Verzenay and Bouzy combined with 50% Chardonnay from Avize, Le Mesnil sur Oger and Oger and dosed at 6 gpl; following its clear, light medium yellow color came aromas of yellow apple and citrus which on the palate translated into lemon, orange and lime coated with a bit of honey; this was not big, but it was rich, tangy, zingy and showcasing its fine acidity which was most pronounced with the lemon hit in the finish; overall, I’d say this style would have been favored more by Louis XV’s wife, Queen Marie Leczinska, as it was more elegant and sophisticated than big and powerful from a vintage that features such.
Thanks to the Salon, which took everyone’s attention off of this champagne, there was enough left in the bottle to cap it and take it home for another visit and that happened 4 days later and now its a different experience with lots more body and depth along with an almost intense acid/ lemon hit with an accent of ginger and licorice/ fennel that both the kind and queen would have loved.
2002 CHAMPAGNE BOLLINGER LA GRANDE ANNEE BRUT- the hazy, amber gold color suggested some advancement and the nose semi-confirmed it with honeysuckle laden tangerine, orange peel and marmalade notes which continued on all the way through; this bottle was at the stage of just prior to being caramelized with butterscotch and caramel and almonds, and it had me thinking about where it started out with a big, bold and oak influenced profile and how far it has come and how much more can it give? I liked it for where it was on this night and might have preferred it more a year or 2 ago; this is made with 60% Pinot Noir, selected from grand crus on the north and south side of the Montagne de Reims, blended with 40% Chardonnay from Cuis and elsewhere on the Côte des Blancs; after fermentation in cask and aging under cork, the wine was disgorged with a dosage of about 8 gpl.
2002 SALON LE MESNIL BLANC de BLANC- having just had the 1996 a few weeks ago, I was more than delighted to see this coming around and to discover where it is in relation to the still not ready ’96; this is 35th vintage of Salon since the house was founded in 1905 and made from Chardonnay grown only in the Grand Cru village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger; its color was a clear medium yellow and the nose had encouraging and inviting mildly accented minerality and citrus fruit; rich and honeyed apricot marmalade, green apple and lemon was most prominent once tasted, it had a soft and smooth mouthfeel that carried all of its treasures to the back end where it finished on an eyebrow raising upbeat; there is an oft spoken remark about Salon, that whatever vintage, it still needs more time, but that was not necessarily true for this bottle as it was in really good place and I’m wondering how much better can it get? At the end, it was almost unanimously voted the WOTN of all of the 3 champagnes and 6 whites.
Cheers,
Blake
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Was it worth $1,366?
It was on sale! I better go check my receipt!
Glad you popped a 2008 CdC Warren. Great note.
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I drank my only bottle of '17 Guillaume Sergent Pataphysique last night. Along with Ulysse Collin Maillons, the best '17 I’ve tasted. In addition to what you describe, I get a lot of marzipan richness on the palate. I’d buy more if I could find any.
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Had some close friends over to celebrate my wife’s 40th with a private sushi chef and endless food.
2004 Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs - Beautiful vanilla cream driven wine with peach and pear, and shortbread and a bit of yeast. Really elegant, with a hint of honeysuckle. The cool fruit profile and vanilla cream and florals on the palate were delicious, and this was a really excellent way to start the evening.
2012 Dom Perignon I wanted to go cool fruit to cool fruit and this did not disappoint. Pear, lemon, slight reduction, almond, white flowers, hint of mint and cream. Intense and bright and showing its pop and youth. A nice transition to a more lively young champagne.
2008 Billecart Salmon Cuvee Nicolas Francois - Chose something a bit bigger for the next round. This is a fun wine with racy, crisp acidity, bottled extra brut at 3g/l. It’s also brawny, with nice structure and a density of fruit that suggests a very long life ahead. It has strong fruit, apricot, apple, citrus, with lovely orange blossom, spice, and big leesy bready notes. Flashy and excellent, but refined. A high quality champagne.
2006 Henriot Cuvee Hemera - I’ve had this once before and figured it would be a nice finale as a richer perhaps less structured offering. I would guess this has seen some time in wood. It’s a rich expressive wine, if a little less subtly complex and integrated than the three preceding blue bloods. Still, it’s a lovely champagne with punchy apple, stone fruit, orange, spicy ginger, bready goodness, and honeycomb (but without the overt sweetness).
I was very happy with all of the wines and would have been hard pressed to pick a winner. I think the 2004 Dom Ruinart was in a sweet spot, and so maybe that was the most enjoyable wine of the night for me, but not necessarily the wine I’d say was the objectively best wine (the Dom Perignon perhaps, by a nose much smaller than mine, over the BS NF?). All were excellent, with a nice range of styles. It would be fun to have these in a big blind tasting because personal preference would play a huge role in ranking the victor.
Chocolate cake with a large glass of water for dessert.
And then up at 5:45am to get a kid to a baseball tournament for an 8:00 am start a zillion miles away. Yay. Oof.
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