Champagne - Blinded by the Quality

Steve had threatened to have a blind champagne only tasting and that's what he did. Oh my, the lineup was relentless. Each flight had a theme and I was off balance the entire time. Loved the wines but the breath and depth was incredible.

Guess the dosage - the correct answer is they are all 4.7 Lesson learned here was don't bet your life on the dosage.

• 2006 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  Blind: Played guess the dosage for the flight. Put this at the lowest, maybe 3-4 Wrong all the same at 4.7
  
  Wild bread aroma, baked dark rye. I was hungry just smelling this wine. Baked apples, light gentle bubbles. Sweet apple/lemon note at the finish.
  
  I thought this might be a Krug. WTF do I know.

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• 2007 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  Blind: Played guess the dosage of the flight. Placed this as the highest in the 5-6 range. Wrong, they're all the same. This showed much more rounded and feminine than a previous experience. Light effervescence with cinnamon and green apple. Medium plus acidity and great balance.

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• 2009 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  Blind: Played guess the dosage of the flight. I picked this as the lowest and probably zero. Wrong, they were all 4.7
  
  The blazing acidity look me down the zero dosage trail. Yellow fruit and Melba toast aromas. Sharp and angular mouthfeel. Lemon and lime rind.

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The aromas of these wines made my night

• 2004 Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne Inflorescence Blanc de Noirs La Parcelle Côte de Béchalin

  France, Champagne

  Blind: Okay, this was 100% an old white Burg with huge amounts of flint, stinky cheese, matchstick, and sulfur. Just awesome. It blew away after 10 minutes and I was sad to see it go. Drank superbly and I was fascinated by it.

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• 2007 Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne Blanc de Noirs Cote de Bechalin

  France, Champagne

  Blind: Steve and I looked at each other and said "oily nose" at the same time. It must be then. Dark gold and light ox. Flint note with the oil. Light pear and a hint of tin at the finish. I said this would be a very good sparkling riseling because it sure behaved like a German.

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• 2010 Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne Inflorescence Blanc de Noirs Côte de Val Vilaine

  France, Champagne

  Blind: solid. Aromas of sour fruit and rye bread. There's a candied apple flavor and the finish was medium/- in length.

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If you could only purchase one champagne producer would you make a mistake choosing Vilmart? The answer is clearly no.

• 1998 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  Blind: Looks like the oldest wine of the flight and it was and the brass color was representative of the age. Really demonstrated a full body and more weight. Great mouthfeel. A bit of citrus and marzipan. Must be the effects of oak? Excellent.

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• 2002 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  Blind: Wow, beautiful wine. Amazing aromas of what I ultimately decided was Christmas spice but it was more than that, earthy herbal thing going on. Mid palate was a blast of menthol. Long finish, so tasty.

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• 2008 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  Blind: I really liked this bottling at New Years and it was very good this time. Extremely intense wine. Comment of the night was "This champagne is like two bottles in one" Perfect description as it has the lemon, rind, acidity, and bang for two bottles. Super wine.

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• 1998 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier Rubis

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  Blind: Looks like a Rosé with a copper red color. The nose was initially muted but it really opened up. I'm a sucker for Rosé. Hint of oxidation, complex crushed berries and I keep coming back to this wine as it was paired with the duck. Amazing combination by Steve.

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• 2004 Philipponnat Champagne Brut Clos des Goisses

  France, Champagne

  Blind: light yellow. Hum, first impression was "young". There's an alkaline note on the sides of my tongue. Some discussion around what's going on here. It's tight. The fruit is light and buried in the structure. I wrote backwards at this stage.

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• 1996 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut

  France, Champagne

  Blind. This looks like has some age on it, a very deep gold color. Medium plus level of oxidation with yellow apple and complexity and concentration supported by salinity. This was very nice and I understand the fanfare but it's not my preferred style of champagne or maybe it's just I don't enjoy the aged effects as much.

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• 2002 Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Cuvée Rare

  France, Champagne

  Not blind. This taste very young, very surprising. There's a light oxidation and a brassy flavor surrounding my mouth. Pear and apple fruit. Showed okay but I'd hold for another 5 years.

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