Extracted from Mike Evans post on our get together last night. Before a bunch of N.Rhones we had some bubbles. I thought the '12 Dethune was drinking great and edged out the 13 Comtes that just needs some time imo. First 13 for me. A lot of good material in place.
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Here’s some notes on a previous bottle;
2008 LAURENT-PERRIER BRUT MILLESIME in magnum- 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir; dosed at 8 gpl; I’ve enjoyed many a bottle of this fine champagne that retains its elegance and finesse throughout even though it comes from a vintage that is known for complexity and power; although this was in a magnum format, it resembled previous 750 ml bottles having really nice bright acidity with a fruit profile of lemon zest, lime, apple and pear fruit, a tactile pleasing creamy mousse and a palate cleansing finish, but the operative word here is still ELEGANCE.
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Mucho gracias Blake for the TN. I’m going to open the 08 this weekend to have with some smoked scallops and polenta. Cheers.
May you have the best bottle ever.
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2007 Salon Le Mesnil Cuvée S Blanc de Blancs
Fairly open for business with lovely nose with some ginger and scone. Exquisite palate with elegant bead and crisp acidity. Much more expressive than the 06 and drinking at prime, although it’ll likely stay here for some time. Super finish.
Woof 
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This evening, to kick the weekend off (whatever that means in my retired state), a wine that I’ve been coming back to for several years, and it never disappoints.
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It’s been quite a few years, but the last time I had NV Veuve, it was served blind along with a bunch of grower Champagnes, and the nose reminded me very intensely of the times when I was a kid and we went to the hair salon to pick my grandmother up. Everyone in the place was getting a perm. I haven’t tried Veuve since. 
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Krug 168 in a 375. Fabulous! Probably the best 168eme that I’ve drank. Great palate presence, deep, long, balanced, wonderful texture, totally delicious!
Krug ID 418038. Base 2012. Disgorged Autumn 2018 so a little less time then a 750, but drinking better than the 750s I have tried.
Perfect with some seared sushi grade salmon, baby bok choy (Yakatori Farms) and Koshihikari rice, all from Mitsuwa.
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A little light through the mid, probably due to vintage, but food filled it in and it opened up nicely.
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Marie Copinet Monsieur Leonard Brut Millesime Blanc de Blancs 2013:
Intense, full-bodied palate with bracing acidity and a mouthful of chalk. It is austere in character, however, there is a low key opulence in the middle which gives the wine a sensitive side. It has good breadth, nice length, and assertive salinty. This is a wine with tete de cuvee ambitions, and the wine suffers for not being able to deliver on the promise of such grandness, lacking the expected silkiness and purity of its fruit. That having been said, for $54, this is more than acceptable.
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I love Krug in the format, although I pushed the envelope buying some really old half bottles that have gotten a little long in the tooth. I posted a note on one a little ways up-thread, but have in the past reported on a lot of more recent iterations that have shown incredibly well like yours.
Cheers,
Warren
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Capped off a beast of a work week with two exceptional bottles. Both of these keep getting better.
The Krug 165 is an outstanding rendition. You don’t need to be close to the glass to capture the intense aromas of gingerbread and brioche, oranges and lemons, flowers and minerals.
I was worried the 2011 Larmandier Bernier VV du Levant might struggle in the shadow of the GC, but it confirmed its place at the top of my list of champagne from that challenging vintage. Nearly as powerful as the Krug, with buttered almonds, lemons and pears. A fantastic showing, and a great night out with friends.
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1990 Cristal Millennium Cuvée 6L. Opened this for a holiday party. (Merry Princemas, y’all.) There was some seepage and significant corrosion of the foil, capsule, and top of the cork, but the color and fill level were great. Like other large bottles I’ve opened, the cork was super tight and yielded stubbornly.
I’ve had 1990 Cristal perhaps twice before, but the Millennium Cuvée was on an entirely different level. It was a light golden color (lighter than the photo below suggests). There was good structure but it wasn’t tight. Still very good acidity. There was only a hint of mature Champagne flavors, a bit of honey, a suggestion of butterscotch and caramel. Instead, the dominant flavors were citrus and brioche. The wine had incredible texture and mouth feel without seeming heavy or remotely syrupy. And it had a wonderful, lingering finish. Truly one of the best, most memorable Champagnes I’ve experienced. The last glasses three hours into dinner tasted better than the first. I have one more of these, and I figure I’ll wait 5-10 years at least and open it well in advance so it gets plenty of air.
Incidentally, we didn’t notice until the end that this particular bottle was No. 1. Cool, that.
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The rare recent bottle of Krug! I have at least one, maybe two of these. Thanks for the check in!
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Awesome!
I attended another massive annual Champagne tasting at Esquin Wine Merchants tonight. It appears they heard my critique of the format last year and went with white wine glasses and didn’t overly chill the bottles. I got more out of this tasting than I ever have. Standouts were the Tete de Cuvees, which hasn’t always been the case. The 172 Krug made me weak in the knees. The 2013 Comtes was also open and delicious, and for once, I even enjoyed the Dom Perignon, which I have never liked at a tasting. We had the 2015, which was a little more generous at this early stage, and opened up nicely as I nursed it. There was only one bottle of the 2008 Rare, and I was next in line as they poured the end of the stash. The 26 Grand Siecle quickly erased any disappointment about not getting to taste the Rare. The 2015 Grande Annee was also open and seductive, though it was far less impressive than the Krug, Grand Siecle,and Comtes. The Grand Siecle was almost as impressive as the Krug, with a rich and full bodied palate without weight. The 2015 Grande Dame and Cristal disappointed and were inferior, at least at this stage, to many less prestigious bottles.
Standouts among the more affordable wines included the 2014 Jose Michel Clos St. Jean Blanc de Blancs, which was dry but rich with excellent breadth and length - an outrageous QPR. I also adored the Rose and Blanc de Blancs from Ruinart.,which are not such great values, but excellent wines whixh held their own after a generous pour of Krug GC.
A new producer to me, Soutrain, impressed with rich and extroverted Ambonnay fruit. The Rose de Saignee was particularly interesting, tasting very much like a relatively light red Burgundy. It spends a whopping 11 years on the lees.
My favorite wines which were not tete de cuvees were the 2015 Gosset Millesime and the Grand Rose, both of which showed excellent concentration, a bit of opulence and tremendous elegance. I need to pay more attention to this estate.
I was also impressed by a few wines I had not particularly enjoyed previously. The Boizel brut reserve was round and extroverted with grood breadth and was just a joyous tipple. Same for the Roederer 244, which is my first taste of this iteration. I was not impressed with the 243. The Delamotte Brut really showed well and was superior to the NV Blanc de Blancs. I have been bored by this wine in the past, but it had a level of concentration and nuance I hadn’t experienced previously.
The wines that most disappointed incleded the Billecart Salmon Rose. It’s not awful but nothing about it stood out for $114 a bottle. I’ld much prefer an Alfred Gratien Rose at half the price. I did enjoy the Sous Bous, but it was also too pricey at $104. I was also disappointed with the Camile Saves Rose, which came across as virtually flavorless, and I was left wondering why this bottle has such a rabid fan base.
I really wanted to hate the high end wines, but alas, I walked away thinking I need to buy four bottles of Krug a year.
Sorry for the lack of detail. Too many wines and very generous pours. I can’t believe I wrote all this before passing out.
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Wow, sounds like a great tasting! Thanks for the notes. It’s almost worth me driving down next year.
Cheers,
WT
The pours were really generous. Worth the trip in my opinion.
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