Which Champagne are you drinking?

[Warren_Taranow]

@Sean_S_y_d_n_e_y

For all the Comtes-heads out there: my wedding is coming up in October, and I’ve got two bottles of 2008 in the cellar

I’m someone who prefers my Champagne with some age, and I’ve found that many 2008s are still waiting to hit their ideal drinking window. However, in this case, I’m with @K_John_Joseph. Here’s part of my TN from a month ago: I’ve been delaying trying the 2008, as I’ve found the vintage in general to be fantastic but late maturing. No regrets, this is in the zone, early in its drinking window. Opens with some flinty matchstick which I love, followed by a perfectly balance throng of flavors and textures. It has that Comtes creamy texture, but remains edgy; pure class. Lemon cream, white orchard fruit, lightly fragrant floral notes, honey, chalk, brioche. It lives up to the hype.

Cheers, and Congratulations!!!

[Frank_Murray_III]

Congratulations to you and your big milestone later this year. All the best, Sean.

[Mark_Maddox]

Our own Michael Chang hooked me up. My son-in-law and I were conspiring to open one or more of these early but we were apparently too loud and got busted so we are shut down until the boss is off the wagon. And in case anyone asks, grandparent is the best period…full stop.

[Warren_Taranow]

Retirement week celebrations continue. We were invited over to some new friends and neighbors for appetizers, joined by old friends who had sold them the house. I brought a bottle of 2009 Philipponnat Clos des Goisses. CdG can demand patience, but this bottle was drinking beautifully. Rich and ripe, with baked apple up front, then dense raspberry, spice, and a strong mineral core. Broad-shouldered and powerful, balanced by firm acidity. Still gaining complexity after several hours in the glass. A nice mix of strength and finesse.

[Sean_S_y_d_n_e_y]

Thanks for all the kind words, all, but no congratulations yet - still have five months for her to find out how much I spend on wine and reconsider.

Congrats to you too, Warren! Well deserved.

[Blake_Brown]

I’ve been a fan of the 2008 since release and yes, it can benefit from more time in the bottle, but it has so many treasures to give now and I highly recommend opening one to see if it fits your palate preference. Enjoy

[David_Bu3ker]

Every wine from Hebrart is a gem! And the gougères didn’t suck!

[CJ_Beazley]

Sweet jesus what a cake!
Congratulations WT, now you can focus on your bottle balancing full time.

[Warren_Taranow]

There’s a local bakery appropriately named “Pure Bliss”

[AstridKG]

Some recent champagnes and one sparkling wine. I have been getting lazy and not writing notes, so these are just impressions:

2018 Famille Moussé Champagne Anecdote Blanc de Blancs Brut Les deux lieux-dits
100% Chard from Vuisles, dosage 2g/L, disg 09/10/2019. I wasn’t terribly optimistic about this BdB, but it was delicious. Probably my favorite BdB from 2025 so far. Pineapple/tropical fruit, dosage and great acidity balanced to my taste. Moussé for the win.

2019 Famille Moussé Champagne Rosé de Saignée La Confiance De Mon Pere
100% PM from Lieu Dit Les bouts de la ville, 166 hours of infusion, disg 03/2023, dosage 2g/L
I bought this thinking “YAY he’s out of the Special Club!” only to receive a chubba-wubba bottle. Oh well. I love Moussé, and this bottle delivered on everything I am looking for in a PM rosé: red berries+peach fruit, power, a hint of earthiness, but also lot of acidity for balance. There is some bitterness in the finish, but nothing distracting. I enjoyed drinking it, but not storing it.

NV Cave de La Côte Le Péteux Cuvée des Pèdzes vin mousseux Brut Bio La Côte
Swiss mousseux (pretty sure it’s Charmat method, but didn’t research to confirm). Blend of Pinot Noir and Garanoir from Vaud. Pretty salmon pink color. Fruity red berry, fun, but unserious “boat” wine priced well in Switzerland at around 16 CHF… but around $35 in the USA. As I have said before, once Swiss wines are transported to the USA, they are not a good deal. It was fun and I enjoyed it - would repurchase if in Switzerland (assuming the exchange rate with the dollar doesn’t tank even further).

NV Chavost Brut Nature Rosé de Saignée
67%PM, 33%PN. Couldn’t find disg. date on the label or bottle
One of my last bottles of Chavost, thank goodness. The only one remaining is the ratafia.
Deep translucent pink-red color, with the mousse lightly tinged in pink. This was really nice, red raspberries, lively, lots of acidity, some bitterness in the mid-palate. My experience with Chavost (multiple bottlings) has been hit and miss, with about half of the bottles featuring unpleasant lambic, cider-esque or “ugh, why???” notes. I enjoyed this bottle, am happy that it turned out well, but I won’t purchase another bottle of Chavost.

[Phil_T_r_o_t_t_e_r]

@AstridKG

once Swiss wines are transported to the USA, they are not a good deal

Most Swiss wines are not even a good deal in Switzerland!

[Dan_Kravitz]

I believe the Swiss Winegrower’s Association has political clout and the government sets minimum prices. Combined with the strength of the currency, that simply prices them well above fair market value.

[Chris_Dickson]

**Bérêche Brut Réserve Lot:20BS DG: 6/23 DO: 6gr/l **

This is youthful for sure, and probably better in a year or two. This wine is for me like chicken noodle soup or a hot toddy when I’m sick. Such a nourishing/restorative champagne. I don’t think this bottling is an exercise or too fussy, it is simply at ease and such a joy to drink.
Cream, Orange, toast and roasted chestnut on the nose. Rich but not opulent, and a healthy nerve throughout. Flavors are harmonious and run from orange to red in color.

[scottkieser]

What’s the disgorgment date on that bottle?

[David_Bu3ker]

January 2022

[P_a_u_l_Christensen]

@AstridKG

Moussé for the win.

Thanks for these notes. I’m a fan of the entry-level Moussé wines (Eugène and L’Esquisse) so it is interesting the read about some of the higher-end bottles. It seems that I can get the Anecdote for around US$60 hereabouts, so I’ll do that occasionally. Sadly though the La Confiance De Mon Pere is about twice that price - and apparently still regarded as a “Special Club” wine by some distributors according to WSPro. Is there anyone who likes those horrible big bottles?

[P_a_u_l_Christensen]

@P_a_u_l_Christensen

At the moment the Rosé de Meunier is my “house rosé” for daily-drinking

I know this wine is widely drunk here, so I’d be interested to know if others have seen an evolution with the more recent batches? For me, my latest bottle, disgorged 4/2023 is rather bland and much less interesting than batches disgorged in, say, 2022. Am I just getting bored with it or have others found the same?

Here’s my TN on the latest bottle: Community Tasting Note - NV Laherte Frères Champagne Rosé de Meunier Extra Brut - CellarTracker

[Warren_Taranow]

@P_a_u_l_Christensen

Is there anyone who likes those horrible big bottles?

No one I know…

[Phil_T_r_o_t_t_e_r]

Disclaimer: we sell this.

Last time I had this was at the Domaine about a year ago. This is a smashing bottle of champagne! There is so much elegance here, I can’t believe I don’t drink this more often. And this is coming from a guy that doesn’t go looking for Pinot Blanc still wines. 2020, No dosage, all from a single parcel (La Haute Lemblée), stainless, about 1200 bottles per year. Hay with slight golden color, the nose is all kinds of florals (lily and daffodil) with some pear and peaches. The palate is fresh, balanced and mesmerizing in its simplicity. It shows some ripe citrus and the same florals with a bit of salinity on the finish. I know I’m repeating myself but this is pure elegance. “C’est un champagne tout en broderie” (lace? embroidery?). Again, we sell this so take it for what it’s worth but I didn’t remember it was this good.

Cédric Bouchard HL fans take notice. This is less vinous and structured yet as enjoyable to my palate. At least, tonight it was!

[Frank_Murray_III]

@AstridKG I love the Mousse notes. And to see you are taking to a BdB like that one. I think you should ask Cedric to let you taste the Anecdote via vin clair. That would be cool.

@Warren_Taranow Congratulations to you. Don’t know how much time you invested in your career and the people you touched…but I do know that all of us here, and me in particular, have been benefitted by the sharing and enthusiasm you have brought here. I appreciate you for that and wish you the best on your next chapter, Warren.

We just returned from 5 days in Encinitas. I burned a bunch of Hyatt points, that I seem to be overrun with so we went to the Alila Marea, which is on the cliff right off the 5 and La Costa. Great resort, the ocean is right there. They have a fairly good on-site fine dining place called Vaga, which we did a few times for dinner. We also did a dinner on Coronado, at a place called Chez Loma, which is a small French dining that is in a 100 year old house. Between those two meals, we had the following 2 bottles. The Sandrin Bruyant is the new(er) disgorgement of that cuvee, from the south. Last night, we closed out our final dinner with another bottle of the LF Nature de Craie, which has become one of my personal favorite Champagnes. I was able to buy the rest of the 2023 disgorgement from Caveau, although I ran into someone on Cellartracker who is buying the 2024 disgorgement on the East Coast–have to find some of that but for now, have a handful of the May 2023 stuff that is drinking excellent. PS… @brigcampbell, I’ve eaten at Vaga enough now to recommend it to you and Chris the next time you are down there. On both nights it was not sold out so you should be able to get in there.

In the spirit of Warren’ many posts, I offer a few photos of the area, along with the expected wine and food porn.

• 2020 Etienne Sandrin Champagne Le Bruyant - France, Champagne (6/1/2025)
  February 2024 disgorgement. Pinot Noir with 10% added Pinot Blanc. 2 grams of dosage. Melvin’s note is spot on. His remark about the color…my wife called it rose gold. And the acid….it took an hour for the wine to blossom with a generous hit of blood orange as the frame. Add some strawberry too. Very bright style of wine.
• NV Laherte Frères Champagne Nature De Craie Premier Cru Brut Nature - France, Champagne (6/1/2025)
  Another bottle of the May 2023 disgorgement. I ended up up buying the last few bottles of this from Caveau--I dig this wine so much that I can't really have enough of it. This bottle, no surprise I guess, very similar to last month's. Lots of snappy green apple, pear, a little ginger around the edges and a refreshing saline that cuts through the finish. The lemon on this bottle was distinctly bright, and perhaps gonna be too peel/zest like for some but this is probably most why I like it. It's just a really good glass of pure Chard, exposed without any dosage or sulfite, just clean and pure.

Posted from CellarTracker