I/ we have learned so much doing blind tastings weekly for about 4 years. No doubt, the bias of drinking a wine and knowing its pedigree and price plays in almost all critiques for most of us.
And then there are times like this one where we give high praise for a wine and call it something it is not even close to being.
e.g. I took a 2004 Masseto {$600} one week and a 1994 Columbia Crest {$7} Merlot the next and the CC was graded higher in the blind format.
Aren’t those a blast? I took one on an MTB bike trip last year, then made sure to order more when Greg offered them again. Great wine for the price.
Sarah,
I agree! Have you tried the Hommage? It’s on another level. Based on the 2019 Vintage with 60% reserve wines going back to 1971. They’re hard to come by. I can send you a bottle if you can’t source one.
Warren - I haven’t tried it, no, though I have looked for some based on your praise.
It’s incredibly kind of you to offer a bottle. Tell you what - I’ll make a point of reaching out next I’m in the area and you can bring one to dinner. 
Waitaminit! Judging from all three magnums you’ve opened this trip, you’ve been raiding my cellar. All of my Q/P large format champions!
Some nights are better than others, and so are some bottles. Last night, both lined up.
Marybeth and I went to dinner with my mom and her older sister, my Aunt Arline, 94 and 96. I’d opened an otherworldly 2002 Cristal for Marybeth’s birthday last week and decided to try another with the young ladies.
I haven’t seen my aunt drink in years, and she said she hadn’t had Champagne in thirty. She loved it. My mom, who never asks for more than a small pour, kept asking for refills. Marybeth claimed she’d just have a sip, then ended up splitting with me what our elders left behind.
These two recent ‘02s have been among the best wines I’ve ever had, and last night’s was even more special, watching them enjoy it that much.
Thank you Sarah. I will look out for the Jose Michel champagnes…Mahalo, Gary
Three young kids means I’m on constant QPR watch.
absolutely sublime wine, totally weightless yet spherical and mouth coating. complex nose with hints of chablis. barely showing any secondary development, with quite a vigorous mousse still. needless to say the bottle did not last long.
The one you sent me is officially burning a hole in my cellar. At this point, I’m just waiting for my course of “no alc. while taking” medication to end so I can get at it. 
I can’t pass on the opportunity to repeat myself on this point … David, you already know you’re doing this right, but to everyone else out there who doesn’t already know: David is doing this right! Give your bottles of Rubis at least a few years in the cellar – it’s amazing the extent to which they positively develop if you can find a way to exercise some patience.
It’ll only improve! I hope it shows well for you. At the tasting where I first opened one, I think it was @Nick_Christie who started talking about it. I hadn’t tried it as it was surrounded by old and new Krug and Grand Siecle. I was surprised how well it showed when I finally went in for a pour.
Whoa!! That’s some serious company! … can’t wait to get at it!!
Extracted from a thread just posted and not champagne, but worthy of a comparative post here IMHO: 4 wines tasted blind at dinner: 2019 Roederer Estate L'Ermitage, 2019 Paul Pernot Batard, 2017 Hubert Lamy Derriere chez Edouard Blanc, 2012 Au Bon Climat Isabelle Pinot Noir
2019 ROEDERER ESTATE L’ERMITAGE ANDERSON VALLEY BRUT- served blind to the others; my bring and my first time tasting this release after having enjoyed many really good older vintages in the past; it had a light yellow color and mild aromas of fresh honeyed lemon, grapefruit and lime that made up the matrix of the taste profile that just gently burst on the palate once tasted; the frothy cotton candy like mousse perfectly complimented the elegance that this possessed all the way through; there was some body and weight, but overall, it was more about grace and charm; this was comprised of 52% Chardonnay and 48% Pinot Noir with 4% oak aged reserves from 2016 added; our bottle was disgorged 2/24 and dosed at 6 gpl. One of our members called it a new world sparkling wine from the outset and even mentioned this specific wine whereas the other 2 had it as small grower champagne.
Cheers,
Blake
I bought a case of this and it still wasn’t enough. Every bottle seemed better than the last, and the first was already great.
Really generous BdB. The 30% oak was perfect for my tastes, and that and the ten years on the lees provided richness and texture. Brioche, apple, almond, lemon, a little caramel. Long finish that just keeps going. Sadly, I have only one bottle remaining.
I’ve been conditioned to fear $40 bottles, but this sucker delivered last night. It’s got a bit of density too many NV wines from the Cote de Blancs lack. It pops on the palate with Orange zest, a touch of butter, cinnamon, and lots of autolytic character which lingers in the back of the throat. It evokes the ubiquitous Orange shortbread cookies sold at every tienda across Mexico. Quite a bit of texture for a Champagne at this price point. I could happily make this my house Champagne and wish I had bought more than one bottle. I bought a mixed case of wines from this producer to try (confused them with the more highly regarded Paul Launois) and am not certain I don’t prefer this to their higher end cuvees. It’s just got a sense of fun I find hard to resist.
What a wonderful post, and your mom and aunt look bright, fun, put together, and happy! Great pictures. Cheers, Warren.
