One of my favorites
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NV Jean-Marie Massonnot Champagne Premier Cru “Gamine” Blanc de Noirs - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru (9/2/2024)
PN 65% - PM 35% Blend: 60% 2016, 40% reserve 2015. 6g/l
Disgorgement 4/2023
Light gold color, slightly dull with nary a bubble in the glass but vibrant enough on the palate to be enjoyable. A light intensity nose of warm apple pie a la mode but for me, the palate is the star. Tantalizing and delicious fruit flavors, mostly in the white peach and yellow and green citrus arena, get enhanced with toasty brioche bun and honey-roasted cashew. The creamy texture elevates it another notch, too. Generous in all aspects, except presentation.
3+12+18+9= 92 (92 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker
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Hey hey. Great to see you posting a note, Bob. 
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Probably going to be a long post as I catch up on posting the wines from the past 2 months. Been busy, so notes aren’t as detailed.
First night in our new house.
Krug 167 showed really well. Lemon, nutty, really opened up after a few hours and showed that floral jasmine note I love in Krug.
2010 Billecart Rose I was hoping that this would show better. Declassified Elizabeth Salmon it was good, but lacking precision. Don’t think it was worth the $40ish premium over the NV.
2019 Pierre Paillard Taissy - old vines 100% meunier. Lots of red fruit, some power behind it, but not overwhelming a nice food wine.
I don’t have a picture but, 2014 Franck Bonville Les Belles Voyes. Really enjoyed this. Muscular, but fresh red fruit, some tart lemon and creamy palate.
This was a fun get-together/tasting.
Standouts were the Jacquesson Memoire du XX Siecle - this was based on the 1996 Non-Vintage champagne, with reserve wines from 1994 and 1995, and a concoction of liqueurs de dosage from 20 vintages, ranging from 1915 to 1990. This bottle was disgorged in January 1999 before the turn of the century. Ripe yellow fruits, caramel, some mushroom long long finish. A special wine for sure.
1996 Chartogne-Taillet Fiacre pretty similar to the Jacuesson in nature, but slightly more oxidative. I enjoyed drinking both.
Pierre Peters- good as always, linear and vibrant.
Bollinger PN 16 - my first time having the PN cuvee from them. I love Pinot based champagnes and this doesn’t disappoint. A fresher style than their NV cuvee.
Savart Ephemere 017 - off the list at a new restaurant for my birthday. I was really disappointed in this. Perhaps it didn’t get the air that it required at this age. But this was bitter on the finish, so much so that it was hard to see the other qualities of it.
Bereche - 06/23 disgorgement. Much better than the Savart. Lemon backbone, hazelnuts, touch of honey. One of those that you want to savor, but it disappears too quick.
And lastly, Pierre Gimmonet Cuis BdB - out of magnum, a delayed birthday bottle from my girlfriend (she’s a keeper). 2/6/2023 disgorgement. Base of 2018 with reserves back to 2011. I’ve found Gimmonet to be hit or miss, this was a hit though. Enjoyed throughout the day on Labor Day and it has a seashell/rocky minerality carrying throughout the whole wine that made me keep going back.
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2018 base. Brought this to The Shota in San Francisco for dinner, which despite its price point has a great flat corkage fee of $35 (that’s cheap here). This was an awesome bottle of champagne; one of the best I’ve had this year. Somehow dense while also being light on its feet, this wine really grabbed my attention. It is a beautiful expression of meunier—vibrant fruit/strawberries/spice that never veered into the cloying profile I get from some meunier dominated champagnes.
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From last night, with @Sean_Kennedy as the host/curator of the wines. The Billiots were done in reverse order, starting with most expensive to least. I thought that was a smart way by Sean to feature how price may not always be the indicator of quality/experience. For me, it held true, as I thought the least expensive Billiot was the most interesting to drink.
Thank you guys for once again keeping our group chugging along. As I told @Chris_Seiber last night, despite how much I drink and try and stay caught up on Champagne, the more I know it seems the less I end up knowing!
- 2015 H. Billiot Fils Champagne Grand Cru Brut Millésimé - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (9/5/2024)
Bookclub (served blind)--Sean: January 2022 disgorgement, 6 grams. The Billiot website says this is a blend of Pinot and Chard, dunno how much of either. Their site and for sure their back labels could use some attention to increase the information about the wines FWIW. Toast aroma (and to a degree in the palate), lemon peel and nice texture that works for me. My notes tried to capture the texture--I wrote smooth overlaying some chalk that finds its way into the finish, which also showed some lemon curd. Later in the meal, I found some green banana on the wine. - NV H. Billiot Fils Champagne Grand Cru Brut Réserve - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (9/5/2024)
Bookclub (served blind)--Sean: Of the three Billiot that Sean curated for this blind flight, the table was pretty much in agreement that this was the most interesting, making for a 'stop and think'. 8.5 grams of dosage, March 2023 disgorgement. Mostly Pinot with some Chard, according to the Billiot website. I got lots of stone fruit in the wine, kinda like a stone fruit pie filling--mainly peach and nectarine. Plus, some cinnamon, and again some pie crust. The nuances and flavors that jet around in this wine were cool to me. - NV H. Billiot Fils Champagne Grand Cru Essence de Billiot - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (9/5/2024)
Bookclub (served blind)--Sean: Not much back label info, other than March 2022 disgorgement. Their website says 100% Pinot Noir, only 500 numbered bottles made. The wine seemed brassy to me. Orange oil, spicy, kumquat, lime peel, with a green apple/lime finish. This is their most expensive cuvee yet I found the other two cuvees of their in the flight (the vintage and the NV) to be better for my palate, at 1/2 to 3/4 of the price of this Essence. - NV Laherte Frères Champagne Blanc de Noirs Brut Nature - France, Champagne (9/5/2024)
Bookclub (served blind)--Sean: May 2023 disgorgement. Equal parts Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier without dosage. This was a stumper, as it showed more lemony quality than the previous two bottles I have opened. Bread dough nose, juicy with a lot of texture and good bones, meaning my notes say I like the way the wine seems built. It fans out and expresses the lemon quality with the same mineral/stoniness that I got from the previous bottles. Finished with a spicy, lemon oil quality. Later on retaste, finally get dark cherry in the finish. I enjoyed this but on this particular night, as this was paired with the Vilmart T15, that wine just hit me better. - NV Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier Œnothèque T15 - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru (9/5/2024)
Bookclub (served blind)--Sean: February 2017 disgorgement. Well, this bottle is certainly way better than the corked one we had several weeks ago. When this was served blind, it was on the colder side and it was coming across to me as shut down from the temp. Only when the temp was naturally changed and it got warmer did the Vilmart signature come through for me. When cool, more pear and green apple, with an intense, chalky finish. The orange citrus settles in with air and the softer temp, along with red apple and some creamy cranberry. Then, when we were wrapping up the meal, I poured another half ounce and the white flower aroma was beautifully there. It reminds me of eight night jasmine and/or honeysuckle. I am jazzed that this bottle came through, and the experiment of seeing Grand Cellier with some age showed nicely.
Posted from CellarTracker
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They say Clos des Goisses does not drink well young. Well they (I include myself) were dead wrong. This was shockingly good for a young CdG. Starts off with lots of biscuity notes, and a good, but not overpowering amount of acidity, grapefruit, toasted nuts, ginger, spice. I never would have called this as a CdG. Great match with the fried chicken and kimchi at Atoboy.
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Wow, color me shocked! That’s great that it showed so beautifully. I’d rather be wrong and have a delicious wine, than be right and struggling with a closed one.
Some of the CT notes indicated that this was drinking well and I was suspicious of that having had many bottles of '96 that were underwhelming at a similar age. I was shocked.
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Just posted in the main body of Wine Talk for those who do not frequent this thread in hopes that they may.
There’s an old saying about making lemonade out of lemons and a good example of that just occurred when a number of us had expressed interest in going to a local restaurant’s Labor Day weekend promotion of doing a brunch and serving “endless” pours of Krug for something less that $200.
Come to find out, the pours were not endless and there was an extra charge for those that were Krug; so, we re-considered and a couple came to the rescue, offering their home as a venue for doing champagne with an emphasis on Krug lemonade.
This turned out to be a spectacular event with about 20 righteously good people attending and everyone bringing delicious appetizers and delicacies to compliment the wondrous tuna ceviche and more prepared by our hosts and we drank exceedingly well.
Although there was no specification for bringing the Grand Cuvee in particular, we had 8 in a row to start things off, before the one and only vintage Krug was opened followed by a Dom Perginon, 2 Taittinger Comtes, Bollinger GA and 2 Ruinart, a fine day of some exquisite lemonade for sure.
Our hosts contributed the first bottle of Krug and it was stupendous and in a magnum. Here’s some notes:
NV KRUG GRANDE CUVEE 168eme EDITION BRUT in magnum- this is a blend of 198 wines from 11 different years, the youngest is from the year 2012, while the oldest is 1996; the final composition is 52% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay and 13% Meunier; following its light yellow color came rich aromas of ginger infused orchard fruit which on the palate translated into yellow apple, pear and orange peel with a coat of honey and an accent of toasty brioche; it was absolutely delicious and its creamy mouthfeel added to its allure; we got off to a great start and I just settled into my chair, took a nice deep breath and held out my glass for another pour of the next gem.
NV KRUG GRANDE CUVEE 164eme EDITION BRUT, 1 of 2 bottles- this was superlative; it took a few minutes for it to reveal some of its treasures, but then it just opened up and kept evolving into one of the best bottles I’ve had of many wondrous 164s, one of my favs of all the Editions; yes, it was super rich, creamy, weighty and full bodied providing a thrust of honeyed yellow apple and a hint of ginger all the way to the back end, but its hallmark was its impeccable balance; this is a blend of 127 wines from 11 different years, the youngest of which is from the epic 2008 vintage and the oldest coming from 1990; the final composition is 48% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay and 17% Meunier.
NV KRUG GRANDE CUVEE 161eme EDITION BRUT, 1 of 2 bottles- after 2 other Editions that were more orchard fruit oriented, this showcased some bracing acidity and a citrus fruit profile with lemon, lime and orange zest most prominent; about mid palate, a nice toasty brioche accent came in to help it finish on a truly grand scale; this bottle continued to evolve and improve in the glass while sporting a creamy, rich, super pleasing experience; I needed more time and another glass to hang with this to see where it would eventually land, but it was really good and much better than I had remembered the Edition to be; 44 % Pinot Noir, 37% Chardonnay and 19% Meunier; a blend of 134 wines from 12 different years, the youngest of which is from 2005, while the oldest dates back to 1990.
NV KRUG GRANDE CUVEE 164eme EDITION BRUT, the 2nd of 2 bottles- we were sort of relegated to drinking what was showing up as folks arrived and when we saw a dup here, it was the perfect time to do the comparison with the first bottle one bottle removed from our palates; this bottle was very different giving a green, unripened fruit type profile that started to change for the better after about 20 minutes in the glass which was a luxury on this day; the most prominent taste note was of spearmint; it definitely had some of the expected richness and was overall, very good, but it seemed to be understated and not quite ready to give to the extent of its earlier predecessor.
NV KRUG GRANDE CUVEE 167eme EDITION BRUT- I’ve had only a few of this Edition and was not all that impressed with them, but this bottle made up for all of those as it possessed an amazing amount of richness while showcasing a bright and cheerful persona, bursting with acid laced citrus fruit plus some delicious yellow peach and apricot while being delivered in a medium to full bodied texture; as such, it was refreshing, fun and intriguing; 58% is from its base year of 2011 and the remaining 42% is from 12 vintages of reserve wines the oldest being 1995 and the youngest 2011 with some 191 wines make up the blend; 47% Pinot Noir, 36% Chardonnay, 17% Meunier.
NV KRUG GRANDE CUVEE 161eme EDITION BRUT, the 2nd of 2 bottles- what is it about 2nd bottles of the same wine when the first is spectacular and then the 2nd is something other than that? We had it again here with this one having musty, dusty, kind of tired and worn out notes in the nose and on the palate; with time, it changed for the better but never shedding its must and dust; this would have been a good candidate to put aside and revisit had I prepared for such.
NV KRUG GRANDE CUVEE 170eme EDITION BRUT- this is a blend of 195 wines from 12 different years, the youngest of which is from 2014, while the oldest dates back to 1998; the final composition is 51% Pinot Noir, 38% Chardonnay and 11% Meunier; the color was just a bit advanced yellow gold and more mature aromas showed up in the form of butterscotch and caramel, but fresh ginger accented yellow peach and apricot toned it down in this creamy and delicious bubbly; additional notes of hazelnut, mandarin orange and honeydew melon joined in and it was a nice tasty treat being round, layered and long.
NV KRUG GRANDE CUVEE ?eme EDITION BRUT- the one who brought this bottle stated it was disgorged about 2001-2002 and based on 1990 or an early 1990s vintage; the golden color confirmed some age as did the aromas of musty, dusty, caramel, minty and honeyed coated apricot, tangerine and honeysuckle; it had some weight and an oily texture and as such, was full bodied, super rich and simply delightful and charming with some underlying power.
2003 KRUG BRUT- ID# 214029; although 03` was a hot vintage, Krug declared this vintage naming it “Vivacité Solaire” (Vivacious Radiance) as they were surprised to find really good fruit with freshness, balance, expressiveness, vivacity and finesse; I acquired 3 bottles with a little trepidation although I have such great respect for the house and trusted this had to be worth the purchase and I was not disappointed with this first bottle as it was fabulous; following its gold yellow color came fresh baked apple and citrus fruit joined by slightly toasted brioche, mild hints of caramel and almonds; it had loads of power and a bit of finesse and charm; 46% Pinot Noir, 29% Chardonnay, 25% Pinot Meunier.
I failed to get a photo of my own bottle= too much fun
Next up, all of the other champagnes of which there were at least 7:
2006 DOM PERIGNON- I was happy to see this as I’d had many, especially when it was first released and then it was drinking beautifully albeit youthfully; this bottle, not so much; it seemed a bit green and unevolved and the honeyed, spicy citrus fruit I’d enjoyed previously, was nowhere to be found nor was there much acidity; in fact, this was flat and ungiving and after so many wonderful Grug GCs, I moved on to a Krug rose.
NV KRUG BRUT ROSE 22eme Edition- this is a blend of 22 wines from 5 different years, the youngest of which is from 2010, while the oldest dates back to 2005; it includes an addition of 9% traditionally macerated Pinot Noir red wine from the House’s plot in Mareuil sur Ay; the final blend is 56% Pinot Noir, 28% Meunier and 16% Chardonnay; I loved this with its bright red cherry profile embellished by some nice mature yellow apple; it was crisp and acidic, yet soft and lush and engaging and served to put the cherry on top of the Grande Cuvees.
2014 BOLLINGER LA GRANDE ANNEE BRUT- 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay, aged 6 year sur lie and dosed at 6 gpl; in my mind, it was so fitting to have a Bollie in a lineup heavy with Krug and the oak accent in this bottle spoke to that; this was redolent of toasty, oak chip laden apple, hazelnut and caramel, all of which continued on all the way through; the aromatics and tastes were so intensely pronounced and made for a wonderful rich and full on experience.
2008 TAITTINGER COMTES de CHAMPAGNE BLANC de BLANC- this was a good bottle of the Comtes, full bodied, so giving and lots to give; it had power and finesse, class and charm; the frothy feel good mousse added a tactile sense treat as did the flavor profile which consisted of lemon, lime, orange zest, yellow apple and honeydew melon; this bottle was more in balance that other more recent ones and I take that as an encouraging sign that the 2008 is getting closer to a place that will consistently please more palates and expand upon the many fine experiences I’ve had in both 750 ml and 1.5 L bottles.
2007 TAITTINGER COMTES de CHAMPAGNE BLANC de BLANC- I’ve had quite a few of this and the rose and always seem to be surprised and impressed as I’ve tended to downgrade the vintage and yet both are wonderful and have shown exceptionally well every time; this bottle was ready to please and please it did with nice, bright acidity and a wondrous taste profile of honeyed fresh citrus with lemon and lime most prevalent; it had a nice frothy texture and seemed to expand after a few minutes in the glass; loved it once again. I’m a believer.
2007 DOM RUINART BLANC de BLANC BRUT- I liked this with its creamy, super fresh honeyed apple profile that prevailed from the first nose on; it had some surprising weight, was full bodied and finished somewhat brief where everything kind of faded into the sunset and on out or it was just my palate just protesting and asking for a break.
2010 DOM RUINART BLANC de BLANC EXTRA BRUT- this was so much more open and giving than the 2007 and it shined in every way with its youthful, vibrant, highly energetic charge from the nose through the tail; the mineral infused lemon entry notes were sublime and the spicy, creamy yellow apple on the palate was mindful of apple pie al a mode; 100% Chardonnay sourced from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Avize, Chouilly and Cramant (90%) and 10% from Sillery, situated in the northeast of the Montagne de Reims sector; dosage is 4 gpl; this was the first vintage since the 1960s to see tirage under natural cork in lieu of crown caps.
Wow! Wow! Wow! This was such a fine day and I was in my bliss just sitting in the fresh breeze from the nearby ocean with good friends and pouring one amazing champagne after another with lots of mutual love and appreciation being shared. In front of me was a table spread with tons of food, but I was just in a tasting and wine appreciation mood and sustained a stationary position during the first couple of hours with a glass of something great in hand.
As I have so often been heard to say, “ I could do this every day”.
Cheers,
Blake
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What a sensational post. I was kind flitting through this and then decided I want to take some real time with it. Great notes, great tasting. Hot dang.
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I’ve underbought this wine every time I’ve ever bought it. I never learn.
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Bottle I opened a couple weeks ago was so playful and delicious.
Excessible!
Blake, thanks for the notes, what a great event. Your post makes want to bring some bubbles to the beach and chill, too bad I have to go to work :(.
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Oh Krug, your consistency in pleasing my palate is unmatched in the wine world. All that briochey toasty goodness. This was still youthful and bright. Stunner!
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Haven’t dipped into my stash since January. I don’t remember the last bottle well enough to judge the evolution, but I do recall saying it walked softly and carries a big stick. I stand by that assessment. This a delicate bottle of fizz, seemingly unsubstantial at first, but as it warms it gains in concentration without adding much weight. It bursts with Red Delicious, Harry and David pears and cherry. As the fruit subsides, herbs grab the torch - mint and ginger - and there is a subtle undercurrent of salt and chalk with just a hint of coffee grounds. This is rounder and less obviously brut nature than I remember, but I wouldn’t bet money on the accuracy of my taste memories. Delicious and keenly priced.
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Probably my favorite champagne of all. Thanks for the note!
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Blake - Nice to see you are still living the good life. Thanks for the great notes.
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