I love it when they are that good and I have a six pack or a full case!
But just two bottles of the Val Vilaine - aarrrghh!
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It seems readily available in the US at prices from US$179 and up… for example
And in New Zealand: https://www.sommcellars.co.nz/product-page/roses-de-jeanne-val-vilaine-r22-cedric-bouchard
Beats my allocation of one this year 
and it’s doubled in price from what I paid just a few years ago for these. To your point, they are fantastic and I get the hype.
@Marcus_Goodfellow - This wine is a sleeper. You and Meg should try the L’Orme. Benoit is one of the best. We were able to catch up with him last year at Le Caves du Forum.
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@Brad_Baker Yes, the Les Blanches Vois from Francois and Pierre is unreal. Love that they use large vessels, too. We have 4 new ones coming this year to inject into our barrel program.
I haven’t gotten my hands on the broader Vilmart lineup. I know the Vilmart Les Blanches Vois is 100% new oak. All Rousseau. So, comparing it to the Hure brothers is tough becaues Francois uses not old, but 1-4 year old demi’s. What was your preference? Hure or Vilmart?
Haven’t popped them yet, but I did snag a coupe Ulysse Collin bottles for under $270/. Is this about right pricing wise or did I pay a little too much? Just wondering since this is my first time finding it in the wild.
Extracted from a thread just posted: 7 wines drank at dinner: 2005 Cristal, 2019 PYCM Nicholas & Mathis En Remilly, 2011 Jadot Pullly-Fousse, 2019 Rotem & Mounir Saouma Magis Blanc, 2000 Brunel Les Cailloux Cuvee Centernaire, 2005 Chapoutier Barbe Rac
2005 LOUIS ROEDERER CRISTAL BRUT- 55% Pinot Noir, 45% Chardonnay; my bring served blind to the others; I chose this vintage as I wanted to explore where it was as I have a few more bottles in the cellar and it had been July 2022 since my last sampling which was postive; also, it had been hyped as being a really good release, but was slow to show its true merits; the color was medium yellow and the nose offered mild citrus fruit notes which on the palate translated into lemon and lime, coated with a honey topping and accents of anise and all spice; I kept thinking “this is 2005 and it’s not supposed to be showing all that well” and this was wonderfully savory, crisp and refreshing with some body and a creamy mouthfeel and getting better over time in the glass; i concluded it was “GREAT!” and placed that lesser thought in the dump bucket. One of the others called it 2004 Cristal.
Cheers,
Blake
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You don’t say which bottling, so I can’t say just how good a deal you got, but I would say you almost certainly didn’t pay too much.
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Yesterday I added and opened another Bouchard VV/R22. Glad to have more.
I have a question as I was buying the VV’s there was a bottle of Bouchard I cannot find info on which is called CE/R21. One cellar tracker note saying it might be a first vintage, but I cannot find much info on it. Anyone with some ideas?
CE = Creux d’Enfer, rosé de saignée. I much prefer it to Collin’s rosé Les Maillons, which I don’t like much at all.
Thanks. So, he just shorted it up from CE.R to CE?
I have a few of the Collins that I have not tried. Need to change that.
It is my understanding that he is making a BdN CE/R21 as well, starting with the 2021 vintage. Pretty sure Bouchard traded other land holdings (Presle?) for the vines
CE.R should be the rosé
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This is correct
The CE /21 is a blanc de Noirs, a clear “white" Champagne, not the Rosé
The first vintage made
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That is a nice set of notes!
I was referring to Bouchard’s Rosé de Saignée Creux d’Enfer, not the BdN.
Sorry for any confusion.
BdB
He doesn’t make anything just called a BdB, to my knowledge - Les Enfers, Les Roises and Les Pierrieres are all BdB. Regardless, you did well, though better with some than others. There are also different bottlings of those, different times on lees, depending on the base.
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Initially Olivier just made one wine, which was labeled Blanc de Blancs. It later became the Les Pierrieres.
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That’s the one.
They’re older but I’ve had several and love them.