I believe this bottle had been opened the previous night. Spicy and rich. I never would have put it on non dose blind. I think we also figured out its all 2017 fruit but not a 'vintage' wine under the Champagne rules...or maybe it is. Very rich in color too. Intriguing performance to get such power out of Meunier.

Another bottle opened the previous evening. Light salmon color. Pleasing nose showing a note of peach. The palate on the other hand was unforgiving and nearly mute. Touch grippy. Just not enough fruit to prop up the lack of dosage.

Disg 10/19. Lots of rich golden color. Really looked much more mature than it was even close to being. Nose showed baked golden apple and lightly toasted bread. Crisp apple palate. Nice fruit but loses some oomph towards the lightly bitter finish. Still pretty nice. Like not quite balanced but the expression allowed you to ignore that.

Big thanks to Brian for bringing this. One of my favorite wines when its on and I've been wondering how my '08's are doing. They are doing pretty damn good I'd say. Pretty nose showing biscuit and apple. Not quite wide open yet. Bright, juicy palate with lovely, chalky acids. This didn't really carry the autolytic textures I usually look for but again, so good I quickly forgot. I poured a glass to watch as we went through the other wines. The nose didn't take much longer to open up into a dessert place, especially in a creme brulee sort of way. Terrific.

Sharp nose that was expressive in a funky way. Initially I thought VA but then I thought I detected mouse. The palate came off like a frothy lambic. Drying and empty at the finish. Oh fer two with this house. Nowack? More like, yes whack.

I noticed Hi-Time had the 2018 of this bottle in so I thought it would be a great fit for my 'newish bottle I'm curious about contribution'. Especially since I took the 2017 to Astrid's last year and four of us from that tasting would be present today.
Expressive, complex nose with florals and some spice. Much more lean on the palate than I expected. Very clean and pure up front but also some nice spice notes. Got more complex in the glass. Pretty with nice focus and a chalky finish. Though it lacked some richness, especially given the vintage this had a lot going on. They are getting some good fruit out of this spot.

This was easily the pleasant surprise of the day. A bargain buy by Bruce from Garagiste that stood pretty tall among some pedigreed bottles. Very classic notes here with great freshness. Bright and clean. Not showing any oak. Stony with a bit of that classic 'Sprite' character. I think everyone had something positive to say about this.

Hard to believe I bought this wine over a year ago. Alan's contribution showed similar to the way mine did a year a couple months back. Still showing that flinty oak on the nose. Expressive palate. Tasty flowery apples with sneaky richness and a clean, chalky finish. I'd still like the oak to integrate better but there is plenty going on here. I'm still resting my remaining bottle a bit longer.

I actually wanted to trade this out for something pricier for my contribution to the second half of the tasting but I had told Astrid at Falltacular I would bring so here it was. Loved the nose on this. Classic, rich, maturing BdB nose with that buttery apple and citrus mixture. Decadent on the palate too. The oak shows with more time in the glass. Classic Champagne opulence.

A bottle I had considered bringing so glad Bruce gave me a preview of mine. Bright and spicy showing some oak. Bright on the palate too with that more classic sweet tart character. I think this one needs more bottle time and given how the Grand Blanc is maturing, I'm thinking its wise.

This is 100% Pinot Meunier but I would have a very hard time pinning it on that. Bright minerally nose. Light and fresh but quite spicy on the palate. I didn't really get much on the nose in the way of oak but the palate should dragged me that way. From memory Mousse doesn't shy away from using wood as part of the program.

The nose was all over. Oaky and spicy for certain and then weird. But somehow fun. Apples on the palate yet pretty bizarre overall. Notes of clove but finishes cleft. The experiments continue.

Very green nose with asparagus and strawberry. Sweet and rich on the palate. Then it kinda falls off. There's acid but it doesn't seemed married to the fruit. Very notable showing given the reputation of the vintage. You'd think Vilmart might still get a note of that greenness but this seems to have gotten away from him.

Loved the classic, mature Champagne note of buttered bread. The balance really lets the richness shine here. Somewhat sweet and fruity but altogether yummy. Fantastic punctuation to a terrific tasting.