A very deep and vinous Champagne with great intensity and complexity. Is it superior to the many bottles of aged Champagne enjoyed alongside? Not really but it did show this great underlying complexity that emerged late. At Joomak.
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it's a little bit off on the aroma at the beginning, but it's getting better after time. lots of toast, nutty, tropical fruits and ripen fruits flavor. very intense with good acidity.
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Started out oxidative, if even advanced, which cleared up to bright acidity after time. Honeyed fruit, orange flowers, intense like an aged Chardonnay. Not the best example of this cuvée, not sure about this vintage. 93-94
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Quite different from my last bottle. This is funky and earthy, and while there really aren't many overt signs of decline, or anything else incorrect, those notes really obfuscate the overall picture and make it hard to tell what's going on here. There are traces of something interesting, but it never really comes together. Odd.
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Bollinger VVF & Friends (Nico Osteria - Chicago, IL): In a 98/02/04 flight. Likely something off with this bottle. The nose is funky and dirty, though it marginally clears up with air. The palate is super earthy with dirty, mature fruit. Seemed more tired than it should. Low 80s showing, but I'll call it flawed.
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Bollinger VVF et al. (Chicago, IL): To be really honest, I'm not sure what to make of this wine. It doesn't seem flawed, but others at dinner had said that they had had fresher bottles of this. The nose came out of the bottle quite stinky, with lots of earthy funk which for a few minutes had me worried about this being corked. But that stinkiness did blow off fairly quickly, so TCA was dismissed. That said, this wasn't particularly enjoyable. While the palate was impressive for its breadth and expansiveness, this didn't have enough lift and freshness to keep up with the heavy mushroom and earth notes. In fact, as the evening went on and as the wine lost its carbonation, this became better, to the point that the last, warm and still sip seemed to be the best, for that was when the acid seemed to pick up. An odd and mystifying showing.
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Pretasting with a small Salon and VVF vertical Tasting (Elystan Street, London): Very interesting wine. At the beginning feels a little bit too ripe, some people talked about starting oxidation. I would go not that far, but at least at his peak, winey but missing the freshness of a great champagne, I rated around 94 points, but two hours later in the second round it developed completely to another direction. It felt fresher, younger and in nose and palate some after eight chocolate, very deep and concentrated, long finish, this champagne needs time. I think from a perfect bottle at least 96
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Nästan exakt tre år sedan jag drack denna sist. Hag mognat fint under tiden. Juldryddor, söt honung, äppelpaj. Sist var den knuten men vinet har öppnat upp. Koncentrationen i det här vinet är fantastiskt så är eftersmaken. Kommer det här vinet att växa, ja det tror jag faktiskt. Går det att dricka nu? JA, ett otroligt bra vin.
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Very full bodied. VVF is one of my favourite champagnes and this is a wonderful wine but being a 98 it does not have the exceptional quality as the best vintages of this wine. Lovely though.
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Another great Champagne tonight! Very Pinot, with red apples, a bit of pears and a nice mousse. I did not pin this down as a Bollinger (had it blind), as I found it a bit “different” from the house style as I know it.
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Doftar äppelmos honung blommor. mineraler, nejlikor. Lite knuten och det känns att det här vinet ska ligga ett antal år till? Smaken är väldig omedelbar, sötma, frukter, periska, pinot noir slår igenom. Nästan lite julstämmning Ge den här 10 år till och jag är redo att döda för den. 98 är en riktigt bra årgång.
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Tasted at Dirk's 50th. Color: Medium straw Nose: Sweet, ripe pear and apple with a touch of dough and yeast. Not heavily toasted like other Bollinger's. After about 30-45 mins. in the glass, this really begins to open up, with caramel and spices. Palate: Full palate with pear on the attack, good mid palate acidity, biscuit, dough and citrus. Medium length finish, ~20 seconds. This wine was initially only about 88-90 points, but improves greatly with air. This should absolutely be opened early/decanted if you are drinking now. Also, I suspect scores would have been lower if this were served blind.
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Massive nose - all Pinot dark blue fruits, flowers, and spice. Full, but young palate, with an aggresive mousse and bold flavors. Relatively low acid and round palate. Oddball, but so, so good. Exceptional with duck confit with blueberry gastrique.
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A business lunch (Restaurant Oud Sluis ***, Sluis, Netherlands): Wonderful bright yellow colour with a golden sheen; beautiful oak, fabulous fruit, still very young, nutty, restrained but beautifully juicy, marries great concentration to superb elegance; excellent length. Drink now - 2018.
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11/1/2021 - dream Likes this wine: 93 Points
A very deep and vinous Champagne with great intensity and complexity. Is it superior to the many bottles of aged Champagne enjoyed alongside? Not really but it did show this great underlying complexity that emerged late. At Joomak.
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5/6/2021 - vetty Likes this wine: 94 Points
it's a little bit off on the aroma at the beginning, but it's getting better after time. lots of toast, nutty, tropical fruits and ripen fruits flavor. very intense with good acidity.
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5/6/2021 - hprphf wrote: 93 Points
Started out oxidative, if even advanced, which cleared up to bright acidity after time. Honeyed fruit, orange flowers, intense like an aged Chardonnay. Not the best example of this cuvée, not sure about this vintage. 93-94
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11/5/2019 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 94 Points
2nd Champagne Club; 11/4/2019-11/5/2019 (Les Crayeres Reims): Not blind
Powerful with wide shoulders, mint, chocolate, Toffee but in an elegant way. For me reaching his Peak. a tremendous wine. I liked this style a years ago much more. 94
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2/22/2019 - David Paris (dbp) wrote: flawed
22 Top Flight Champagne's for E&R's 20th Anniversary (E&R Wine Shop, Portland OR): Aromas are nutty and feels a bit oxidized. Palate tastes of the cork, tastes oxidized, and shows bitter minerals. Yup, no dice on the finish... this one is wrong. Bummer!
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4/23/2018 - psmith wrote:
Quite different from my last bottle. This is funky and earthy, and while there really aren't many overt signs of decline, or anything else incorrect, those notes really obfuscate the overall picture and make it hard to tell what's going on here. There are traces of something interesting, but it never really comes together. Odd.
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4/23/2018 - Nanda wrote: flawed
Bollinger VVF & Friends (Nico Osteria - Chicago, IL): In a 98/02/04 flight. Likely something off with this bottle. The nose is funky and dirty, though it marginally clears up with air. The palate is super earthy with dirty, mature fruit. Seemed more tired than it should. Low 80s showing, but I'll call it flawed.
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4/23/2018 - acyso wrote: 90 Points
Bollinger VVF et al. (Chicago, IL): To be really honest, I'm not sure what to make of this wine. It doesn't seem flawed, but others at dinner had said that they had had fresher bottles of this. The nose came out of the bottle quite stinky, with lots of earthy funk which for a few minutes had me worried about this being corked. But that stinkiness did blow off fairly quickly, so TCA was dismissed. That said, this wasn't particularly enjoyable. While the palate was impressive for its breadth and expansiveness, this didn't have enough lift and freshness to keep up with the heavy mushroom and earth notes. In fact, as the evening went on and as the wine lost its carbonation, this became better, to the point that the last, warm and still sip seemed to be the best, for that was when the acid seemed to pick up. An odd and mystifying showing.
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12/16/2016 - robertek wrote: 93 Points
Complex with initial tones of oxidisation. Turned the corner and offered up an intruiging bouquet.
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11/5/2016 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 96 Points
Pretasting with a small Salon and VVF vertical Tasting (Elystan Street, London): Very interesting wine. At the beginning feels a little bit too ripe, some people talked about starting oxidation. I would go not that far, but at least at his peak, winey but missing the freshness of a great champagne, I rated around 94 points, but two hours later in the second round it developed completely to another direction. It felt fresher, younger and in nose and palate some after eight chocolate, very deep and concentrated, long finish, this champagne needs time. I think from a perfect bottle at least 96
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12/24/2012 - Shorepower wrote:
Nästan exakt tre år sedan jag drack denna sist. Hag mognat fint under tiden. Juldryddor, söt honung, äppelpaj. Sist var den knuten men vinet har öppnat upp. Koncentrationen i det här vinet är fantastiskt så är eftersmaken. Kommer det här vinet att växa, ja det tror jag faktiskt. Går det att dricka nu? JA, ett otroligt bra vin.
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11/25/2011 - St Paul wrote: 94 Points
Very full bodied. VVF is one of my favourite champagnes and this is a wonderful wine but being a 98 it does not have the exceptional quality as the best vintages of this wine. Lovely though.
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11/24/2011 - Ramberg wrote: 93 Points
Another great Champagne tonight!
Very Pinot, with red apples, a bit of pears and a nice mousse.
I did not pin this down as a Bollinger (had it blind), as I found it a bit “different” from the house style as I know it.
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11/28/2009 - Shorepower wrote: 95 Points
Doftar äppelmos honung blommor. mineraler, nejlikor. Lite knuten och det känns att det här vinet ska ligga ett antal år till? Smaken är väldig omedelbar, sötma, frukter, periska, pinot noir slår igenom. Nästan lite julstämmning Ge den här 10 år till och jag är redo att döda för den. 98 är en riktigt bra årgång.
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12/13/2008 - cmbond wrote: 93 Points
Tasted at Dirk's 50th.
Color: Medium straw
Nose: Sweet, ripe pear and apple with a touch of dough and yeast. Not heavily toasted like other Bollinger's. After about 30-45 mins. in the glass, this really begins to open up, with caramel and spices.
Palate: Full palate with pear on the attack, good mid palate acidity, biscuit, dough and citrus. Medium length finish, ~20 seconds. This wine was initially only about 88-90 points, but improves greatly with air. This should absolutely be opened early/decanted if you are drinking now. Also, I suspect scores would have been lower if this were served blind.
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7/19/2008 - psmith wrote:
Massive nose - all Pinot dark blue fruits, flowers, and spice. Full, but young palate, with an aggresive mousse and bold flavors. Relatively low acid and round palate. Oddball, but so, so good. Exceptional with duck confit with blueberry gastrique.
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3/30/2007 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 95 Points
A business lunch (Restaurant Oud Sluis ***, Sluis, Netherlands): Wonderful bright yellow colour with a golden sheen; beautiful oak, fabulous fruit, still very young, nutty, restrained but beautifully juicy, marries great concentration to superb elegance; excellent length. Drink now - 2018.
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