A relatively muted nose, earthy, white chocolate, salty and nutty and baked apple, but exposure to air reveals that this is oddly cidery and acetic and short. I don't think this was correct: while there's still enough material and acidity to give the wine impressive power when it's cold and fresh out of the bottle, that seems more like a glimpse of what the wine could have been. A shame, with as good as the 04 was, I would love to try a good bottle of this.
Completely different in style from any of the others. Sweet lemon, white flowers, some vanilla, a fair amount of mint, extremely chalky. Airy with tons of mineral crackle, easily the most mineral wine tonight, and while it's not super dense or powerful it's extremely persistent. I very much like this style of BdB and I think I may have preferred this more than others did.
Big and round and sweet, with floral sweet pears and rich apples. Big fruit on the attack, more dosage here than the others? Not much mineral character. This is extremely tasty but not super interesting, much more of a crowd pleaser. A very interesting contrast with the Chetillons, which I slightly preferred.
Extremely ripe and sweet, with the fruit verging into peachy territory, but also tart with good acidity. But it's all upfront -- there's a bit of midpalate bitterness where the fruit runs out, and this lacks the depth of the better wines on the table. One of my least favorites this evening.
A huge, broad, powerful champagne, more pinoty than the others with some red berry flavors to go along with the more famiilar apple/pear notes, and quite a bit of spice. The richness and density works nicely with the big 04 acid, and this was the only champagne in the lineup where I noticed significant dry extract. Excellent, even if I slightly preferred the 04 DP in style, and needs time.
A frothy bottle, the cork shot off and went straight at the ceiling. Showed quite a lot of bubbles and some reduction at first and needed some air to compose itself and settle down. White pear and green apple, white chocolate, some yeasty Ritz cracker, a fairly big wine although not as big as the Bolly, but with superb intensity and drive through the midpalate and good length. Excellent if only showing a hint of what it might be at maturity.
I had a hard time getting my head around this one. The nose shows a fair amount of sesame seed and big super-ripe, tropical fruit, like mangoes and guava. Along with the ripeness there's a dense, creamy texture, but it's got good depth and is well balanced. It just didn't match my pre-existing archetype for what I expect champagne to be, which is more my problem than the wine's.
My notes say "apple citrus grapefruit vanilla. Ripe, sweet, big, too sweet." But this came at the very end of the night, and I was both starting to feel the alcohol a little and was focused more on other wines, so I didn't give it much attention. I wouldn't put much stock in my impresions here -- judgment reserved.
Certainly an odd duck. Limey and green and chalky, with an odd bitter/green flavor vs. buttery/round texture juxtaposition, and with crazy high, almost undrinkably tart acidity, even for me. Interesting intellectually but you can see why they usually put bubbles and dosage in these wines.
There's a strong resemblance to tarte tatin here, with lots of pretty baked red apple, salty caramel, and what Seth aptly terms savory biscuit, along with some mushroomy/nutty mature flavors that with the saltiness are almost sherry-like but not quite that oxidative. Not as powerful as the younger champagnes, but everything "works" better here -- it's complex with lots of interesting things going on but unlike the younger champagnes this is much more integrated and seamless, with no jagged edges and a silky texture. Absolutely lovely and an easy choice for me as WOTN.
Spicy peach and apple, plenty of spice, caramel, not a ton of botrytis, but quite dense and just super super high acid, almost too much acid even for a GKA. Unlike most 10s, this tastes like it wasn't de-acidified. Thinking about it more, I would have liked a bit more depth and power in the midpalate -- right now the acid is a little dominant. Air and/or cellartime may help there.
1996 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon Flawed
France, Champagne
A relatively muted nose, earthy, white chocolate, salty and nutty and baked apple, but exposure to air reveals that this is oddly cidery and acetic and short. I don't think this was correct: while there's still enough material and acidity to give the wine impressive power when it's cold and fresh out of the bottle, that seems more like a glimpse of what the wine could have been. A shame, with as good as the 04 was, I would love to try a good bottle of this.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2006 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons 90 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Completely different in style from any of the others. Sweet lemon, white flowers, some vanilla, a fair amount of mint, extremely chalky. Airy with tons of mineral crackle, easily the most mineral wine tonight, and while it's not super dense or powerful it's extremely persistent. I very much like this style of BdB and I think I may have preferred this more than others did.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2002 Ruinart Champagne Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 89 Points
France, Champagne
Big and round and sweet, with floral sweet pears and rich apples. Big fruit on the attack, more dosage here than the others? Not much mineral character. This is extremely tasty but not super interesting, much more of a crowd pleaser. A very interesting contrast with the Chetillons, which I slightly preferred.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1998 Ruinart Champagne Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 87 Points
France, Champagne
Extremely ripe and sweet, with the fruit verging into peachy territory, but also tart with good acidity. But it's all upfront -- there's a bit of midpalate bitterness where the fruit runs out, and this lacks the depth of the better wines on the table. One of my least favorites this evening.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2004 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année 91 Points
France, Champagne
A huge, broad, powerful champagne, more pinoty than the others with some red berry flavors to go along with the more famiilar apple/pear notes, and quite a bit of spice. The richness and density works nicely with the big 04 acid, and this was the only champagne in the lineup where I noticed significant dry extract. Excellent, even if I slightly preferred the 04 DP in style, and needs time.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2004 Dom Pérignon Champagne 92 Points
France, Champagne
A frothy bottle, the cork shot off and went straight at the ceiling. Showed quite a lot of bubbles and some reduction at first and needed some air to compose itself and settle down. White pear and green apple, white chocolate, some yeasty Ritz cracker, a fairly big wine although not as big as the Bolly, but with superb intensity and drive through the midpalate and good length. Excellent if only showing a hint of what it might be at maturity.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2002 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée 90 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
I had a hard time getting my head around this one. The nose shows a fair amount of sesame seed and big super-ripe, tropical fruit, like mangoes and guava. Along with the ripeness there's a dense, creamy texture, but it's got good depth and is well balanced. It just didn't match my pre-existing archetype for what I expect champagne to be, which is more my problem than the wine's.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2008 Gatinois Champagne Grand Cru Brut Millésimé
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
My notes say "apple citrus grapefruit vanilla. Ripe, sweet, big, too sweet." But this came at the very end of the night, and I was both starting to feel the alcohol a little and was focused more on other wines, so I didn't give it much attention. I wouldn't put much stock in my impresions here -- judgment reserved.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
NV Veuve Fourny & Fils Coteaux Champenois Vertus Blanc 84 Points
France, Champagne, Coteaux Champenois
Certainly an odd duck. Limey and green and chalky, with an odd bitter/green flavor vs. buttery/round texture juxtaposition, and with crazy high, almost undrinkably tart acidity, even for me. Interesting intellectually but you can see why they usually put bubbles and dosage in these wines.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1985 Perrier-Jouët Champagne Cuvée Fleur de Champagne 93 Points
France, Champagne
There's a strong resemblance to tarte tatin here, with lots of pretty baked red apple, salty caramel, and what Seth aptly terms savory biscuit, along with some mushroomy/nutty mature flavors that with the saltiness are almost sherry-like but not quite that oxidative. Not as powerful as the younger champagnes, but everything "works" better here -- it's complex with lots of interesting things going on but unlike the younger champagnes this is much more integrated and seamless, with no jagged edges and a silky texture. Absolutely lovely and an easy choice for me as WOTN.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2010 Schloss Lieser Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 90 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Spicy peach and apple, plenty of spice, caramel, not a ton of botrytis, but quite dense and just super super high acid, almost too much acid even for a GKA. Unlike most 10s, this tastes like it wasn't de-acidified. Thinking about it more, I would have liked a bit more depth and power in the midpalate -- right now the acid is a little dominant. Air and/or cellartime may help there.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue