This was gorgeous, expansive, with lovely brioche, cafe au lait and darkly sweet lemon notes on a rich frame that ended with a long grippy finish. Super young but super yummy. It kept getting richer and richer as it breathed, quite lovely.

Night and day difference to the 2002 Bollinger, this was sharp, crisp, with bright lemon/yuzu and a tad harsh back end. I usually like/prefer Extra-Bruts, but I wasn't a huge fan of this. I found it relatively simple, and it never got better to my palate as the night wore on.

OK, not a bubbly, but from the Holy Land of Bubbles. And WOW was this awesome. Gorgeously bright crisp, tart red fruits with a backbone of intense minerality and acidity, leading to a long mouthwatering finish. I'd drink these any day, but most folks would probably need food to enjoy this.

Always love opening these, especially blind. Guesses were all over the place, from a young Chenin to an Italian white. Nope, it's a white made from mutated Pinot Noir grapes that have lost their pigmentation. Waxy, flowery, with pretty lemon and lemon curd notes that, with air, eventually reveal some light red fruit hints (and which always drive people nuts). The finish is medium length. This is still holding up quite nicely, I have to say.

WAY young and tight despite being opened and decanted 3-5 hours before drinking, but showing gorgeous dark but bright red fruit notes, tar, rose petals, and tons and tons of minerality. Open in another 10 years?

Absolutely lovely, with dusty soft red/blue fruit notes mingled with bright minerality and acidity. Ended with a long, crisp finish.

Sigh... my last 1988 Gaja Sperss. This was the 1st vintage from this vineyard, and the previous bottle I opened was in 1999. My notes from then said open in 15 years, so here we were. FREAKIN' GORGEOUS. Right out the gate, but gets better as it breathes for 2-3 hours, with lovely delicate rose petals, light red fruits, earth and mineral notes, and a long, elegantly haunting finish. I can still taste it the next day, like a ghost of a wonderful memory.

Smoky, slightly stewy, bloody, with dusty dark red fruits, lovely minerality and a medium length finish. Just rocking.