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FW-BYOB-HT-15#1

Tasted January 15, 2015 - January 19, 2015 by Lilja with 550 views

Flight 1 - The young ones (5 notes)

White - Sparkling
2008 Camille Savès Champagne Grand Cru Brut Millésimé France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
90 points
A very pleasant Champagne at a good price 350SEK (35€, 45$).
Expressive nose dominated by green apples, some flowers, tropical fruit, honey a little yeast and a touch of whipped cream. High, young, tart acidity that gives away its young age. Fine bubbles and a really good mousse. Good intensity and length. This will keep well in the cellar for plenty of years to come.
¤FW -
White - Sparkling
N.V. David Leclapart Champagne Premier Cru L'Artiste Blanc de Blancs Pas Dosé Trépail France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
88 points
¤FW - 2009 harvest (L.V09).
Nose is a lot more interesting than it is attractive. Plenty of nuts, almost like Nutella spread together with some white flowers, yeasty bread, light vanilla and some sticky acetone. Medium+ acidity with some tartness but still quite round. Feels slightly awkward in the mouth at first, but grows with time and would probably need a good decanting. Lacked a bit of intensity and depth compared to some of the other Champagnes in the flight.

Would like to try a more mature bottle of this at some point!
White - Sparkling
N.V. Christian Bourmault Champagne Grand Cru Clos Bourmault Blanc de Blancs France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
93 points
¤FW - This is a Champagne that really hits home for me. But to be honest, that is probably because it's more in the style of a white Burgundy than a classic Champagne.

Lots of butter and toasted oak together with a little chalky minerals and tons of Chardonnay apples of all sorts and colors. Tops of with a little vanilla and nuts. High acidity with good, fresh tartness balanced by a round, full body. Really good length and a good intensity. Give this some years in the cellar and it could turn into a great wine!
White - Sparkling
2009 Graham Beck "Premier Cuvee" Brut Blanc de Blancs South Africa, Coastal Region
88 points
¤FW - This is incredibly good for 130SEK (16$) and stood up well to the expensive Champagnes that accompanied it in the flight.

Lots of sulfuric minerality on the nose, crushed stones, gunpowder and matchsticks together with plenty of roasted oak. Coffee, yellow apples and star fruit. Medium(-) acidity, round and pleasant. Round, medium+ body with a good length and intensity. Maybe a bit simpler than the Champagnes, but I did try it blind so hard to say how much that colored my opinion.
White - Sparkling
2010 Franck Pascal Champagne Brut Nature Sérénité France, Champagne
90 points
¤FW - Another really odd Champagne, that would probably have benefited from not being tasted blind, as you sort of need to know that this is a "vin nature" to judge it rightly. On the other hand, If you don't enjoy drinking it blind you shouldn't enjoy it no matter. But turns out its not that simple!

Weird, oxidative nose with some green notes of nettles and asparagus together with over ripe apples, funky minerals and candle wax. Slightly developed palate with high, fairly tart acidity. Medium body with good length and intensity. Weird nose, more classic palate.
I liked this, and voted it 2nd best of the flight, but more for its uniqueness than its qualities.

Flight 2 - The Bernard ones (5 notes)

White - Sparkling
2009 Bernard Hatté Champagne Cuvée Millésime Benjamin France, Champagne
90 points
¤FW - Nose is young, but with lots of attractive aromas. Yeast, orange peel, white flowers and a little cream. High, tangy acidity and great, frothing bubbles. Good intensity and length. Tasty, but young!
White - Sparkling
2008 Bernard Hatté Champagne Cuvée Millésime Benjamin France, Champagne
89 points
¤FW - Plenty of nuts and bread on the nose. Yeast, cookies, black rye bread, almond paste. High, tart acidity. Very dry. Good intensity and length. Young, and somewhat boring right now. I'm sure it will be great with a few years on its back.
White - Sparkling
2004 Bernard Hatté Champagne Special Club France, Champagne
91 points
¤FW - Lovely and indulging! Lots of nutty buttery aromas on the nose together with honey and yeasty bread. High, dry acidity. Really good intensity and a long finish. Very nice stage of development right now, but will surely get better in a few years.
White - Sparkling
2002 Bernard Hatté Champagne Special Club France, Champagne
92 points
¤FW - Wine of the flight for me! Incredibly nice nose, that just puts a big smile on my face!
Light gunpowder minerality with white redcurrants, Belgian beer, whipped cream, nuts and fois gras. High, very dry acidity with good intensity and a long, lingering finish. This is just perfect right now! Though the palate could have had a bit more punch to it, the nose is outstanding!
1 person found this helpful Comment
White - Sparkling
2000 Bernard Hatté Champagne Special Club France, Champagne
88 points
¤FW - This is past its prime (at least in my opinion and at least this bottle). Very ox-ed nose with aromas reminding me of sherry, nuts, overripe apples, dill and spices. High acidity, but rounder than the 2002. Good intensity and good length. Better on the palate, but still this is more developed than I would have expected.

Flight 3 - The old ones (7 notes)

White - Sparkling
1999 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon France, Champagne
flawed
¤FW - Corked. Not terribly corked, but with even a little it is not fair to judge the wine.
White - Sparkling
1990 Paul Bara Champagne Grand Cru Brut Millésimé France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
90 points
¤FW - Mature, quite ox-ed nose. Butter, cray fish, chocolate, mint, after eight. Starts of a bit simple on the nose, but with time it really opens up. High, but round acidity and really good length. Lacking a bit of vitality in the fruit, but still most enjoyable.
White - Sparkling
2002 Union Champagne de Saint Gall Champagne Premier Cru Brut Cuvee Vieilles Vignes France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
89 points
¤FW - A bit funk on the nose as well as some maturity. Blue cheese, glue, browned butter, mushrooms and some ripe apples.
High acidity with a bit of tartness, good length and a slightly bitter finish. Good balance. I like the palate a lot more than the nose.
1 person found this helpful Comment
White - Sparkling
1996 R. & L. Legras Champagne Grand Cru Saint-Vincent France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
93 points
¤FW - WOTN for me, and for many of the others.

Big, complex nose with good depth. Some sulfuric, gunpowder minerals,, crushed stones, butter, pine nuts, roasted coffee, grapefruit and a little tropical notes. High acidity, with marked dryness. Really good intensity and a long finish. Great stuff for 750SEK ($90).
1 person found this helpful Comment
White - Sparkling
1996 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année France, Champagne
93 points
¤FW - Impressed me quite a lot, but it also needed time in the glass to really open up. Nose is full of coffee, a little green notes and lots of minerality (like rain on a warm summer day).

High acidity, with lots of life and vibrancy. There is still some dry tart tannins, but this is clearly in a good phase maturity wise. High intensity and a long, long finish.
White - Sparkling
1982 J J Renaud Vouvray Pétillant Blanc de Blancs France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray Pétillant
84 points
¤FW - This is ALOT more interesting than it is good. In fact, in my opinion this is not very good at all. But each man to his own.

Way over the hill on the nose with mainly sherry aromas of canned mushrooms, honey but also a little rubber and flowers.
A skeleton of high acidity and dry, tired fruit. Decent intensity and quite a long finish. I'm sure this was a decent sparkle 10 years ago!
White - Sparkling
1992 Drappier Champagne Carte d'Or Brut France, Champagne
89 points
¤FW - A very different style to the others in the flight. This is a late degorgement (2013).

Very mature nose with lots of raisins, canned corn, butter, brown candied sugar and a strange touch of cold cut roast beef.

Good acidity, but quite round and sweetish. Good, high intensity and a fair length. A slight bitter, blood-tasting finish. Seen better days, but really interesting and fun to try!

Flight 4 - The extras (2 notes)

White - Fortified
1966 Blandy's Madeira Sercial Portugal, Madeira
94 points
¤FW - Incredible wine, an honor to try this! Deep, complex and inviting nose of nuts, butter, brown sugar, figs, raisins and oranges.
So fresh on the palate! High acidity with generous, round fruit and nothing cloying or sweet at all. High intensity and a never ending finish. This is what Madeira should be!
1 person found this helpful Comment
White - Sweet/Dessert
1985 Firestone Vineyard Riesling Selected Harvest The Ambassador's Vineyard USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
88 points
¤FW - Fairly consistent with previous notes. Felt a bit sticky, but maybe unfair to finish off a Champagne tasting with.
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