| | Saturday Not a bad wine in this bunch, but see below for my reservation about the last and most expensive wine. - N.V. J. Lassalle Champagne Premier Cru Brut Rosé - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru (12/29/2012)
Nice, spicy strawberry on both the nose and palate. Rich entry, medium dosage, earth filled finish. We enjoyed this. Very consistent rose year in and year out.
- N.V. Jacquart Champagne Brut Mosaïque - France, Champagne (12/29/2012)
Pale. Lively mousse, medium sized bubbles. Ripe apple aromatics with some toast. Lighter feel, moderate dosage with some lingering sweetness. Not the best or most complex wine today but very nice and a good value at under $30.
- N.V. Paul Bara Champagne Grand Cru Brut Réserve - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (12/29/2012)
Light yellow. Fine bead. Deep black cherry fruit that carries through to the palate. Dry, serious-all Pinot all the time. Toasty, powerfully mineral finish. Excellent and well worth the price. Consistent with a note earlier this month.
- N.V. Marc Hébrart Champagne Premier Cru Sélection Brut - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru (12/29/2012)
Pale, tiny bubbles. Very refined, floral, chalky nose. Fine feel, light weight, moderate dosage. Lovely lemon custard fruit and precise stony finish. I had never tried an Hebrart wine and was deeply impressed by this. Stylish and alluring, yet possessing a terrific spine.
- N.V. Veuve Fourny & Fils Champagne Premier Cru Grande Réserve Brut - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru (12/29/2012)
Yellow color. Quite ripe, yellow fruit and a bit of brioche. Sweeter style than anything else today with rich entry and flavors of golden delicious apple. Less mineral than others, but a nice cyanic bite at the end to keep it from being too loose and sweet. Not my favorite, but the amount of fruit is attractive in its own right. A bottle a month ago seemed tighter and more focused.
- 2002 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut - France, Champagne (12/29/2012)
Medium yellow. Lightly frothy. Musky aromatics and a surprisingly oaky aspect. Fuller than I expected. Dry, lactic, a touch of caramel and a long, limestone finish. If you took the sparkle out of the equation, this had the structure and feel of a Cote de Beaune Grand Cru, let's say Batard-Montrachet for example. Remarkable in that regard, but I found the amount of wood to be too much (and quite unusual for a Comtes); I hope that it becomes more subdued over time.
Sunday No such luck today-some poor and flawed examples, and even the Bollinger was not great. - N.V. Carpenè Malvolti Carpene Malvolti - Italy, Veneto / Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Prosecco (12/30/2012)
Floral and honied. Light weight, trace of sweetness but drier finish. Nice.
- N.V. Salinia Sauvignon Blanc Twenty Five Reasons - USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino (12/30/2012)
Cloudy yellow. Fermentation aromas and some grapefruit. This looked and smelled so weird that I couldn't think of one reason, much less 25, to put this in my mouth. Sparkling Sauvignon is a concept the world can probably do without. (FLAWED)
- 2008 Raventós i Blanc Cava Reserva Brut (L'Hereu) - Spain, Cava (12/30/2012)
Light yellow. Toasted wood and sulfur. Ripe and weighty. Apple fruit, not too sweet. Finish is bitter, marred by the sulfur. I would not buy this.
- 2008 Schramsberg Vineyards Blanc de Blancs - USA, California, North Coast (12/30/2012)
Medium yellow. Coarse bubbles. Woody nose. Red apple, crisp acidity. Pretty bland.
- N.V. Vitteaut-Alberti Chardonnay Crémant de Bourgogne Cuvée Agnès - France, Burgundy, Crémant de Bourgogne (12/30/2012)
Medium yellow. Biscuity. Medium weight, some pear. Relatively dry but dull due to lower acidity.
- 2002 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année - France, Champagne (12/30/2012)
Medium yellow. Fine mousse. Caramel and toffee complement very Pinot black fruit. Not heavy at all. Explosive and long in the mouth, but the oxidative notes rule from beginning to end.
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