Having some fine Don Perignon tonight, my son is coming to visit.
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2006 Taittinger Comtes- over the years bottles have ranged from very good to great to fantastic with most being great. This one was fantastic.
NV Etienne Calsac Rochefort - a lighter style than the Comtes but lovely and elegant I loved it IIRC disgorgement was some time in 2021 but I didn’t double check
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Drappier Clarevalis:
I selected this bottle to quench my thirst while watching the coverage of tonight’s rather eventful news cycle, believing this would be a rather simple, unobtrusive wine which wouldn’t compete for my attention. I was wrong. My attention was immediately diverted by the deep golden color, surprised at the full body, and couldn’t help but ponder the surprising complexity. I am finding it somewhat difficult to identify the specific flavors, but I am detecting some strawberry jam, red apple, spice and salinity. It has some similarity with many “wild ales” which are co-fermeted with wine grape must, but it’s not aggressively tart and it’s complexities are not mediated by brett. I paid less than $50 for this and think it’s exceptional for the price, though I wish the finish was a bit longer.
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Has anyone had 06 Comtes from mag lately?
Andre Clouet Silver Brit Nature
From Memorial Day:
I have no idea what base year or when disgorgement was. One suggestion was 65% base wine 2014 (36 months on the lees)
35% Solera consisting of:
10% 2013
20% 2012
5% 2010
That seems like too much bottle age for how this showed - young and lively, but what do I actually know?
Felt like it needed more time to mellow out.
Out of magnum. I think this is a well made brut nature. Could use another year + in bottle to integrate a bit more. Drinking pretty well now though.
Lots of lemony, fresh green apple & pear notes. Mineral and saline driven as well, really linear profile which is interesting to me for 100% Pinot Noir - I feel that’s something I usually find in a BdB.
As it opened up more some brioche appeared and added a little roundness, which is why I felt some more time will benefit this.
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In December. Great bottle but not as good as the 750 I had this last week.
My inclination would be to hold for a bit longer bless you have a lot of them. No crime to open now but it will improve further.
In December, really great texture, creamy, nice balance of fruit and acidity. Same bottle as Jay.
This will be my weekend bottle, opened on Thursday night, and may have some even left for Sunday depending on how much I finish tomorrow. Good bottle of Craie, just a little more gentle than its usual build.
- NV Laherte Frères Champagne Nature De Craie Premier Cru Brut Nature - France, Champagne (5/31/2024)
This is the May 2023 disgorgement, my first of three bottles. 100% Chard from the Cote de Blancs holdings, no dosage and no sulfur. Unsure of the base and reserves in this bottle, although these were sold to me as 2019 so have asked Aurelien Laherte to clarify the vintages in this disgorgement. Opened yesterday, am working through the bottle over three days. Like a lot of Brut Nature, this does better when the wine is not hammered with cold, and in fact, this bottle showed the very best when the wine was pretty close to room temp of 69f. If you over-chill this disgorgement, at least for my palate, you will shut the wine down, given what I perceive as its elegance. This is just a more subtle version of Craie, even with less acid than I usually find in this cuvee, too. On the first night, was a lot of golden apple, which seemed to evolve out of the wine on the second day. The wine shifts then to passion fruit, lemon pith, plenty of saline and a lighter frame. But like as usual with Craie, the chalk/soil gets a liquified quality and it embues the wine nicely. This cuvee is never for me rich or sexy Chardonnay, but instead more chiseled, pure in its expression. It's just with this disgorgement, the volume is turned down some and I like it for this nuance.
Posted from CellarTracker
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In addition to '13 DP on Friday, we also drank these on Saturday. '06 DP is meh, and most of us preferred the '07 BdM to the '04 DP P2. Our gracious hosts paired these with some great cheeses and Iberico jamon
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Last Saturday paired with some Oregon coast oysters:
- Bereche Reflet d’Antan Magnum d. 12/2015 - deep golden color, yellow apple, ripe pear, grilled almond nose, and an intriguing hint of slate. Discreet, elegant bubbles. The wine is rich and structured, with the flavors of ripe baked apples and stone supporting what we picked up on the nose.
- Pierre Gerbais Grains de Celles - Perfect ripeness and balance with the extra brut dosage. Love the inclusion of Pinot Blanc in the blend to bring out a smoothness in the mid-palette. Finished with the right amount of quenching acidity and a steely texture.
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Double posted in Wine Talk
A fun and informative champagne symposium highlighting dosage, varietals and region and style
Two wine passionate friends who are members of the Santa Barbara Club, a fine local venue for dining and events, put on an educational symposium type seminar featuring champagne.
One co-hosted the symposium with a third friend who has been a long time wine professional, is quite knowledgable and highly skilled as an excellent presenter.
They utilized handouts and a slide presentation to present some of the basics about the region, the sparkling winemaking process and different styles of champagne while all of us participants tasted through 3 flights of 3 champagnes each, all bottles being generously provided by our co-hosts.
Each flight was creatively used to characterize differences in dosage, varietals and regions while each wine/ flight was reviewed.
The SB Club provided appetizers and stemware and a large, comfortable dining room setting with numerous round tables for the 35-40 of us.
Upon arrival, each person was greeted with a glass of champagne to properly prepare the palate:
NV TAITTINGER LA FRANCAISE BRUT- this is made from a blend that comes from 30 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vineyards, respectively 40% and 60% of the total, from several harvests; it is comprised of 40% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir and 25% Pinot Meunier; a few friends bought a large number of cases of this for every day drinking and I got 2 6 packs and have had a few; all have been like I experienced with this bottle, sweet, citrus laden with mild notes of lemon and lime, nice acidity, a cotton candy like mousse, gracefully feminine and very refreshing.
First Flight of 3 featuring different dosage ranges:
NV AYALA BRUT NATURE AY- zero dosage; it consists of an extended aged blend of 55% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir and 15% Pinot Meunier; I found it interesting this was on the list as, during our visit to the winery many years ago, it was the first wine we were served by our tour guide, who happened to be Herve Augustin, the president of Ayala then; he was so enthralled with the wine, he kept raving about it and refilling our glasses as if we were equally as excited about it; I do remember I liked it, but liked their Rose Majeur better and was holding out for another taste; our bottle on this day was yellow gold in color, spritzy, tangy, rich and savory, offering a flavorful profile that included saline and mineral accented orange zest, watermelon and lemon rind.
NV AGRAPART & FILS 7 CRUS EXTRA BRUT- dosed at 6 gpl; 90% Chardonnay, 10% Pinot Noir; 100% of the fruit comes from estate-owned parcels located in each of the seven villages in the Côte des Blancs: Avize, Oger, Oiry, Cramant, Avenay Val d’Or, Bergères les Vertus, and Mardeuil; following its light yellow color came aromas of bright citrus fruit; once tasted, I first got lemon, then yellow apple, then lemon came back in again in this nice, intense, zippy and tangy treat.
NV DELAMOTTE LES MESNIL sur OGER BRUT- dosed at about 8 gpl; 55% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir from Tours-sur-Marne, Bouzy and Ambonnay and 10% Pinot Meunier; I’ve long been a fan of this house and have had many vintage wines much to my continual delight and, of course, their sister house, Salon, is one of my all time favs; our bottle had a medium yellow color and inviting aromas of fresh citrus and stone fruit which translated into chalk laden lemon, apple, pear and white peach once tasted; it had elegance and charm and yet enough stuff to gets ones attention and respect; it finished with a touch of sweetness.
Second Flight of 3, each a different varietal:
NV RUINART BLANC de BLANC BRUT- 100% Chardonnay; light yellow color in a distinguishing clear glass bottle; this is an old fav revisited with different notes than expected as it had white pepper and allspice accented citrus fruit in the nose and taste that were joined later on by cherry and honey dew melon in this very expressive, flavorful bubbly that featured bright acidity which seemed pronounced at the end.
CHAMPAGNE BOLLINGER PN VZ 16- 100% Pinot Noir from Verzenay with 50% from the base year 2016, blended with reserves from 2006, 2009 and 2015 and dosed at 6 gpl; I’ve had a few bottles of the 2015 version and only a couple of this one and loved them all for their richness, flavorful fruit profile, depth, power and finesse and this bottle followed in line nicely; it had a hazy, gray yellow color and aromas of nectarine, peach and plum and a taste profile with more cherry/ berry notes; it had a smooth and lovely mouthfeel, was round and seamless and simply delightful.
2017 CHARTOGNE-TAILLET ‘les BARRES’ EXTRA BRUT- 100% Pinot Meunier; dosed at 4 gpl; this was fabulous; following its yellow gold color came aromas of mint, minerals and strawberry which were joined on the palate by honeyed lemon, apple and cherry and more as it just kept expanding; it was very big and a little discombobulated and just needs some time to evolve and balance out at which time it should be a stupendous PM.
Third Flight of 3, featuring region and stylistic differences:
2019 VOUETTE et SORBEE BLANC d’ARGILE BRUT NATURE- 100% Chardonnay from a producer located in the village of Buxières-sur-Arce in the Côte des Bar region which is known for Pinot Noir that benefits more from a relatively warmer climate and makes up 86% of all the fruit grown even though the soil type {chalk and clay} is very much like Chablis {which is closer than Reims}; the estate consists of 4 hectares that are organically and bio-dynamically farmed and average 21 years old; this was a wowzer; highlights included its yellow to gold color, autolysis brioche notes that embellished the rich and flavorful honeyed apple, lemon and grapefruit and even some unexpected red cherry in this super soft and smooth textured wine. In a word, it was “delicious”.
NV PAUL BARA GRAND CRU BRUT ROSE- this is dosed near 10 gpl and consists of 68% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay and 12% still Pinot Noir from Bouzy, the capital of the renown Pinot Noir region of Montagne de Reims; this was our house rose years ago and it was still shining ever so brightly on this occasion; the total package is one that provides pure enjoyment as it was full bodied with serious complexity and layers of treasures while sporting a fruit profile that included fresh and ripe honey coated, ginger accented strawberry, raspberry, red grapefruit and red cherry/ berry. Yum!
NV GASTON CHIQUET ‘TRADITION’ BRUT 1er Cru- featuring a champagne from the Grande Valley de la Marne, the blend is 40% Pinot Meunier, 35% Chardonnay and 25% Pinot Noir sourced from Hautvillers 1er Cru, Dizy 1er Cru, Mareuil-sur-Aÿ 1er Cru and Aÿ Grand Cru vineyards; 81% is from 2017, 17% from 2016 and 2% from 2015; it was a lovely, flavorful bubbly that had depth, length and noticeable sweetness, but not cloying; the fruit forward profile included lemon, pear, and apple with a touch of brioche and spice.
This was a fun event and a nice review of some of the basics about champagne aided by the creative themed format and tasting. Additionally, a few pearls were tossed in from time to time as I expected from our highly informed, experienced presenters.
Cheers,
Blake
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Blake is doing Vouette et Sorbee.
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Extracted from my Kauai Travelogue post.
This 2002 Cristal was superb, my best bottle to date. It started out surprisingly like a young Cristal, all lemony. It quickly evolved, showing a kaleidoscope of scents and flavors. Lemon, tangerine cream dream, chamomile, honey, ginger. The finish was endless. We lingered at the restaurant to nurse the last sips and prolong the pleasure as long as possible. This was one of my favorite wine experiences in recent memory.
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Looking for Solera method recommendations. Anyone have like a top 5 list? I know Laherte is a fan fave around here and the “7” is Solera as well as Palmer. Any sleeper producers?
Hmm, wonder if this is going to be too young to drink from mag?
I like Hure Memoire and Mouzon-Lerouxl’Ascendant. I’m particularly smitten at the moment by Hure Memoire, especially the release having 2019 juice in the solera.
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Are those wines actually made with solera or more of a perpetual reserve? Of course, Selosse Substance is an incredible solera wine, but it’s incredibly expensive (for me at least).
I know of only one “true” solera in Champagne and it currently isn’t bottled on its own. What many refer to as solera wines in Champagne are actually perpetual reserves. That includes Selosse’s Substance.
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can one of you please ELI5 the difference between solera and perpetual reserve in the context of champagne?
tysm.
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From Becky Wasserman’s website describing Hure Memoire, to add to the confusion:
- Vinification: From a perpetual solera dating from 1982 to 2020, aged in three foudres. Separate vinification of villages, varieties and parcels all in foudres, partial malolactic fermentation, 10% of the solera is pulled out and bottled and is replaced with wine of the current vintage, secondary fermentation and aging for 2 years on lattes, blended and aged for an additional year in 45 hL barrels. 2 g/L dosage.
I’m a fan whatever it is called.
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