Alexandre Filaine DMY and 2004 Diebolt-Vallois Fleur de Passion last night at a local sushi restaurant. Both showed brilliantly, but both blown away by the 2008 Kikuhime BY.
The DMY needed a lot of air, as usual, this time starting out with some uncharacteristically tropical notes. The 2004 was the best bottle I’ve had of this excellent FdP, and based on this showing goes up there with the Comtes de Champagne as best of the vintage.
Extracted from a thread just posted re 4 wines tasted blind at dinner:
2005 PERRIER-JOUET BELLE EPOQUE BRUT ROSE- blind; since the bottle is one of those rare clear glass ones {with a beautiful pink flower design with an embossed anemone motif recalling the emblematic flower of the house, designed by French Art Nouveau pioneer Emile Gallé in 1902}, our provider poured it out of a brown bag; it was also clear this was a rose from its light pink salmon color and that it was a winner from its enticing aromas and lovely taste profile albeit quite different from the “normal” rose; in a few words, this was peaches and cream, but there was more with fresh mango and mature yellow apple notes as well; it was rich and full bodied, yet its frothy feel good mousse served to lighten it up; my first guess was it was a vintage Roederer Estate L’Ermitage Rose from California, but then it did not have the strawberry and red cherry/ berry fruit profile I remembered from that release; so, I had no clue what it was and where it came from. I was unable to find the actual blend, but the house did state it was atypically predominate with Chardonnay due to the vintage as opposed to Pinot Noir.
Cheers,
Blake
My friend has now taken over the US import portfolio for champagne Jeeper. Interesting story about the guy aiding an American soldier and the Army gifting him a Jeep as a “Thank You”.
The wines remind me of really citruses limey Grand Cru Chablis. It goes through malo, aged 4-5 years on lees, and barrel aged. The acidity screams in these wines and they also have a unique bottle shape. I would say these wines are for the nerds. They view themselves as Chardonnay specialists, but the Pinot Noir is also exceptional. I’d pick up their Blanc de Noir and assemblage.
Champagne & italian night. No formal notes but Clenadestin Austral base 2019 was drinking very well and ended up being everyone’s WOTN. Vinous, pinot-focused and acidic without being bone dry.
2014 Roederer Vintage on deck for tonight. Haven’t had this one yet. Will report back.
Had a bottle of 242 with fish this week. It is great bottle for $50-ish dollars.
Finally made it to Razza in Jersey City. Very good pizza, $25 corkage with 2 bottle limit, but they let us open 8. Started with '06 Comtes (not pictured) and nothing to add, still a lovely bottle. It was a toss-up between the '08 LGA and '02DP P2. Both were good, but that’s about it.
I love Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque and Rosé
Agreed. It’s not just a pretty bottle anymore. Some of these are really good and do aged nicely.
2002 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne.
This was a stunner, so much richer, more complex and satisfying than even my high expectations. Not fragile, can be kept for longer, but when it’s this amazing, why wait?
From CT review:
Stunning right from the get go. Significantly heavier feel than I expected. Lemon chiffon up front, pear in the middle, and an explosive and unique finish of coffee and grapefruit pith (sounds bad but believe me it’s not). A little salted caramel and slate on the sides. Very fine and plentiful bead. I expected CdC to be good. I didn’t expect it to be this good and this unusual. Expressive, complex, and deserving of being had on its own.
Score: 96. Relative to expectations: +++
I miss the days when I could get these for $100 or less.
First time on a Stephane Regnault wine last night. I was not overly impressed. Nothing wrong, but nothing there to make me want to seek more. Not cheap. Needed more dosage imo.
2020 base, 10% rerserves. Disg 2023
2g/l
Tim Stroebel Coteaux Pinot Meunier 2018
936 bottles, 14.5%
Super energetic, almost like it’s from tank, maybe just a touch of RS even. Super juicy, crunchy fruit, plum and sloe. Quite firm tannins. Very full bodied. Remarkable Coteaux.
(I’ve sold his wines in the past - never this one).
If you don’t want to finish the bottle, it looks like your feline wingman is ready to take it off your hands.
Extracted from a thread just posted re a Too Many Fine Wines Dinner Group outing:
2005 TAITTINGER COMTES de CHAMPAGNE BRUT ROSE- it had been a few years since I last opened one of these and this night seemed to be the ideal time to check in again and happily so, as it shined ever so brightly; the color had a copper amber hue and the nose was replete with clove, nutmeg and spice laden red raspberry and red cherry with a burnt accent, all of which continued on all the way through to the back end; it was delivered in a creamy, frothy textured mousse with a bit of weight which added a serious component to the whole package; it was rich and had some layered depth and as such, came off as a light heavyweight to use a boxing term. When it came time to vote, this and the 4 whites {Burgundy} were combined into one category and it was the WOTN against some stiff competition.
Cheers,
Blake
Sunday Brunch with
Nowack Les Terres Bleues
Really beautiful stuff here. 100% :Meunier
Wow.
Delicious
This 2014 Roederer is a delicious wine. It shows a hair sweet with an 8g/l and the fruit profile is pretty heavily pinot noir oriented with sweet pear and a cool white fruit note. The wine smells almost a touch reductive, with a hint of a stony flinty oyster shell note, and a touch of white flowers. It’s a nice jump up from the 242/244 offerings, and is really classy stuff, smooth, complex enough, and nicely balanced. I know this should be “mini cristal” but I admit that I could miss this in a blind tasting for something like 2010 Dom Perignon.
Well I saw some more, still at the ~US$34 that I used to pay so I got a couple in. This is still a very decent general-purpose fizz with a nicely judged 5g/l dosage. Very decent QPR indeed at that price, albeit with no particular “wow” factor for me.
