Good info and much appreciated.
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This is new(s)?
I would choose 2002. Without hesitation.
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Finally got around to typing up my notes from the Champagne Bookclub @Frank_Murray_III referenced above. I was initially going to do a whole night of Pinot blanc champagne, but after tasting about 3 in a row, I scrapped the idea. While it would have been educational, it might be monotonous 
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"PURE PINOT" CHAMPAGNE BOOKCLUB (HOSTED @ KING'S) - (6/12/2025)
The theme was "Pure Pinot" (LOL). In Champagne, Chardonnay was referred to as "pinot chardonnay" historically, so I took some liberty and included a flight of Chardonnay to start the evening.
Flight 1 - "Pinot Chardonnay"
Both wines are 100% Chard from Mesnil, both disg. 2024. Both established, long-time growers. While the Moncuit won as "favorite" of the flight, the Vaugency was memorable.
- 1970 Henry de Vaugency Champagne Grand Cru Louis Blanc de Blancs - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
100% Oger, aged on cork (not cap). dosage 2g/L. Disg 04/15/2024, so 53 years on lees. Agraffe. Took a strong arm to remove cork - I couldn't do it despite laboring over it for over 10 minutes.
Savory, hint of sherry note initially. Around the table, the guess on its age was between 90's to early aughts.
It evolved wildly over the night, with the initial savory note yielding to fruitiness of sweet apricot, yellow apple w/ peel, nectarine. Strong baked pie crust note. Comes across as more dosage than it is, but not in a bad way. Very long finish - words escaped me. The next day, it was kind of dead, with a lot of oxydation coming through. Recommend finishing slowly in one night. Do not see any upside in further holding onto this; isn't half a century aged enough? - 2008 Pierre Moncuit Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Nicole Moncuit Vieille Vigne - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
100% Chard from ~100-year old vines in Chetillons. dosage 5g/L. disg 02/05/2024. Full malo.
I love 2008 vintage in champagne, and this is no exception despite being BdB.
Ripe apple, sea minerals and salinity, evolving to sweet lemon and white flower. Nice finish. The dosage is perfect in this for me. I have more bottles, so I'm curious to see how/whether this evolves.
Flight 2 - Prélat Pinot Gris vs. Pinot Blanc
Younger vines, young wines, up-and-coming grower. There was no question that the table preferred the PB to the PG. The PG was rough - do not recommend right now. Perhaps it needs more time in the bottle, or maybe these vines were a bit too young.
- 2019 Julien Prélat Champagne Extra Brut La Lemblee - France, Champagne
100% PB from Aube, vines planted in 2000, dosage 4.5g/L (2019). Disg March 2024. Stainless Steel.
Rainier cherry, white peach, seet lemon and something vaguely herbal like thyme. Soft and pleasant but practically no finish to speak of.
Nice rendition of PB, but I prefer Gerbais La Loge. - 2021 Julien Prélat Champagne Les Côtes Extra Brut - France, Champagne
100% PG, 2021 harvest, Planted in 2017 - kindergarten vines. Stainless steel. Dosage 3g/L, disg March 2024
Smells of unripe pomelo. Tastes of pomelo pith, bitter. High acidity, which combined with the bitterness, makes the whole experience unbalanced. Bitterness becomes more pronounced as it warms. Thankfully no finish. I wonder whether the vines are just too young at this point for a solo endeavour.
If you're looking for 100% PG champagne, Drappier's Trop M'en Faut (Fromenteau=PG) is infinitely better.
Flight 3 - 100% Pinot Meunier Rosé Spécial Club
Love Rosé PM. Love Salmon. Love Moussé. Love what is in Special club bottlings, but could not wait to get these chubba-wubba bottles out of my wine fridge. I was a little nervous about the 2017 Salmon - no secret that I haven't had the best experience with vintage champagnes from that year. But after a rocky start, the Salmon ended up winning the race for me.
- 2018 Famille Moussé Champagne Special Club Extra Brut Rosé de Saignée Les Bouts de la Ville - France, Champagne
100% PM from Marne, sigle site "les bouts de la ville" in Cuisle. Infused 168 hours. dosage 2g/L. Disg. 2024. Full malo.
Initially a little funk on the nose. On the palate, raspberry, sweet cranberry, some rhubarb-like bitterness. It feels "fluffy" for lack of better word (both Frank and I described it as such during the dinner). As it warmed to room temperature, it lost appeal and became a bit flabby. Out of the gate, this was better than the 2017 Salmon it was paired with; however, after about 20 minutes, the Salmon ran over the Moussé and kept its lead for the rest of the evening. - 2017 Salmon Champagne Special Club Rosé de Saignée - France, Champagne
100% PM from single vinyard Les Greves, south of the marne. Disg. June 2023, no dosage.
I was nervous serving this due to the disreputable 2017 vintage. Initial sulfuric blast on the nose. On the palate, it was quite reticent and had some mild herbal notes. As it warms, it comes around with a lot of energetic red berries, balanced acidity etc. Good showing for 2017.
Flight 4 - Coteaux Champenois 100% Pinot Meunier vs 100% Pinot Noir from Coulon
Changed this flight at the last minute - Frank had expressed interest in exploring Coteaux Champenois more, so I took that as a sign that it was time to open these wines. Neither were particularly well priced, but the Pinot Meunier was at least somewhat of a curiosity. The pinot noir was forgettable and not worth the $$ to me.
- 2020 Roger Coulon Coteaux Champenois Rouge Le Mont Moine - France, Champagne, Coteaux Champenois
I lost steam on my notes by this flight.
No fining, filtering or natural yeast. 100% PM from south exposed sand dominant parcel in Coulommes la Montagne. Fermented whole cluster, and apparently spent 2 years in barrel and I think this benefits the wine. Barely-ripe red cherry, raspberry, good texture, something like an earthy + light coffee note on the finish. Herbal note I couldn't place (maybe like rosemary stem???) in the midpalate. What struck me was the texture - kind of silky and not what I expected from this far up north. Nice rendition and a fun curiosity. - 2020 Roger Coulon Pinot Noir Coteaux Champenois 1er Cru Les Champs Chevalier - France, Champagne, Coteaux Champenois
Ran out of steam on this note.
100% PN from single plot, les champs chevalier in Vrigny. 45-year old vines from massal selection. Semi-carbonic maceration in whole bunches.
Did not show nearly as well as the PM in the flight. Dominated by cedar, incense and eucalyptus, with insufficient fruit to carry the wine.
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@AstridKG, your curation was terrific last week, and thanks for taking the time to chronicle the night with the notes. Funny, as just a few days later we did the 2021 Prelat Pinot Gris at Paul’s tasting, and the wine showed more open.
I’d like to pour this Gerbais BdB for you, as I have a feeling you would like it. You may even have some, and who knows, it might just show up under a bag and into your glass at some point in the near future. 
- NV Pierre Gerbais Champagne (perpetual 2011 - 2018) Champ Viole - France, Champagne (6/23/2025)
Reloaded this, was waiting for the 2019 base but instead received more of the 2018...I'm going to be come a sme on this base! 100% Chardonnay, from a perpetual that began in 2011. Unsure of the dosage (the Gerbais website changes remain 'under construction' now for some time), but I recall this around 3 grams. The Champ Viole plot, if I have used the maps and references correctly, faces south on the way out east to Landreville, which is the next village over. The plot is situated close to Sandrin's Val Champignat and Bouchard's Haute Lemblee--again, all correct if my map sleuthing is accurate. Anyway, to the wine. Opened yesterday. My wife and I drained off a glass and the wine started kinda dumb and fluffy, the acidity and energy mostly asleep. With air, the wine woke up and yet it still retained the 2018 sun from the vintage, with a richness that was still very present. Took the rest of the wine home, capped to hold the co2, and giving this another go one day later. The wine retains the richness, with plenty of lemony fruited texture. Yet, there is a nice counter of what I'd account for as the soil, the aspect of Kimmeridgian. The wine has that taste of mineral, of something extra on the palate that seems deliciously rocky. At one moment, the wine comes across as racy and citrusy, then you get the pillowy/juicy feel of the vintage. There is some orange here too, yet it's more savory. Like the last bottle I had, I still think this is a drink sooner-than-later wine given the base and the way the wine shows. In sum, delicious, generous yet enough energy to balance it out.
Posted from CellarTracker
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Must find more of this. Excellent with sashimi.
Any way to find the disgorgement date? Nothing on the cork.
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L-B disgorgement dates are etched on the bottom of the bottle - quite lightly, so it’s hard to see outside of direct light. From memory, I believe it’s an abbreviation indicating the wine, base vintage, and then month and year of disgorgement.
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Ted, what @Sean_S_y_d_n_e_y said is correct.
Been a while since I have bought any L-B (their prices have really risen IMO). Your favorable comment about Longitude above…I would like to know which base it is, as it keeps me calibrated to what is showing well for people–it helps me stay tuned in. Just a note too…that wine is built on about 1/2 reserves so if you like it, and you can’t find the same base wine again, you have a decent chance of liking another base, given the reserves doing their thing. Yeah, I know, it’s not the same wine but it’s built with a lot of the same raw material from the perpetual.
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Shame, I didn’t look on the bottom before they removed the bottle. Will know better next time.
On tonight’s note, this was also rockin’. I can’t believe this is 68% Chardonnay. Strawberry, quince, a touch of yeasty note that rounds out so well. Wife asks if this can be our new house rosé and I must comply.
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Looking for some of the collective wisdom here:
I’m spying out the champagne list for where I’m dining Friday night and they have some of Adrien Dhondt’s solo label and there is a 2015 La Rogerie Heroine.
How different is Adrien Dhondt’s personal label vs Dhondt-Grellet and having never had a La Rogerie, what could I expect in style for it?
I’m solo so I’ll only be ordering 1 of them. But, I’m quite curious about both
I can’t help but are you still on the road?
Keith,
The 2015 La Rogerie is the previous generation’s wine so not an accurate representation of where things are today. I would skip it as it tends to sell based on the name more than what is in the bottle. Adrien Dhondt’s personal label is what he uses for his negociant wines. These tend to be small bottlings from grapes/wine that he has been given access to. It is different from the Dhondt-Grellet label in that he doesn’t control all aspects of the grape to wine process and the villages/vineyards are different too, but it still very much an Adrien Dhondt wine.
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sadly, no. I badly need to update it all, but between my current physical limitations, the demands of the route itself, and the extra heat+humidity I made the decision to stop after San Gimignano and finish this at a later point when I am in much better physical shape and the temperatures are cooler. If the temperatures were where they normally would be (high-70s at peak), I’d have still struggled but would’ve made it to Rome on Tuesday. Since I want to actually enjoy this, I need to get my 3rd surgery done in July and get myself back to the shape I was in before I walked in May of last year. I had a long talk with my sister about it all and I’ll forever be frustrated that I wasn’t able to finish this in one shot, but I don’t want to make my abdominal situation worse.
Mostly I just need to accept that I’m not where I want to be physically and that is okay. I could’ve quit the route 5x before I did and am still grappling with it. But I keep looking at the temps and seeing that it’s close to 90 by 10-11am each day with a lot of climb+descent and I know that I just can’t do this right now. I plan on heading back to Spain next year and doing 400+km with a good friend. After that, I will re-address the VF and see where I’m at physically.
Thank you so much Brad! The restaurant has the Dhondt-Grellet Les Nogers for 20euro more than the Adrien negoc wines. At that point, 20euro is nothing, so would that be a better decision?
for all here, the restaurant is Da Lucio in Rimini if you want to spy the list and provide any thoughts
Tarlant ∙ Bam! ∙ Pinot blanc ∙ Arbanne ∙ Petit meslier / 250
Ha! Never heard of this one but now I’m interested in trying it. But at 250 in a restaurant, it might be a little on the high side for a taste experiment!
I’ve had it once and I’m not dropping €250 on it😂
I also know I’m paying up for Da Lucio’s views
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If those are homemade, PM recipe please.
@Jim_Stewart here you go. Note that I use aged (3-4 year old) Gouda as the cheese. Really kicks up the flavor.
Thanks David . I will look for the aged gouda!
I agree. I posted a note on the 2015 Heroine in this thread a little while ago and while it’s a solid wine, and better than the 2014 which was quite hollow, it’s nothing to write home about and you’d be better served with a different Dhondt wine, whether Dhondt-Grellet or Adrien’s own wines.
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