11/11/2023 - 2020 wrote:

Wow. This is fantastic. It’s in a great spot for drinking currently. Don’t hesitate and pull a cork now. It’s fresh, balanced, and has a real delicate purity to it. With Chris Stapleton’s new album and a fireplace, one hell of a time. Easy 92 for me and definitely a great value. I’m buying MORE.

4/8/2023 - 2020 Likes this wine:

I wasn't a fan of this my first go around, but I had bought 6 so I was hopeful time would benefit it. Happy to report it does. This ages great. It picked up body from the barrel aging that I didn't find when it was young. Buy these on sale, and lay them down for a year and wow are they great!

4/7/2023 - 2020 Does not like this wine:

Out of the wine fridge and pulled the cork @ 55 degrees. Left it open and to come up a little short of room temp (68).

Pretty shy on the nose at opening. Waited another hour as I have not had this wine and have heard good things. Two hours later, not a lot more going on. Drank one glass, and I was so underwhelmed I put the cork back in and waited until the next day. My hope was the fruit would show up or some complexity would find it's way into the mix.

Next day, not much more. Drank like a $30 Spanish red wine without every finding any character and nowhere near the fantastic experiences I have had with the likes of Lopez Heredia.

Not a rebuy for me, and quite frankly one of the more disappointing experiences I've had in higher end wine. Bummer.

6/1/2022 - 2020 wrote:

This was splendid. Disgorged in 2019, and best on day two. I now understand what they mean when they speak of “Bouzy” Pinot. This had a depth and body that rose Champagnes don’t usually have. My first Paul Bara wine, and I’m impressed. Definitely a rebuy.

4/17/2022 - 2020 wrote:

I was concerned about the cork, so I decided to try one to check in and see how things are going.

First, the cork. In excellent condition. Absolutely zero signs of deterioration, and only soaked through 10%. Near perfect condition really. Odd, as I have read the horror stories of the 10’s corks.

Second, appearance. Very, very little bricking. Surprising really. If I was blind tasting, I would have guessed a wine 5 years old. In really good shape for a 12 year old wine.

Third, nose. Maybe a little shy, but I didn’t give it a lot of time as dinner was ready. No decant, just pop and pour. Served in Riedel Pinot glasses which did help.

Fourth, palate. This is where it shined. Very delicious. Quite full flavored, fruit very much still there, tannins very nicely resolved, and everything in balance. Good freshness yet still.

I don’t do scores, but evaluate wines based on the next day. Do I still think about it? This wine I did, so I would love to try another. This bottle had some magic and was my first from the domaine. A great night.

3/14/2022 - 2020 wrote:

My first experience with this Rose was the 2018 vintage. I tried one on release, and remember a lot of alcohol on the nose. This 2020 doesn’t have that, and is ready to go with 15 minutes of air. The longer it sits in the glass (Pinot) the better it gets. Good now, hitting its stride in 1 year I bet. Solid.

10/30/2021 - 2020 wrote:

Dead on the nose. Boring on the first day. There’s not much going on. It was PNP with some air, so maybe I should have decanted it!?

It did improve on day two, and was best on day three, so for that reason it’s a hold. Will wait atleast a year to try another one. Maybe two.

8/27/2021 - 2020 wrote:

2012 base. Cellared since release. 750ml.

Boy did this show out well. The extra time in bottle and aging has changed it’s character, texture, and experience.

The bubbles, mousse, and body all had such an elegant texture to them. It has found the middle of a Champagne Rose and Rose still wine. It definitely had less brioche on the nose and was nearly chugable. After a couple misses, a fantastic bottle from Billecart!

8/21/2021 - 2020 wrote:

Disgorged in July of 2017. 80% Pinot, 20% Chardonnay.

This showed fantastic. Some extra time aging has done it justice adding to its body. Super balanced and proof to me that Hebrart makes one of the best NV bottles money can buy. It’s solid every time!

8/16/2021 - 2020 wrote:

Bottle #1: Cork leaking. Bottle returned. Second De Moor wine from 2018 with cork problems.

Bottle #2: Tight and acidic. SO tight. I’m not sure I’ve experienced a white wine so not there. No aroma, no flavor of a grape, all acid.

On day 5, I tried it again as a last ditch effort. Low and behold, it’s something now. Actually, pretty delicious, with a very nice nose.

So really not sure what to say, other than I guess hold it for some years. Never have I tasted a wine go from so bad, to so good. I’m going to wait 5 years before I try my next bottle.

6/6/2021 - 2020 wrote:

Primarily 2015 base wine... Not much of a nose at all, which is a bummer for me. A bit bitter on the finish and I expected more fruit from a 15’ base. Not bad, but not a rebuy for me.

5/4/2021 - 2020 wrote:

I was excited to try this, and the producer is highly regarded. I did not care for this.

It reminded me of some poorly made ciders I’ve had. If blinded, I’m not sure I would even know this is a product of grapes. Not for me.

4/4/2021 - 2020 Likes this wine:

First time trying this after having Billecart’s other bottles. Overall, I liked it. This was the old brown/yellow label bottle so it had some cellar time. After emailing B.S. directly, I learned it was a 2009 base and disgorged at the end of 2017.

The oak gave it more body and depth, which I enjoyed over the usual lean style of B.S. It did not introduce the flavor of oak, which is what I was hoping for. It seemed very well balanced with high quality good fruit. I would buy again sub $75.

1/19/2021 - 2020 Likes this wine:

XIII, so 2013 base I believe. 70% Pinot, 30% Chardonnay, disgorged 04/2018. 2.7 G/L extra brut.

My first extra brut Champagne, so not much to compare to experience wise.

Day 1, showed more Chardonnay. Day 2, the Pinot seemed to show up more. Seems well made, but a bit sharp/disjointed/unintegrated at the moment I think. Going to give the partner bottles 2/3 years before I try the next one. It never really got going.

12/16/2020 - 2020 Likes this wine:

I thought this was fantastic. I believe this will be the wine that gets me into Pinot. ... I followed RockNRoller's advice and gave it an hour of slow-O. After that hour, it had a fantastic nose, was SO elegant, and extremely balanced. The tannins were soft and almost caressing. This was the "light bulb" bottle for me on red Burgundy. Highly recommended!

10/5/2020 - 2020 wrote:

I must say, this wine disappointed me (again).

Billecart doesn’t print disgorgement, so I’m not sure on the specifics. This however was a bottle from a case of the current release.

Not much character, very minimal nose, with inconsistent/large bubbles that didn’t last long in the glass. It’s hard to find the character of the ‘old vine’ Pinot Noir they talk about that they use to make this wine. I certainly don’t taste it.

If we talk $, this wine is so overpriced now. Money is far better spent on rose from Aubry, Mark Hebrart, Vilmart, Charles Heidsieck, or Laurent Perrier. This B.S. NV is more expensive than vintage rose wines from both Louis Roederer or Pol Roger. Definitely not a value wine with so much better out there for less.

9/21/2020 - 2020 Likes this wine:

Wow.

I tried my first bottle last year on release when I bought them. I had never had the wine before, but a sommelier said good things. It was good, but the nose was dominated by alcohol (14.5%) and unbalanced. I figured it needed time.

Wow, one year later and the integration of alcohol is much better. Still not in perfect balance, but moving there quickly. Fantastic fruit with a tobacco smell on pulling the cork.

I think 3 to 4 years from vintage is when the ideal drinking window begins on this wine. I will try my 3rd bottle next year, and eagerly await that moment. This was so good now and I can only imagine what it will become. Bravo Mr. Cotat. Bravo.

P.S. this CRUSHES Tempier Rose.

7/15/2020 - 2020 Likes this wine:

This was my first experience with a quality Riesling, so I’m going to keep my review simple ... “beautiful”.

I would also add that the review from ACHERMANN was SPOT ON. Well said my man!

4/16/2020 - 2020 Likes this wine:

NYC_MAENAD wrote:

"Second bottle with quiche, on the terrace. Very nice, restrained nose but quite pleasing on the palate. Enjoyable. Some bitter almond notes, we both found it "Spanish" though we're not quite what that means exactly. Has more weight and seriousness than the price would suggest. A good drink, if not exactly compelling."

I completely agree and could not say it any better. This describes my experience to a "T" and appreciate your review NYC_MAENAD!

3/10/2020 - 2020 wrote:

This was a great bottle. It had a brown sugar nose on it that was just fantastic. It reminded me a bit of Amarone. Rich, but very well balanced. A great wine and not a lot of money. A win.

2/10/2020 - 2020 wrote:

Disgorged in September of 2017. It's fresh as a daisy. It could easily go many more years with proper storage and I believe improve from it. It's improved from my last bottle a year ago.

Most importantly, this wine just makes me happy. I think Herbart has become my current favorite producer. It literally got me dancing. These are undervalued, Hebrart is underrated as a winemaker, and every time I drink this wine I am fascinated by the nose on these. Just Lovely!

1/17/2020 - 2020 wrote:

PnP with 30 minutes of air. Disgorged in 2018.

I couldn’t help but think it needed more time in the cellar to come together. There was a nice nose, but it had a bit of bitterness on the finish, which diminished the experience.

Overall a solid bottle and good value. I will give the partner bottle 2 years to rest and try it again. I think time will benefit this wine, but I will take Marc Hebrart over this any day.

3/5/2020 update:

I just realized that this wine does not go through malolactic fermentation. Also, the 16’ base version (this bottle) showed a bit more Chardonnay than is usually the case apparently.

This all would explain my sense of bitterness. No issues with the wine, just the experience of it young. Will try again with age.

1/1/2020 - 2020 wrote:

Day 1: Still going strong. Re-corked and waited on it to the following day. Waiting a day was a wise idea.

Day 2: This was darn impressive. It’s still quite fresh, still has the tannins, and has kept its acidity. I plan to wait until 2024 to drink my last bottle and I think it will still be going strong!

12/28/2019 - 2020 wrote:

I purchased 6 of these. It's early, but I decided to try one to see where it's at (I have not had anything from Francois). He's a bit of a legend apparently, so I was intrigued.

I opened it at a very good wine shop and let them try it to voice their opinions. They were very impressed and I asked them for a quick simple arbitrary score. They put it in a 90-95 box, so strong marks from industry professionals.

To paraphrase them, they mentioned it had a long finish, it's dry, it's very well made to maintain its balance and hide the alcohol (it's 14.5% abv), it has a salinity to it, the Pinot fruit was ripe, there's a tiny hint of tobacco on the bottles nose, and it will age well. They also said they would love it with food.

My personal wine experience is limited. I will say it was worth every penny of the $35 I paid for it. I pulled it straight from cellar and that was the perfect serving temperature. If it's too cold (which happened on the way home) it's aromatics will become muted (which is normal on rose I believe). I'm excited to see how these develop.

11/28/2019 - 2020 Likes this wine:

Clean, lite, and fresh with aromas of strawberry jolly ranchers. I enjoyed it and will likely try another.

11/17/2019 - 2020 wrote:

Excellent wine. I purchased 4, I have drank 2, and both times, I have been thoroughly impressed.

The 1st bottle we drank had a secondary aroma of pineapple. The 2nd bottle (4 more months of cellar time) had a secondary aroma of caramel. Not sure on what’s happening there, but it only adds to the intrigue of the wine in my opinion.

Also, we drank this up against a 04’ Billecart Salmon vintage and the Bonville was better. The Bonville was livelier, more interesting, and really held your attention. The Billecart came across as a bit one dimensional and boring.

Msrp $62, and on sale at $50. For a vintage Grand Cru Blanc de Blanc at that price, it’s a great value.

11/5/2019 - 2020 wrote:

I agree, nice, but nothing spectacular. Maybe there is a storage issue? I bought mine off the shelf at TW in 2019. Advanced aging perhaps!?

Also, it did follow up a 2008 grower champagne, so maybe that effected things. Not sure, but not one I would buy again.

10/19/2019 - 2020 wrote:

I purchased (3) BS Rose 375ml bottles last week from a great wine shop. I wanted 750’s, but they did not have them. I purchased the 375’s.

Tonight I drank the first of the three. What a disappointment. No fruit at all, and only alcohol for aromatics. The 375 ml bottle format is terrible. If magnum is best, why they even make a 375ml is beyond me!

Also, the lack of disgorgement info from BS is really annoying and likely even the bigger problem. Printing it would have avoided this. Back to Marc Hébrart Rose. He tells me exactly what’s in the bottle!

10/1/2019 - 2020 wrote:

I would agree 100% with Chablis28’s assessment of the wine. I will add, at this point, it still has plenty of life left.

8/18/2019 - 2020 Does not like this wine:

As previously noted in other reviews, the color on this is quite advanced. It was definitely very golden.

Regarding flavor, there was absolutely no fruit left. If you swirled the glass, there were aromas. As soon as it stopped swirling, you only had the smell of alcohol. Odd, and not enjoyable.

Maybe my fault for waiting too long, but I had one on the 4th of July and it was excellent. Both were well stored, kept in a cellar. I couldn’t finish the second half of the bottle and dumped it. Ouch.

8/8/2019 - 2020 Likes this wine:

Since I have not drank enough Champagne yet (maybe 10 bottles) to consider myself credible, I won’t say anything more than we both found this bottle quite enjoyable. On a 75 degree sunny summer day, it was a great pairing. Paid about $70.

I had no issues with opening the bottle or any “erupting” as the previous person commented. I do always allow Champagne a bit of a “rest” after any transportation. It went from cellar to an ice bucket for 40 minutes, and definitely sustained a bead.