April 18, 2024 - Blind Champagne Tasting (Basanti in San Juan Capistrano, CA (South OC)): Disgorged November 2021, so a longggg time on the lees. 80% Chard and 20% Pinot Noir with no dose. The initial aromas on this was kinda weird, with a celery and white pepper, a little stinky. With air this becomes a lemony an spicy wine, with a lot of citrus peel that creates length. My challenge I had was the spicy aspect to the wine, an oily-ilke citrus. I would have loved to retaste this again today, and I just wonder if I have captured the wine properly.
April 17, 2024 - April Basanti (blind): 80% Chard, 20% PN, from 5 plots in Oeuilly, all on "lutetienne" (aka Parisian) limestone. Spont. fermented for 6 mo, no malo, bottled May 2006 w/ 0 dosage.
Brought this bottle to the tasting, so it wasn't blind to me. Loads of brioche, obviously aged. Lemon, green apple, some gentle spice (maybe nutmeg? hard to place) and a hint of toasted almond. Finish isn't very long. To be honest, my impression the night of is that it lacked complexity for the amount of time it spent on the lees.
Finished the bottle two days later, and it seemed to have more brioch-y nutty notes. I stand by my assessment that this is on the less complex side, but the price point is reasonable for such aging. While it is not falling apart (like some other champagnes I have had recently), there doesn't seem to be a lot of upside in keeping it.
April 17, 2024 - Wednesday Champagnes at Basanti: Served blind. Showing the clear oxidation of a mature wine. Apple in a riper, less fresh cut way. While this doesn't seem to have gained the complexity you hope from a maturing wine its drinking well right now showing the way a Champagne should mature rather than tire.
May 3, 2023 - First time trying vintage champagne. 15 years on lees (bottled 2006, disgorged 2021).
Huge nose, almost overwhelming. Bready brioche and yeasty elements. Soya sauce bottle residue (lol) and balsamic vinegar. Dried wood ear mushrooms. Baked apples in pastry. A clean perfume scent like inside an airplane… nose has me lost for words clearly.
Searing acidity on the palate, very weighty with oxidative notes of bruised fruits, but never flabby. Quite a nutty and creamy finish.
Utterly intriguing to me! Would love to try more vintage champagne in the future.
❤️
June 14, 2022 - Tasted completely blind at Pa'La Wine Dinner.
Big toasty autolysis notes with a lot of complexity and orchard fruit taking a back seat. Creamy delicate mousse with high acid structure, a lot of oomph with the Champagne that was almost on the verge of overwhelming. Paired great with an Italian white chocolate cherry cannoli, beating out the dessert wine that the other distributor picked.
Very high quality Champagne, lots going on here. Autolysis notes dominate the palette, but not in a bad way. Toast, pastry, lemon curd, pear, quince. Enjoyable as heck
June 11, 2022 - 80/20 chardonnay and pinot noir. Disgorged 2/14/2020, with 13 years on the lees and no dosage added.
Buttered toast, slightly caramel nose, not much fruit left to the palate here, this is all secondary. Reminds me of the Cuvee Louis but not as far gone as recent releases have been. Has a nice contrast between the rich, oxidative flavors and the bone dry palate sensation with no sucrosity whatsoever. The acid is a bit out of balance on the finish at present, and the CO2 pressure is a bit strong. I like this, but found the 2004 l'Aerienne drunk a few weeks ago more distinctive, and preferred it. That's the one I want to go long on. Although I do think this one needs additional post-disgorgement rest.
The CO2 has settled down a bit on day 2 and this is quite impressive. Nonetheless it is still not as expressive as the 2004 l'Aerienne at this point in time, and I would be inclined to give it 1-2 years rest before opening.
March 5, 2022 - My first try,
the label: vignerons depuis 1687
80% Chard., 20% PN,
Vendages. Sept. 2005
bottled at the winery: 4th of may 2006
disgorged 10th of february 2020, Dosage 0 gr, Brut Nature,
for me the first impression is that stunning chalky cleanness in the nose, needs a lot of time to show more, then..., all this aromas of brioche, pomaceous fruit emerges too,
first impression on the palate is tension, a lot of tension, right away with the "MY" beloved limy intense touch,
all kinds of nuts, warm bread crest, caramel slightly,
overall that young showing, the stunning acidity keeps this one more than kicking alive,
recommend to give this one an at least 3 hour decent decant first, or store it away for some 5+ years more, like I should do with my 3 other bottles! **(**-*****), around 94-96(+) potential
January 23, 2022 - WinterSomm 2022 - tres riche! Drink, or hold for 3-4 years from now.
June 12, 2021 - Information about the wine
This Champagne is a blend of 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir. The fruit comes from Lieu-dits L'Enclume and Les Marguiniers with a lot of flint in the soil, also from Pierre de Bellevue with Sparnacien limestone and clay. The three vineyards are located in Œuilly. In addition, there is fruit from Lieu-dit Les Forgeottes in Celles-lès-Condé, which has a very hard limestone. As usual with Tarlant, the base wine was pressed very slowly by gravity, plot by plot, fermented spontaneously and aged on its lees for six months in Burgundian pièces, avoiding malolactic acid reduction as it was not desired. After aging the base wine, the assemblage was bottled on May 4, 2006, where it remained until February 10, 2020. On that day, the champagne was disgorged, but no dosage was added. The wine was thus allowed to age for almost 14 years in the cellars of Tarlant in Œuilly.
Color
light golden yellow with fine perlage
Nose
La Lutétienne shows intense notes of crumbly apples, even baked apples, combined with warm brioche, butter and almond cream, some nougat, dry wood and blond tobacco. With air and time, the notes are complemented by pear jam and a few ripe raspberries. The Champagne seems mature on the nose, fresh at the same time, heralding what it offers on the palate with a dimension or two more.
Palate
For on the palate, the Millésime directly shows this incomparable balance of an excellently matured Champagne with a lot of Chardonnay, where on the one hand such a laid-back mood arises because of the sensual warm slightly toasted notes of nuts, marzipan, baked goods and ripe yellow fruit, but on the other hand one is then again in a cautionary position because of the precise and lively acidity in combination with chalky notes and some graphite. This is creamy and melting, mineral, intense and delicious.