2012 J. Lassalle Champagne Premier Cru Special Club
Opened by a friend. An estate founded in 1942. 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir. Disgorged October, 2020. 7g/l dosage. The only other SC I’ve had from this estate was the 1998 which was slightly better. However, this was excellent. Light yellow color. Moderate bead. Fresh tasting. Notes of creamy white fruit with tea and apple. Crisp finish. 93 points.
VM
Extracted from a thread just posted: 4 wines tasted blind at dinner: 2008 Taittinger Comtes, 2019 de Villaine Rabource Rully, 2007 Brogan Cellars My Father's Vineyard Pinot Noir and 2013 Marcassin Estate Pinot Noir
2008 TAITTINGER COMTES de CHAMPAGNE BLANC de BLANC- blind; following its deceiving semi light yellow color came massive aromas of citrus fruit with lemon, lime and orange most evident; the first taste confirmed such as the flavor profile seemed to just explode on the palate; also evident, was the corresponding bright acidity that prevailed throughout; additional notes kept coming in and included mineral, chalk, saline and honey accented yellow apple and grapefruit while the orange became marmalade; it was super rich, fully loaded, powerful and impressive and I immediately thought of 2008 and then Comtes and stated such, but over time and more table discussion, I started to wavier on the vintage as the very last taste was lemon and I usually discover that often evolves into apple with some age so maybe this was a younger vintage such as 2013 or 2015; the others were in agreement and it was clear we had it as a Comtes, but what vintage? It was also clear, this was another 2008 that can go another few years before even approximating its apogee and there’s more treasures to behold by waiting a bit longer to open any although we were all very impressed with where it is now.
Cheers,
Blake
I always pick up some J Lassalle Special Club when I’m at K&L. Glad you enjoyed it
From magnum for grandfather’s 90th Bday.
Crisp, mineral driven, delighted by all.
Hoping Envoyer will procure another load of these!
Well done, and best wishes to him and your family!
While all champagne seems to do best in magnum, Diebolt Prestige, to me, takes it to another level in this format. As I’ve said before, if there’s a better wine of this style at this price point, I’ve never run across it.
Consistently amazing in mag. I’m down to two, I think, which is not nearly enough.
Copied from another thread.
2002 Ruinart BdB. My bottle. I made a mistake drinking this rich, textured wine before the lower dosed champagnes. This vintage is showing incredibly well. Big but elegant, brioche, hazelnut, floral note, apple.
Next was Prevost La Closerie Grand Cru Extra Brut LC20, and an other bottle of LC22. I think either Andrew or Mark generously brought these. Great Pinot Meunier, while generous and complex, following the Ruinart for me made them seem a really racy.
Ulysse Collin Pierrieres (dg 07/13). I’m not sure who’s bottle. Great wine, less development than I’d expect a dozen years after disgorgement. I’m not sure it this was an '09 or '10 base, but I’m guessing the latter as it didn’t have 2009 fat.
Kobayashi Winery Nikko Celilo Vineyard Sparkling. My second time trying this. Raspberry, violet, some lemon notes. Crisp. I think even better in time.
All of the sudden, someone I’d just met was walking around pouring a 2008 Cristal Rosé. Powerful and structured, savory. I personally think this vintage needs a lot more time, but wow!
Me with the 20 provost!
Collin was 09 base!
Extracted from a thread just posted: Dinner with a dear friend who returned to Santa Barbara for a short visit with 2012 Delamotte and 1983 Chateau Beychevelle
2012 DELAMOTTE les MESNIL sur OGER BLANC de BLANC BRUT- blind; 60% of the fruit sources for this comes from les Mesnil-sur-Oger, Ovize and Oger with 20% equal parts from each and the remainder of the fruit comes from Cramant, Chouilly and Oiry; following its youthful yellow color came aromas of citrus and tropical fruit which on the palate translated into lemon, grapefruit, guava, mango and passion fruit; it had an oily feel good texture which lengthened the finish and left a delightful coat on the back end of the palate to perpetuate the experience; lovely champagne.
My first guess was this was Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Nicholas-Francois and possibly 2012, but I struggled to really hone in on it and knew there was something very distinguishing in the taste profile that should be helpful in identifying it with the tropical fruit notes being so prevalent.
Initially, the house did not make Salon out of the 2012 harvest and I bought a lot of this release as a result and have had many bottles, all of which have been typically full of honeyed lemon, yellow apple, yellow peach and apricot; so, I did not recognize this bottle at all.
Although I’ve previously included some info about the house and its marque tete de cuvee, Salon, I’m re-inserting it here once again as an FYI:
“Francois Delamotte founded his house in 1760 and the trade name Delamotte Père & Fils was adopted in 1786. For the next 100+ years, the house went though multiple changes. Eventually, both neighboring houses were co-owned by Laurent-Perrier in 1988 when Bernard de Nonancourt was to merge the family interests by taking over Champagne Delamotte, integrating it into the Laurent-Perrier group. Just a few months later, he was able to realize a long-held dream – an emotional milestone that merits a chapter of its own! – in acquiring at long last the tiny Champagne Salon, Delamotte’s neighbour in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger.
This is how the destinies of Champagne Delamotte and Champagne Salon came to be entwined. Today, these two exceptional producers operate as sister houses, sharing offices and facilities in the very same historic town house in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, bought by the de Nonancourt family so many years before…”
“Salon is the most elusive of Champagne’s grand marques. Only made in what the house deems the very best years, Salon has been bottled just 38 times since 1905, its first vintage. Yet. Even when it is released, production is tiny. Consider that there are just 60,000 bottles (5,000 cases) of the 2002 for the entire world, a virtually insignificant amount by Champagne standards, while production numbers for other tête de cuvées range from a few times greater, as in the case with Taittinger’s Comtes to Champagne (also considered a small production Champagne), to about 100 times greater for Dom Perignon.”
“Salon is located in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, in the heart of the Côtes des Blancs. The core of Salon emerges from a small vineyard that sits right behind the house. Salon is done entirely in steel, with no malolactic fermentation, one of the reasons the wines need extended time in bottle prior to release, and in most cases, several years on the cork before they start drinking well. In vintages in which Salon is not made, the fruit goes into Delamotte, Salon’s sister estate and neighbor. The Delamotte style is less severe, as malolactic fermentation is employed to give the wines softer contours and more immediate breadth.”
Cheers,
Blake
We had a very nice 2008 Delamotte yesterday. Starting to show some bottle maturity. Drinking very well right now, and at least based on this bottle (I haven’t had it in probably 2 years), I’m not sure this is one to age further and expect further development.
I opened a Vilmart Grand Cellier, disgorged in January, 2020, but couldn’t find any vintage-related info from the barcode.
Anybody have any info?
If I’m not mistaken, that cuvée spends 10 mos in large oak foudres then 30 months on the lees, so 2016 base with ‘14 and ‘15 reserves.
eating in n out at home is a crime. those burgers expire the moment they leave the store 
In n Out burgers w/ champagne is an insane idea.
I mean that as a compliment. Cheers!
Popped the 171 this weekend. Mostly praise in recent notes on CT, but I will dissent a bit and say that the citrus-spiked acidity is running a bit too bright right now. May need a little time, maybe just '15 base. It has a Krug nose- and texture- with a seriously puckering lime streak on the finish. With 164, 168-170 in recent memory- this is clearly at the bottom of that list at the moment. Give it some time.
I see your point. I rarely love Krug’s Grande Cuvée when young, except in half bottles. While some of the ’15-based blends show a herbal edge, I’ve found that Krug’s editions, though variable in youth, tend to converge in character with age. I haven’t opened any of my 171s yet and don’t plan to for a while. I don’t have any 375s. Thanks for the note.
My read was that this was young and shrill
You mean your read on the wine- or your read on my note?. Not quite shrill, but young and edgy, moreso than other current iterations when young.
the wine
