this is worse than the rule against perpetuities (which may apply to solera!).
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I’d recommend Dehours Brisefer, Ruppert-Leroy 11,12,13, and Andre Clouet 1911.
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Amazing, bookmarked these. Wife and I did the whole get married via government building and signing some papers. We will eventually have a proper dinner party to celebrate, but I want to supply the wine.
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Michael
I believe this bottle was from the original release. I recall @Brad_Baker opining those could have used more time on the lees and might peak early (I think he said that about both the original and some of the later releases).
Based on my bottle last night, it should be beautiful out of a magnum, with the caveat that more mature notes will come with more bottle age. I guess it depends on how many you have, and how old you are.
Cheers,
Warren
I don’t think they late released magnums; I believe this is from the original release. I have a couple 02 Cristal mags, so will probably give it a shot.
I don’t think I’ll ever have a shortage of champagne to drink, although I don’t have so many magnums, maybe 100.
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These were all excellent, though the Pierre Peters (like many ‘08s) could use some more time. The Agrapart (2014) was on point- chalky minerality, yellow fruited, zippy acidity. The Substance was the essence of Selosse- slightly oxidative, vinous, incredible complexity- a monumental Champagne that is utterly unique. An absolute delight.
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Todd,
I agree.
That was a stellar lineup. Was it a special occasion, or just another day in the life?
Cheers,
Warren
I think the key here is the part of the sentence in bold. In Champagne, a lot of the producers will refer to their réserve perpétuelle as solera. Is it a “true” Spanish solera with criaderas? No.
So I would say that in the context of champagne, assume that solera means réserve perpétuelle.
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Thanks very helpful. And that’s just older juice that is both taken from to make new wine AND topped up with newer wine?
Ha!
I’d love it if it were just another day in the life! We were celebrating a couple of birthdays.
Having said that, with this particular crowd, the Peters and Agrapart would be pretty standard fare. The Substance, not so much…
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Yes. Topped up with wine from the latest vintage.
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Olivier Horiot makes an excellent one. Pretty sure it’s called “Solera.”
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Perpetual Reserve is a barrel/vat/foudre/container/etc… of wine that contains multiple vintages and has a new vintage added to it whenever some is removed. It can be bottled directly from the “container” or a winemaker may choose to blend different containers of perpetual reserve wine prior to bottling. For a while, the perpetual reserve was also called a psuedo-solera although that term seems to have disappeared. Historically, many smaller producers kept their reserve wines in this style although some didn’t let the perpetual reserve get that old before starting a new one.
A solera is just as it is defined. You have criaderas and the wine works its way down from the top level of barrels to the bottom. From what I have tasted in Champagne, a true solera leads to a very oaky wine with quite a bit of oxidation and some volatility. The oxidation can be controlled to a degree and the volatility can be solved with sulfur. It would be interesting to try a solera that was done in all stainless steel as the oakiness is what I struggle with the most. Champagne with years and years in oak prior to bottling is interesting, but not what I prefer.
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as always, thank you.
I second Clouet’s 1911 and I have enjoyed the two bottles I’ve had of A. Bergere blanc de blanc Solera.
I can’t think of any other Soleras off the top of my head.
Edit: another one I thought of is Mousse cuvee Eugene, it’s a perpetual blend.
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I had another one this weekend. Very good QPR in France. Not sure what pricing is abroad. Disclaimer: we sell this.
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I’ve seen it for $50-$60 in the US. Which is still a good QPR to me.
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Totally agree! 
Brad’s post finally cemented in my mind the distinctions between a solera and a perpetual reserve. A solera is a stacked system of barrels with the youngest on top and oldest on bottom. As wine is drawn out of the bottom cask, it and each cask is partially filled only with wine from the adjacent tier. A perpetual reserve can be a single barrel, with each withdrawal replaced by a more recent vintage.
I love Clouet 1911, and have been posting glowing tasting notes for some time now. It started with an accidental purchase. It was by-catch in a mixed auction lot that include old Krug GC (my target). Those old bottles of 1911 turned out to be stunners. From my understanding, Un Jour de 1911 is a perpetual reserve rather than a solera. Here’s a great source of information on Clouet.
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and thanks to your many posts, I bought and am a fan of the Clouet 1911- it is good enough to be a target on its own.
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