Sec only lists the name as if they stopped listing the vintage on the bottle. I would be more careful in that case.
No formal notes, but all the wines were excellent, even in the thick-rimmed bar and grill glasses. They only charged me $15 total corkage for all five bottles. I opened them on Lopez Island while celebrating the birthdays of two old friends. A great party.
(Edited cuz I can’t count; there were five, not six bottles. The Guiborat was unopened.)
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Even after the update, their website isn’t exactly cutting edge! But I think Guiborat is pretty consistent across vintages even though obviously being pretty reflective of what each year brings. I’m still drinking some Millesime 09s which are relatively soft as the vintage was warm but I still enjoy them.
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Well yes, II saw that, and one other post. Two mentions in over 13800 posts meets my definition of “rarely mentioned”! 
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The Dehours 2012 La Croix Joly Oeil de Perdrix is one of my favourite ever champagnes (my budget doesn’t stretch to US$100+ wines). I wish I could still find some more.
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Billecart Salmon NV Brut Rose => . . . . . => Billecart Salmon NV Le Rose. ??
I just noted the label change on this favorite of mine. I did some internet searching and sleuthing to get an easy to understand explanation . Conflicting reports range from just a name change to a name change plus a different approach to making the wine. Now Extra Brut in dosage, and a blend of a base year and a perpetual reserve ( like Roederer Collection?). It was also suggested somewhere that some of the changes had actually started with the Brut Rose.
Can anyone help me fill in the dots?
X-posted:
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First vintage from Koji and Jae Hwa in the Côte des Bar.
Just a touch of freshly baked fine-crusted white bread; overall leaning towards a light and vinuous nose - apply, light brambles, and a hint of fresh oregano. This is linear and pleasant right now, with good acidity, and very serious potential. There is just a hint of nutty oxidation that will fold itself effectively into the densely coiled complexity as it unfurls. I will be holding on to the rest of my bottles for at least 5 or 6 more years, at which point I expect to be a phenomenal wine.
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It’s essentially a replacement for the Brut Rosé, with a lower dosage. They posted this on Twitter in October of last year.
Here’s information from their website. If I’m not mistaken, all that has changed is the dosage. The blend and time on the lees (36 months) looks unchanged if my memory is correct.
Maybe @Brad_Baker or @William_Kelley could confirm.
Cheers,
Warren
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Our longstanding couples group met today and the weather was perfect. Ocean breeze, in the 70s under the umbrella. Fantastic. The group continues to find favor with Champagne and I am happy to keep influencing that choice when I can. Three wines, all different, yet from 2 producers that anchor my cellar and make stuff that I really enjoy. Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.
- 2019 Marie-Courtin Champagne Presence - France, Champagne (7/12/2025)
October 2023 disgorgement. 70% Chard and 30% Pinot Blanc. No dose and no sulfur. Enjoyed over two days, and notable how well this showed on the second day. The acid, fruit, and terroir are all in harmony. Aroma of sea breeze and white flower. Orange oil, apple, grapefruit, faint caramel, with a powerful yet sleek way of going across the palate. I bought 4 of these, and the other two will be wines I look forward to opening. This is a very good vintage of Presence. - 2020 Laherte Frères Champagne Rosé de Saignée Extra Brut Les Beaudiers - France, Champagne (7/12/2025)
My other of the two bottles, and like that first one from earlier this year, forgot to note the disgorge date. From the old Meunier vines near the domaine. Initially this had a bitter edge to the wine, and while it was fine with me, it may not be for others. Aroma of bread dough and citrus. Cherry skin and crushed raspberry too, which later became more in focus as blood orange. Juicy. With air, the texture finally comes around and it shows as more glossy and resolved, with that same blood orange sticking around. This needed air to show, FYI. - NV Laherte Frères Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature - France, Champagne (7/12/2025)
October 2024 disgorgement. Enjoyed over two days. In my mind, after so many bottles and different disgorgements of this wine the past several years, I'd put this cuvee up in a battle against any value-driven BdB chardonnay in the region. Sure, there are a lot of worthy examples and we all may have a favorite BdB that is easy on the wallet. Is $50-ish value? For me, it is because of the high-touch farming and care these vines get, plus the bang-on consistency the cuvee shows over and over. This disgorgement seems to have vivid quality with an apple core and a saltiness that is wrapped around the lemony acid. And the consistency of texture, with a light creaminess that just adds to the joy of the wine.
Posted from CellarTracker
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@Frank_Murray_III I scrolled from the bottom up, saw the photos first, and knew it was your note before I even saw the text. 
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Great to share stuff yesterday. One of these days we might even be the people, you and I, who are sharing together.
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Francis Boulard Petraea MMV, was really good today, dense yet still fresh, full ripe fruits. Aging well!
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This keeps getting better (despite the restaurant glasses), even as my stocks run low. Rich notes of apples and pears, lemon and almond cream, and brioche. Long finish. Rich yet precise. An amazing wine from an unheralded vintage.
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Warren,
You are correct. It is really just a renaming more than anything else. Just as the Brut Reserve is now Le Reserve. Yes, there have been some changes with the reserve wines used, but these happened before the renaming. More than anything else, it is because they wanted to remove Brut from the name since the wine is now an Extra Brut and will very likely continue to be an Extra Brut in most releases. They could have kept Brut in the name as an Extra Brut is also a Brut, but Brut was seen as having more of a negative than positive connotation.
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We visited a few weeks ago and then found one in the market. If you have the chance, highly recommend visiting Ruinart. The Dom Ruinart vintage wines were crafted very well.
Kenny,
I agree about Ruinart. They have the most amazing caves in Champagne. We had a wonderful visit there a couple of years ago. Brad Baker recommended it and helped arrange it when we were unable to get an appointment on short notice.
Ruinart is one of my favorite Grand Marques. To my palate, the vintage Brut Blanc de Blancs is consistently among the top wines of any vintage.
Cheers,
Warren
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I agree re the wines. Certainly hope to visit some day. While my champagne journey began with other wines, the 2002 Dom Ruinart is one of the wines that sealed my fate as a champagne die hard. Not so much an “ah ha!” wine as a “now this is what I’ve been looking for on my journey” wine.
Not a lot of lengthy focused notes of late because almost all of my bottles have been while traveling, but:
Krug 172eme - Had at Eiffel Tower at the Brasserie, which was a terrible food experience and a lovely family experience doing touristy stuff on our first family visit to Paris with my three kiddos (and no tables available at the Mich starred restaurant). Take away was that it was about 10X better than the house champagne, showing lovely complexity, bright yellow fruit, lovely acid, and good depth. 44-36-20 Pinot-Chard-Meunier. 2016 base with wines back to 1998. 2016 was a wet vintage with uneven ripening, but this comes together pretty well. I was a bit surprised by the wine as it’s amazing to me how different Krug MVs seem to be now compared to earlier in my wine journey when they were noticeably bready and leesy in a heavier style. This was downright bright, as was the 169eme, but this shows an almost floral note that I would not typically associate with Krug, blind. Lovely though. In that 94+ range for me. Not a great Krug, but still a very good wine. I had to battle to get this. My server wanted me to know that all adult meals come with a glass of champagne and three other glasses of wine, and so I didn’t need to buy the champagne because there was enough wine. And because two of my sons were underage, she would just give me their champagne and their wine if I wanted it. I had to explain that I just really wanted the Krug. Or as I explained to my wife when the server left, I’m trying to give you a heap of goddam euros so give me the goddam bottle of Krug and leave me be!
Laurent Perrier - Blanc des Blancs Brut Nature - At dinner at Lion d’Or in Bayeux I ended up with this when I learned that they’d sold their last bottle of Grand Siecle the previous evening. Still, this was an interesting wine and showed good richness despite the lack of dosage. A fairly obvious chard profile with bright apple and lemon, marzipan and pastry crust with what I perceived to be a strong leesy note that had me checking later to see how long it sat before disgorgement (8 years on lees). Pretty decent stuff as a pinch hitter. It was good, but I probably won’t go out and buy more of it. 92ish
Jacquesson 747 Extra Brut - 40-40-20 Pinot-Chard-Meunier with 1.5g dosage. This hit the spot after 45 miles on the bike across Brittany with my wife. A racy, cool fruit profile with pear, bright citrus, uncooked pie crust, good chalky minerality, and a faint hint of raw almond slivers. It’s bright and light but very well balanced and just the wine I was hoping for. 92ish, and a wine I’d happily purchase again. 2019 base.
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This evening, out east, a new producer for me that has been mentioned a few times here previously, not least by the much-missed (by me at least) @D_Pennet: Tellier.
I’ve got a mixed half case of their wines and this is the first I have tried; more notes to follow.
- 2019 Tellier Champagne Les Massales Rosé Extra Brut - France, Champagne (15/07/2025)
40/30/30 C/PM/PN from Moussy, Pierry, Chavot-Courcourt. Vinified and aged in oak for 8 months. Minimum 40 months on lees. Disgorged September 2022; dosage 5g/l.
This is a very pleasant, easy drinking wine. The nose has red fruit, minerality (iodine?), a little creaminess. The palate starts with a crisp red fruit feel, gets a little of that creaminess in the mid-palate, and finishes quite dry and more-ish.
For me the acidity is medium-, and the overall feel is just a touch flabby. Whilst it's easy to chug, it's not very interesting, and I feel that the dosage is perhaps a little high for my taste - more bite would make it more interesting.
Whilst this is a very quaffable fizz (good for parties), at the ~US$58 that I paid I feel this is a little pricey for what it is. (89 points)
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Extracted from a thread just posted: A fun and celebrative occasion for Brander Winery's 50th Anniversary with some good wines, good music and good people
2005 LOUIS ROEDERER CRISTAL- 55% Pinot Noir, 45% Chardonnay; lasted tasted 7/22; when this first was released, it was touted as having a ton of potential and just needing some time to evolve and come together; well, in 2022 it was making some progress and had already arrived at a place that got my attention; our bottle on this day was even better; following its appropriately gold yellow color came inviting aromas of honey baked apple that was joined by lemon, lime, pear and honeysuckle on the palate; it was full bodied, had bright acidity and was enhanced by all of the goodness being delivered in a creamy, tactile pleasing medium that extended the finish; this bottle seemed to grow and expand with time; it was super rich and had lots of depth and complexity and IMHO, is in a perfect place now for the kind of drinking pleasure I expect to receive from Cristal.
NV BOLLINGER BRUT SPECIAL CUVEE- 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier aged 3 years on the lees; this entry level champagne is always an easy quaffer offering refreshing and crisp citrus, strawberry and stone fruit with a caramel topping with notable acidity and a frothy, cotton candy like feel good mousse; I usually find a bit of sweetness in this release and I’m guessing this had a dosage of around fully expressed 7-8 gpl.
NV PAUL BARA RESERVE BRUT- 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay; this creamy, rich bubbly had lots of body and a little weight while it delivered nice pear and green apple fruit all the way through.
NV PHILIPPONNAT ROYALE RESERVE BRUT ROSE- this is a blend primarily of Pinot Noir grapes from the southern slopes of the fabled Montagne de Rheims to which lesser amounts of Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier were added; our bottle was superlative giving nice and rich notes of strawberry, cherry, baked apple, lemon zest and apricot with a dusting of spice; it had a wondrous mouthfeel and a creamy mousse to seal the deal.
Cheers,
Blake
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