Thanks @Mike_Evans
! Learned something new today!
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2008 Rare
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but tonight’s bottle, my first of the ’08 Rare, may have surpassed my longtime favorite 2002 vintage of this cuvée. While some ’08s remain reticent, this wine is already strikingly expressive.
At first, the pinot, a small component of the blend, leads with red fruit. Then tangerine, orange peel, and apricot take center stage, followed by flowers, spice, and warm bread. It walks the line between explosiveness and elegance. A triumph. I loved this.
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Does anybody have anything to report on Palmer & Co. Champagne? Local grocery store had a shopping cart full of it for $10 a bottle so I picked up a few. Looks like it’s normal around $40-45 a bottle. They were blowing it out as it’s holiday leftovers from a sister stand alone wine and liquor store. I figured at the very least it will make for good mimosas.
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I would buy them all.
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One of my guilty pleasures, wish I bought more. Red apple, green apple lemon curd a bit of chalk and ripping acidity brings it all together.
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Uhhhhh, yeah — Every single one, and I would be asking a store employee to double check to see if there are any more in the back, too . A couple years ago a buddy found a local grocery store selling the Piper Brut all in after taxes, for $12.50 a bottle. We split the case they had remaining. Now that’s not normally a wine I would buy, but at that price we were all over it, happily so. Feels like this Palmer is pretty much the same situation.
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2013 Cristal Brut
While this was a bit rounder than the last showing, without quite as much precision and drive as some previous bottles, I still thought it was quite lovely and focused, with lemon curd and a bit of toasty baguette on the nose and a beautiful core of acidity on the palate and strong finish. @Nick_Christie may have been right that this wasn’t the very best bottle but still a great way to start off the night.
2013 Cristal Rose Brut
To our delight, @Jon_Lawrence pulled this lovely champagne out of his bag and we had another great side by side. I had this side by side at Oriole last month, but this wine showed significantly better today. It has some strawberries on the nose, incredible palate depth and intensity with a strikingly long finish. Best showing of the 13 Rose I’ve had in a long time, this may be one of the all time great vintages of this wine in the long term.
2004 Cristal Brut
A wonderful bottle @Dinesh_Goyal brought, this was great. The last time I had the 2004 Cristal, it was BTG in Chicago in 2019, and at the time it was searingly acidic without much fruit. Today, it had a beautiful rounded mouthfeel, with some Meyer lemon on the nose, and the acidity was much tamer. This didn’t feel as linear or laser focused than a lot of 04s and I really liked it. I’ve been generally dismissive of non BdB 04s because of the lack of fruit and shrill acidity, maybe they’re coming around?
Selosse Initial (2009 disgorgement)
This was stunning, fresh as a daisy, with beautiful Selosse savory and oxidative notes as well as some lemon zest and kaffir lime. Super beautiful palate without any rough edges and a long stunning finish.
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Nothin’ wrong with Andre Clouet!
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First night out in Nice and we started with a bottle of #2017 Roederer Rosé. Perfect with oysters and foie Gras.
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No formal note but really really good as always-lovely. I’m eternally grateful to @brigcampbell for bringing one of these years ago-loved it ever since.
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Same as it ever was, same as it ever was. Same as it ever was.
Will this wine ever not be great? Couple nights ago this was as good as my past few. 
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I opened a bottle a couple of weeks ago and had a similar experience. I’ve had it at least nine times and it has been consistently wonderful. It’s one of those wines that, no matter how many I’ve purchased, I will always wish I’d bought more.
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That’s around my number as well-yet somehow I don’t think we’ve shared one at get togethers. One day.
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Appreciate the Talking Heads reference.
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“This is not my beautiful wine!”
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Fell off the dry January wagon after picking up a bottle of this at Costco. It was a very nice way to end my flirtation with sobriety. Toasty, nutty and fleshy with persistence. I would like to drink this more often, but the retail price is normally a poor value proposition. Always happy to see it at Costco.
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Novato, CA, Costco brought this in for the holidays at $59.99 and the Roederer Collection 245 at $49.99.
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If ever there were a month to drink, especially in the Pacific Northwest, it’s January. Love this cuvée. Along with C. Heidsieck Brut, it’s one of my two favorite Grandes Marques classic entry cuvées.
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Extracted from a thread just posted: 5 wines drunk at dinner, 4 blind: NV Charles Heidsieck Reserve Special Edition, 2008 Jean Michel Cuvee Speciale, 2015 Dureuil-Janthial Le Meix-Cadot, 1995 Artadi Vina el Pison Riserva, 2010 Jadot Bonnes-Mares
NV CHARLES HEIDSIECK BRUT RESERVE SPECIAL EDITION- evidently, this special release initially had up to 40% reserve wines, but this edition had 50%, aged for 3 years, disgorged in 2024 and dosed at 7gpl; it is made of 40% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay 20% Pinot Meunier; I withdrew immediately when I went to check the aromas as the acidity was bracing and then again when I first tasted it as the acidity was biting; now knowing to approach with much more ease, I could easily get and enjoy the nice citrus fruit dominated by lemon, lime and grapefruit and the super creamy mouthfeel that may have been the most creamy of any champagne I’ve ever had; a nice accent of white pepper came in early adding to its savory allure; this was very interesting and had enough stuff to please throughout.
When it came time to select a bubbly for this evening, I immediately thought of one that I’ve recently received a shipment for after having been quite impressed with a few bottles of the initial release over 3 years ago. Possessing lots of the depth, power and charm of the 2008 vintage, I considered it to be an amazing QPR and opted to re-visit it once again and share it with the group in our blind format. Also, I tend to bring Grande Marque champagne in the form of Cristal, Dom Perignon, Taittinger Comtes and the like and it was time to keep my brings more mysterious.
2008 CHAMPAGNE JEAN MICHEL CUVEE SPECIALE BRUT- served blind to the others; this was disgorged 9/23 and dosed air 4 gpl; therefore, it is an extra brut; the blend is an unusual 50% Pinot Meunier and 50% Chardonnay with 10% of the Chardonnay vinified in oak barrels; as with the first champagne, it was clear from the nose and tastes that this had very bright acidity, almost biting on the end of the tongue as was the first champagne; after a couple of tastes, the lemon oil flavored texture served to ease up the acidic intensity and add to its elegance as it moved into a mellow, more feminine state; later on, nice accents of ginger and honey laced yellow apple arrived making for an even better experience; this was the first bottle from a more recent batch and it was way different being a lot less powerful with less depth and complexity, but it provided lots of treasures in this 50/50, PM/Chard blend.
Cheers,
Blake
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