Community Tasting Note

SLIMES wrote:

Sunday, October 10, 2010 - I was a bit alarmed to hear the cork pop very loudly but I needn't have worried. The cork was as straight as something you would get from a bottle of Krug and the colour was a lovely dark gold colour. The nose had developed into a beautiful toasty aroma with the acidity firmly resolved with the rest of the wine. Outstanding QPR.

There seems to be a problem with this wine on Cellar Tracker. Charles Heidsieck Burt Reserve or 'Mis en cave' as it used to be called, carries the year of cellaring on the label (used to be front now back). It now includes the year of disgorgement as well. In this case 2001 for entering the cellar (1998,1999,2000 blend perhaps?) and 2006 for disgorgement. (A bar tender at St. Pancras station thought I was a fool for asking the year of a NV champagne. I resisted the urge to get into a row about this though.) Anyway, giving the year of cellaring for a NV champagne is a stroke of brilliance from this house as they recognise the importance of ageing NV fizz. (If you don't do this, you really should). I got this bottle from Tesco (shock horror!) And as the 2001/2006 dates indicate, it had been there for a long time.

The problem with cellar tracker is that this wine is duplicated as Charles Heidsieck Mis en Cave 2001 in the tasting notes database, so I'm duplicating this tasting note there. If you want to know whether to buy this fizz or not, I strongly suggest that you take note of the cellaring/mis en cave dates in these tasting notes. I've tasted this champagne when it's young and it's always vile. Buy what you can, and cellar it for four or five years. Decanter Magazine gave the 2005 NV Brut Reserve a fairly stodgy write up and then retasted it a year later and gave it very high marks; possibly an international award if memory serves. As was pointed out in the Decanter world wine awards, ageing really transforms this fizz:-

I'm giving this champagne 92. In the past I've given Krug Grande Cuvee 91. Krug is £120. Patience is free.

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