Three things.
First, what a lovely picture of the group. Seeing all the smiles made me smile. There is a lot of mirth.
Second, I love seeing each person’s stemware. How fun.
Third, re Ruppert-Leroy, I am completely unsurprised.
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that’s the best possible note for a bottle of Veuve. Enjoy Vegas, Jeff — do you have any fun meals lined-up?
Hi Frank!! I’m sure I speak for many here when I say, Nice to see you posting!!
This bit about the Courtin jumped off the page at me — it’s awesome to hear they’re doing so well this long past vintage, knowing she makes a No Dose style. And my eyebrows took flight when I saw you, of all people, mention it being better than the '14. 
You know, I realized a couple weeks ago, I haven’t seen Courtin on offer nearly as much the past couple years as I did previously — maybe I’ve been missing the offers, or maybe there really has been a decrease, I dunno — either way, I’m now realizing I need to actively seek them out if I want to continue having them. Once upon a time, I clumped Marguet, Courtin, Lahaye, and Laherte all in the same broad bucket, and had a rough order of preference. That order has certainly rearranged itself over the years — interesting how that happens if we allow ourselves to be open to it. Hope you, Jill, and the rest of the OC crew are doing well! 
Extracting from the pigs head torchon thread from the epic dinner Thursday night.
2002 Comtes was drinking on point and sublime with the torchon- 95 was mature and would have been beautiful but it was mildly corked and worsened with time. 09 Cristal magnum was nice way to start.
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I’ve noticed the same thing.
Ideal used to have them all the time at good pricing but they’ve been missing in action for a while
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That’s what happens when you open 2008 Dom!!!
Gosh I love that champagne. I’ve had quite a lot of it, and like a dummy, do not have a single bottle left
Post them notes! And please God, no bikini pictures of you!
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Extracted from a thread just posted: Dinner with 6 wines poured blind: NV Taittinger Prelude, 2012 Drappier Grande Sendree, 2017 Lucien Le Moine Corton Charlemagne, 2020 Vincent Girardin les Perrieres, 2006 Nervi Gattinara and WOTN, 2000 Pavie
NV TAITTINGER PRELUDE GRANDS CRUS- blind; the yellow color had a little darker hue in it; the nose offered inviting aromas of honey dew melon fading out in favor of a hit of lime; on the palate, it gave additional notes of honeyed and buttered white peach and pear with an unexpected accent of coconut; after 20+ minutes, both the aromas and taste profile changed to express mineral laced citrus fruit; it was big and rich with soft acidity and quite delightful; this is comprised of 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir, all sourced from Grand Cru vineyards, aged over 5 years before disgorgement when it was dosed at 9 gpl.
I captioned this above as being NV, but the house’s website states it is all from the same vintage without mentioning the vintage. Since this was a recent purchase by the one who brought it, I am surmising it is quite young as in 2018 or thereabouts.
We all liked it and had various opinions as to whether it was a BdB or a blend which seemed apparent to me and I guessed it to be about 8 years old.
2012 DRAPPIER GRANDE SENDREE BRUT- blind; this had a light yellow color and aromas and tastes that included fresh citrus fruit with spicy lemon and lime most prevalent; while moving through the wine with each taste, I found it to be lovely and delightful being delivered throughout in beautiful balance; I initially thought this to be a BdB, but after time, it seemed to gain layered depth and as such, emulating more of a blend profile and added some nice stone fruit in the way of white peach and nectarine; although it did not have the power and depth, i thought it to be likened to the 2008 Laurent-Perrier Brut that we have loved so much on many previous occasions.
Cheers,
Blake
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It’s great to see my OC peeps. Love you all.
Love this vintage in Moet. Had the Dom a few times, all spectacular, but the regular Brut got high marks so I bought some halves. Everything you’d want from a '64 champagne…rounds out with a bit of air, no mousse but still round with lively acidity. Perfectly balanced. Bruised apple tinged minerals, faint vanilla spice and candle wax. On the palate, tart apples…medium richness with perfect acidity and clean medium finish. Keeps filling out and rounding out with air. A perfect example. (Disclaimer, two other halves went down the drain last year)
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Yeah, time seems to change and inform what we seem to like. Your short list there is a good one, so what is the list now? I’d be curious to know. Mine lands with Marie Courtin, Laherte Freres and Vilmart. If I had no other Champagne to drink for the rest of my time, these three would be just fine for me.
@Blake_Brown Sorry to miss your recent visit. I’ve been committed to PT and stretching the past 4 weeks and life seems to have finally come back. Hitting some balls today too, finally.
@K_John_Joseph This is a really fine group of people. Spending an evening with them, as with all the others we have done as a group over the past 5 years, was terrific. It’s a blessing. They are a blessing to me.
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My last bottle of NV Pierre Peters Brut. Happy to know that this is not a producer for me. I’ve left this bottle for 5 (?) years to see if age was the factor I was missing, but nope; I’m just not into PP Champagne.
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Same here. My experiences across the range have gone from blah to yuk.
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We ate at the Mayflower Supper Club and Din Tai Fung (chosen by my Niece).
VM
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First time having this cuvée from Hebrart, and I loved the depth and power of the red fruit. Lots of yeasty notes as well. Laura loved it.
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When Marybeth isn’t drinking and I am, I’ll often reach for a half bottle of Krug. This was an old beige-label Grande Cuvée from before edition numbers and ID codes. Based on the cork code, it was disgorged in March/April 2006, suggesting a base vintage around 1999 or 2000, with reserve wines perhaps reaching back to the late 1980s.
The tight cork opened quietly, not a whisper or a pop. The color was surprisingly youthful; deeper than a current release but without an amber hue I’d expect from a Champagne of this age. The bead was nearly absent.
You have to love old Champagne to love this bottle, and I do. (Marybeth would have hated it.) This was one of the most concentrated and complex Champagnes I’ve opened. While the color remained remarkably fresh, the nose and palate were all about maturity: gingerbread, dates and other dried fruits, cacao, sweet brown spices, toasted nuts, marzipan, chestnut honey, and browned butter. The texture was rich and almost creamy, with lingering intensity on the finish.
It’s not a Champagne I’d reach for every day (or even weekly), but I loved it as a change of pace from the crisp, citrus-, orchard fruit- or berry- driven profiles of younger Champagne. The depth and complexity in the glass made up for the soft mousse (at least for me 
)
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Extracted from a thread just posted: 5 Wines tasted blind at dinner: 2012 Dom Perignon, 2002 Dom Ruinart, 2010 Boillot Les Chaumes, 2007 Conterno Barbera and 2015 DRC Echezeaux
Our Monday Night Blind Wine Dinner Group celebrated one of our member’s special birthday by assigning the wine brings to also included wines known or expected to be favored by him.
During one of our blind wine dinners earlier in the year, our member of honor was assessing another sparkling wine that reminded him of a Dom Perignon he so dearly treasured. He remarked about all of the characteristics it possessed that fit his palate to perfection and how vivid his memory was of that champagne. I knew I had a chance to replicate that fine bottle and pulled the following:
2012 DOM PERIGNON BRUT- served blind to the others; following its light yellow color came inviting aromas of toasted brioche, lemon and lime that continued on to be joined by hints of minerals, chalk and saline; it was delivered in a frothy, feel good mousse possessing fine, small bubbles that never quit; it had bright acidity, loads of grace and charm and a persona of class and elegance; I had hoped this would express all that it did as it surely had to please all palate preferences with this magnificent showing.
One guessed the vintage; no one got the house and some had it as a BdB; this is comprised of 51% Pinot Noir and 49% Chardonnay.
2002 DOM RUINART BRUT- blind; the hazy, darker yellow gold color suggested this was advanced whether it be due to age, increased air exposure or both and I immediately thought of 2004 or thereabouts, but wait, there’s much more to explore; the nose offered major reductive stone fruit notes with yellow peach and apricot most evident; once tasted, additional notes of yellow apple with a slight bruise came in topped with a coat of honey which also emulated the creamy texture; it was full bodied, super rich and very delightful.
Again we struggled to ID the producer and I thought it was a BdB.
“Ruinart Brut is a harmonious champagne, produced from a blend of pinot noir (40–45%), meunier (10–15%) and fresh chardonnay (40%). Created from 40–50 different crus from the terroirs of Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims.” This was dosed at 7 gpl.
Cheers,
Blake
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Neret-Vely Cabotine Extra Brut
60% Chardonnay, 40% Meunier, 5g/l dosage from 2021 vintage. First time with this producer but call me impressed. Frankly this is just flat out stunning. Nose is full of sweet yellow fruits, wet sand, seashells, lemonrind and freshly baked croissants. Palate follows the nose nicely making this cohesive and highly enjoyable fizz. Needless to say I backfilled prior posting. One of the discoveries for this year and for less than 40€/bottle this is a steal for what you get.
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$75 stateside, from what I can see from a very quick search. Your note is fantastic and the wine sounds amazing.
I’ve enjoyed a few Néret-Vély wines. For me the highlight has been the Les Echalas Rosé de Saignée - almost a sparkling red wine, pure Meunier, and rather food friendly.