This was a beauty! Sorry notes tomorrow it was so good I ended up drinking the whole bottle myself.
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So you experienced the full Paillard reaction.
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Gosset Celebris 2002: 52% Chardonnay, 48% PN, 5g dg, no malo, 10yrs on lees
At peak I think: apricot jam, minty, very vinuous and a pleasure. Very full but delicate nonetheless
Glad I have a magnum and another bottle left
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My first Krug ever, a 173eme. I was really looking forward to trying this out, but I gotta say…I’m not sure I understand the hype based upon this one bottle. Certainly enjoyable, but the nose was bit muted and I found the lemon curd/lime syrup notes to be a bit overpowering on the somewhat short finish. That said, loved the delicate bubbles and the brioche notes that became more apparent over my 2.5 hour drinking period. Could be that I’m “just not there yet” with Krug, but will be in time. Paired with mushroom/truffle empanadas and fried fish.
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Could be it isn’t your thing, but from the descriptors you used, I’d be more inclined to say what I thought before even reading your note - it’s way too young to be showing what is special about Krug. They can be enjoyed young, but for me the Kruginess needs some time to develop.
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plus 2017 base wouldn’t be my choice for a first go.
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Your description matches my own first Krug almost word for word. I was full of anticipation, brought a 169ème (170th was the current release) to a restaurant in Germany (BYOB), popped the cork — and it was lemon, lemon, lemon all evening long. It didn’t help that our table sat directly under the AC, so there was no getting a nose on it, and the open kitchen produced enough clatter to keep my attention anywhere but in the glass. I simply didn’t get it.
Six months later I snatched a bottle with no edition number on the label — an older one. Glorious.
Nose: lightly over-baked milk rolls, white pepper
Palate: freshly baked milk rolls with a saline glaze; mouthwatering citrus, lovage and umami on the finish
So: not you. Give it time
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I think Krug Grande Cuvee starts to show its stuffing around 20 years post base year. YMMV.
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NV Baron-Fuenté Champagne Rosé Dolorés Brut
I’ve never been a big fan of this producer but bought this on sale for $26 to try since I’ve never had this bottling. Unfortunately this was no different. 60% Chardonnay, 20% Pinot Noir and 20% Pinot Meunier. 15% red wine for color. 5g/l dosage. Aged for 3 years on its lees. Rose color. Moderate bead. Red berry notes with an older almost musty profile. A little sweetness on the finish. Heavier finish. 84 points.
VM
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Welcome Marcus.
Hey, what brand stem is that? Lovely shape
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Thanks, CJ! Glad you like it — it’s the Champagne glass from the Zwiesel Kolibri series. (“Kolibri” is German for hummingbird.)
Krug needs time. I think even more so than it did 15 years ago and definitely more than it did 25 years ago. My epiphany with Champagne dates to a bottle of Krug Grande Cuvee tasted in 1999 that had at least 5 years of age on it and probably closer to 10. I had never tasted anything like it and never realized a wine let alone a Champagne could taste like this. Young Krug can be difficult in all forms. I recall many folks (including this forum) not liking the 2008 Krug on release. Most are now praising it.
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In anticipation of my son’s birth in January 1984, I bought a case of Grand Cuvée, which my distributor friend acquired for me because there was none available on the west coast. We drank most of them when he was born, but the few remaining have continued to develop and drink very well close to 50 years post harvest. I have one left.
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Shapeshifter — Dom Pérignon Œnothèque 1996, disgorged 2013
(28th of August 2026)
Assemblage: 52% Chardonnay, 48% Pinot Noir
A single note wouldn’t do this bottle justice. It changed too much, and too often. So here it is chronologically.
On opening
Nose: Intense vanilla pie — but fresh, not heavy at all. Roasted coffee and toffee behind it.
Palate: Totally underwhelming at first. Sharply acidic, slightly steely, almost ferrous. Within the first five minutes the nose held steady while the palate turned woody, with a long saline finish and a concentrated, almost overripe lemon note.
10–15 minutes
Buttery brioche came through — it reminded me of the 2002. The length turned emphatically yeasty, in the raw sense: fresh baker’s yeast straight from the packet. Heavy as that sounds, the acidity kept the wine light and dancing.
Slightly later
Rum raisin, a faint bitterness, and the opening vanilla returning in the aftertaste. The wine read as distinctly sweet at this stage.
30–60 minutes: the shapeshifting
This is where it stopped behaving. The wine oscillated between a heavy, toasty rum-raisin beast and a light, fragrant, acid-driven wine that tasted almost young. A fascinating interplay, and genuinely hard to process — every sip you took to confirm the last impression gave you something else entirely.
Beyond an hour
A burnt wood / smoked character emerged that I have never encountered in Champagne before, and which makes no sense at all given there is no oak anywhere in the making of this wine. But it was there, and it pointed straight at Speyside Scotch. Against it, that acidity still pushing freshness through — the smoke gave the wine an insane length.
Two hours
The nose stayed consistent throughout and grew progressively lighter; it was most promising at the very start. My last glass was at around two hours, and the wine was beginning to lose its charm. Still fresh, still tasty, but it was turning into a slightly muted young DomPi and giving up its character.
An extraordinary bottle.
I still have 4 bottles of this late disgorged version left and I am left wondering whether this is the peak or whether there’s more to come.
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I’ll start Sunday brunch off with Domaine Nowack Autre Cru Blanc de Meunier Extra Brut.
Kind of threads the needle of style between 0.8 dosage and the roundness of the 100% Meunier. Racy underripe yellow/orange fruit early with slightly oxidative notes towards the finish (which my wife really appreciated). Fun wine to experience and interesting curiosity but probably not a house wine for most (me).
I’d bet a couple of more years would benefit at this point as I kind of feel like it’s either a drink early or hold 5+?
We don’t usually drink out of traditional glasses but I found this pair of Tiffany flutes (zoom) at goodwill last week for $1 each so we had to give them a spin. 
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Extracted from the 30th Anniversary thread. It was quite a week.
The 2013 Vilmart Emotion Rosé was stunning. It opened with a dominant creamy strawberry note, followed by red cherry, orange and spice. A monumental rosé, one of my favorite vintages of this cuvée and easily one of my top five sparkling rosés in general.
A couple of days later we were at the home of another couple, close friends, and I opened a Laurent Perrier Grand Siècle magnum that I thought was the 23rd Iteration. Unfortunately, with these older Grand Siècles there’s no way to know exactly what you’re opening until you see the cork code.
This one turned out to be much older than I thought, although it showed phenomenally fresh, as these wines so often do. The D50E cork code suggests disgorgement in the fourth quarter of 2005. Considering roughly 10 to 12 years on the lees, it was most likely the 1990/1993/1995 blend, Iteration 17, although there’s a chance it was the 1993/1995/1996 blend, Iteration 18.
Check out the color of a champagne that’s over 30 years old.
On our actual anniversary night, I opened my only bottle of 1996 Krug. Gold to dark amber in color and definitely showing its age. More tertiary, with coffee, butterscotch, maple, grilled pineapple, ginger and some orange Crêpes Suzette. A huge, dense wine, but the acidity kept it from feeling heavy. Really nice, but I’m glad I didn’t save this for our 35th anniversary, or even our 31st. If this bottle was any indication, it was great but slightly past its apogee, even for my antiquarian palate.
The next night we celebrated at the wonderful Michelin starred Sushi Hyun Omakase. Eight seats total, two seatings, and outstanding.
I brought my only 1996 Dom Pérignon Œnothèque. It was sensational, one of my WOTYs, perhaps even one of my wines of the decade. So remarkably fresh for a 30 year old vintage, in color, aroma and flavor. Meyer lemon and pear, pastry, then later caramel and cacao. A long, dazzling finish. A revelation.
I might have to track down more. While I have many more growers than Grandes Marques in the cellar, it’s hard to imagine a wine topping this one. I don’t score wines, but this was perfection.
As I threw my third sheet to the wind, I spotted the 2013 Cristal Rosé on the wine list. In my joyful and slightly inebriated state, the price somehow seemed fair. Fortunately, Marybeth said, “Really? I guess if you truly want it.” That was enough to rein me in… a little.
I bought the 2015 Cristal instead, for much less than half the price of the Rosé.
It was another beauty, although it was hard to follow the Dom. Most young bottles of Cristal, in my experience, are somewhat dominated by lemon. While this had some of that character, it showed more complexity than I normally associate with young Cristal, perhaps because of the warm vintage. Not a trace of the green character I’ve found in some other 2015s. Lemon, pear, chamomile, brioche and saline.
I didn’t buy any 2015 for the cellar, but I will if I see a reasonable offer.
Close friends invited us on their boat for the last day of our week-long Anniversary celebration. It’s a beautiful ship, manufactured for spectating the America’s Cup, previously owned by Louis Vuitton. We cruised around Bellingham Sound then chilled alongside Eliza Island.
1996 Jean Gimonnet Blanc de Blancs Brut
Mature, but very much alive. The 27+ years on the lees preserved freshness. Green apple, pear, lemon, orange and almond pastry, supported by crisp '96 acidity. Great start to the night.
2015 Dom Pérignon Champagne Takashi Murakami Limited Edition
Our friend brought this. An atypical DP to my taste, although it’s still quite young and the nose was somewhat ungiving. Some of the typical reductive flint, along with yellow apple, lemon and scant tropical notes, but also an herbal quality through the mid palate. I’ll happily drink any of these that are opened, but I’m equally happy I skipped this vintage in favor of more ’08, ’12 and ’13.
NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée
One of the thrills I get when opening our old Krug GC’s (as well as our older Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle) bottles is the mystery. Before the iterations or ID codes were listed, you couldn’t know much about the disgorgement or base year based until you open the bottle. Then, the cork code can sometimes give clues, which you can decode and then make an educated guess.
This bottle was an old beige label GC, pre-ID code, signifying release between 2004 and 2011. Cork code A431 narrows it down to disgorgement in the third “period” of 2004, i.e. May/June 2004. My educated guess based on the cork and the way the wine showed was that the bottle was a 152ème Édition based on the 1996 vintage, which coincidentally happens to be the year we married. Admittedly, it could have also been the 153ème Édition.
Densely scented and flavored, with dried apricot, candied citrus peel, brioche, roasted hazelnuts, honey and winter spice. The glycerin texture was balanced by generous acidity. This was a great wine to finish our week-long 30th anniversary celebration, sharing with friends who appreciated the quality and the history.
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Righteously celebrated anniversary Warren. Great notes/pics for a great week. Well done.
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2019 Famille Moussé Champagne Les Fortes Terres
Opened by a friend. I last had the 2017 vintage of this former Special Club Champagne and liked this bottle better. Cedric Mousse recently chose to leave the Club Tressors in order to branch out. 100% Pinot Meunier from Mousse’s oldest vines. Disgorged in December 2023. 5.75 g/l dosage. Very fresh and exuberant at this young age which I found appealing. Moderate bead. Chalky with lemon peel and brioche notes. A focused finish which lasted on the palate. 94 points.
VM
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