The cork came out with a big bang. Surprisingly for such old bottle. Lots of fine mousse throughout the meal. Initially strong acidity prevailed but after about half an hour it came around. And what a wine it still is. Very mature color and also taste. But not oxidised at all. Baked apple and pear on the fruity end. And brioche, sourdough, limestone to accompany. Long aftertaste. Shame it was the last bottle because it will last much longer.
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Blind. Yes please may I have another glass? The nose has a slight oxidation note which combined with the deep gold color of the wine led me to believe this was the oldest wine in the flight. There's a lot of yellow pear and grassy aromas. It's a very unique wine with a great complexity mouthfeel and an underlying zippy acid backbone. One of the night for me
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Served blind. Caramel aroma. I tried to pin down the flavor profile, which had a tropical note to me, like a pineapple or mango. Zesty with dried stone fruit. Lots of concentration and density.
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The most youthful of the half dozen 1996 champagnes on the table, this Billecart GC is fresh, lively and airy. Nice acidity, light weight, almost fluffy. Minimal secondary development and zero oxidation. Quite enjoyable even if not memorable.
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Dinner with Framily (Claudia, Chicago): Deep color with a medium mousse and fine, persistent bead. Complex, offering something new every time one lifts the glass. Apple, pear, cooked ginger, pineapple, honeycomb, lemon and marshmallow. Rich and layered, creamy at times, with a long finish. There's a nuttiness on the palate suggesting maturity which for me pushes to the edge of sherry/past peak, but does not cross over. I kept some in my glass for quite a while, finishing it with the lobster course. This made for a wonderful match for many of the first five courses. A beautiful example of mature Champagne at its peak. 96-97 pts.
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Opened by Allred at Claudia. Notes of roasted nuts and orchard fruits. A lovely wine that is perhaps starting to enter the oxidative spectrum of its life. An excellent beginning to the evening, and a nice pairing with the BENTO BOX of tuna-foie, scallop cracker, squid ink madeleine, potato-caviar.
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Second place for me among the 8 twentieth century champagnes, behind only the supernal 1996 Goisse. Very strong mousse, medium intensity. Not very distinctive, just very good champagne without arousing the senses too much.
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I think it is an excellent example of well aged champagne that carries the balance of the floral, palate, minerals, finish and bubbles. All in well matched to a great full course meal. Can still age more in good storage. One of the longest champagne finishes I had on floral, little honey, citrus and orange I had for a while. Truly enjoyable. First of seven bottles to run out during the dinner. Became part of my four-way problem (aka- which wine to 'park' on?)
(Fair disclosure, came from my cellar)
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Almost perfect! Matured and perfectly balanced. Less citrus and acidity than its litte brother NF 96, also feels more of oak and PN. Complex with subtle layers of flavours. Long taste.
Shame they dont make it anymore...
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Very nice, still very young. Almost shrill, the acidity is so high and not yet integrated. Still, the underlying matière is there, so be patient with this one and ye shall (probably) be rewarded.
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Just come into the drinking window, nice mixture of youth and yet with some maturity characters of nice honey tones, bread crumbs, slight cameralized, oxidized flavor with good level of acidity. Focus, good balance and nicely intergrated. Quite a long, tight finish. Drinking beautifully now but lots of potential still. Can only can get better in the next decade or so.
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(25.Dec-2016) Quite difficult to really judge this wine after 20 bottles. But no doubt it is one of my favorites. So mature and full of life. Good acidity along the very rich fruit. Long aftertaste.
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Heavy and fruity style with lots of chocolate and the density of a Gevrey Chambertin. Heavy on the oak and a strong note of gunpowder. This is a food wine. A good wine but too aggresive for me and missing some acidity.
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For me this was cork tainted. Most others didnt seem to notice. A shame, because it seemed like a nice wine. More powerful and dense than the NF 1998 and even the Hillaire 1999.
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What a monster this wine has developed into. Brought to restaurant Lieffroy, Nyborg DK. Drank out of large glass. This wine is perfectly ready to enjoy now. And what a Champagne this is. In such a perfect balance right now. And the otherwise screaming acidity of the 1996's is perfectly balanced with fruit. Very classic with citrus/lemon, brioche, yeast, hazelnuts, flint/chalk stone. Good and persisting mousse which seems good for the future of this wine. Very long aftertaste. Glad I have another 3 bottles.
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Year 3 - Super Tasting 2 of 5 - Andrew does 96 Chamapgne (Langdon Hall, Cambridge, ON): We all found that this wine was markedly effervescent. It pours a moderate golden straw. Nose is down the middle stylistically with obvious autolautolytic character in full display. The nose is of unbaked dough, french pastry, melon and mixed citrus fruit. While quite enjoyable this was ultimately simple compared to the competition. The palate is typical with moderate dosage and the expected elevated acid.
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Complex and developed nose, oxidized yellow apples, lemons, toasty bread, nuts and brioche with a touch of rubber, smoke and coffee. Balanced palate, mature, apples, fudge, fine medium acidity with fine citrus fruits. Round and mature with medium length, citrus and a small touch of exciting pepper on the finish.
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L66271526407A. Notes of cashew and hazelnuts, roasted apple and pastry cream. Rich texture, with flavors of caramel apple and orchard fruit with rich, nutty qualities on the finish. Lovely.
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Served double blind, the wine showed slightly older than its true age due to its color and slight loss of bubbles. Still, the brioche, citrus and green apple nose, coupled with elegant textures gave the wine quite a bit of charm and pleasure.
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Very nice but still very young with no notes of maturity. Easy drinking og open on nose and palate. Store or drink if you like your champagne fresh and zesty!
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Drank with family at Dad's condo 4th of July, first bottle of the evening. Immediately obvious this was great champagne. Toasty, yeasty, balance of sweet and dry. Lots of fun to drink. This could become a habit if I could drink champagne like this every day. Seemed at a peak, so wouldn't wait too long if you have it.
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Light yellow in color. Good mousse and lots of citrus on the nose. Baked apple, citrus, grape, dough and yeast. Quite young in appearance. Still lacks some depth but might appear with time.
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Superb clean champagne, classical B-S. medium weight, clearly emphasizes the citrus fruit. Energetic, vigorous. Still young and will be even more exciting in a few more years.
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I had the privelage of tasting this with some friends over sushi for a period of about 2 hours. This was a wonderfully complex Champagne bursting on the nose and with all the power, and structure to last a VERY long time. However, having said that...I think given the price I'd be just as happy with Cuvée Nicolas-François Billecart for a lot less. Still, none the less it was a pleasure to taste this.
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This was the best bottle yet of this champagne. Gorgeous mousse, classic nose of stony flint, baked bread and hazelnuts. Still young on the palate, but great stony structure and acidity with yeasty bread and a long finish. Fantastic food wine.
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Another great 96. Very reminiscent of the 96 Dom with the same cream, citrus, aced and great vibrancy, as if straining to be released from the bottle and then from the glass. Great, great wine, and half the current price of the dom. Would love to find more.
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Drank alongside a bevy of 96 champagnes, including the 96 Nicholas Francois Cuvee, Pol Roger Champagne Brut Rose Extra Cuvee De Reserve, Henriot Champagne Brut Millésimé and the A. R. Lenoble Champagne Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru. This wine was quite good, but probably my least favorite of a great 96 line up. Just a hint of sherry, beautiful strawberries and minerals on the palate. Nice mousse and beautifully textured fruit on the palate. Starting to slide from youth to maturity on the palate with hints of coffee, earth and dark cherries starting to creep in. Very nice, the sherry note would be the only criticism I would have (more of a personal bias than anything else). Plenty of life left, particularly if you like more secondary characteristics.
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Fabulous. Immensely energetic and mouth filling. Leads with the dark side with toast and hazelnut. Well integrated acidity. Seems like it could be a blancs de noir. With a few more years, this could become a masterpiece.
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Easter Sunday aperitif, pale gold colour, toffee apple with a touch of salinity on the nose. On the palate, lovely hint of orange marmalade - if you could reduce this to syrup, you could put it on toast. Delicious fruit, a slightly salty finish and some apple at the end, wonderfully refreshing, still early in its evolution. Love this for what it is, but it will clearly get better.
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Är bara så bra, stram, struktur , mineraler, inital mognad, lång, lång eftersmak. En av de bästa 96orna, helt klart. Krispig, kristalklart med skärpa. Jag är kär
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Kvällens vin, WOW, vilket vin. syran känns långt bak i gommen men ändå sån balans. Perfekt nu och perfekt om 10 år. Har allt som en champagne ska ha, Kanske till och med lite för perfekt. Filtrering, ståltank, här finns inga orenheter. För oss som gillar lite porrig champagne kanske lite smuts saknas men det kan jag väl leva med
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From Magnum, great bottle for New Years. A big, tight, creamy champagne. Hold on to this if you have them as it is only beginning to show its potential.
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This champagne seems to be getting younger and more backwards with age. Clearly fine quality but today wrapped up it an acidic grip which opens only a fraction with time, air and temperature. Still, the balance is there and underneath the acids there seems to be a fine core of green apply fruit. Better to wait at least a couple more years before trying again to let it unwind a bit.
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Simply stunning. Not a big or muscular wine - it's Billecart-Salmon. But side by side with the '98 B-S Cuvee Nicolas Francois, it was very obvious this was a huge step up which I don't attribute solely to the difference in vintage. Medium body but a kaleidiscopic range of flavors including wheat thins, lemon, orange peel and others too numerous to describe. A wine of remarkable breed and complexity and drinking very, very well right now. Can it age?
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7/15/2023 - Tartiflette Likes this wine: 95 Points
The cork came out with a big bang. Surprisingly for such old bottle. Lots of fine mousse throughout the meal. Initially strong acidity prevailed but after about half an hour it came around. And what a wine it still is. Very mature color and also taste. But not oxidised at all. Baked apple and pear on the fruity end. And brioche, sourdough, limestone to accompany. Long aftertaste. Shame it was the last bottle because it will last much longer.
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10/16/2022 - Clos du Mesnil wrote:
9999
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4/21/2022 - hargy Likes this wine: 92 Points
still lovely
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11/18/2021 - brigcampbell wrote:
Blind. Yes please may I have another glass? The nose has a slight oxidation note which combined with the deep gold color of the wine led me to believe this was the oldest wine in the flight. There's a lot of yellow pear and grassy aromas. It's a very unique wine with a great complexity mouthfeel and an underlying zippy acid backbone. One of the night for me
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11/18/2021 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Served blind. Caramel aroma. I tried to pin down the flavor profile, which had a tropical note to me, like a pineapple or mango. Zesty with dried stone fruit. Lots of concentration and density.
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10/26/2021 - sdr Likes this wine: 92 Points
The most youthful of the half dozen 1996 champagnes on the table, this Billecart GC is fresh, lively and airy. Nice acidity, light weight, almost fluffy. Minimal secondary development and zero oxidation. Quite enjoyable even if not memorable.
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11/7/2020 - hargy Likes this wine: 92 Points
mature and quite delicious but it is starting to lose some of its sparkle - I would drink soonish but it does depend how you like your champagne!
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9/15/2020 - discoverwine Likes this wine:
Always a delicious classic bubbly. Worth every penny.
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2/21/2020 - Markus IWC Likes this wine: 95 Points
Alex Billecart 96 tasting, second flight wine #1:
Grand Cuvee from magnum bottle, huge differens and much better than the standard bottle. Less developed.
Mesmerizing nose with distinct freshness, floral notes, licorice, citrus, roasted notes.
Elegant and sophisticated on the palate, roses, licorice, red apples, gunpowder, high acidity. Magic bottle!! 95p
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2/21/2020 - Markus IWC wrote: 92 Points
Alex Billecart tasting wine #1:
Developed nose with root vegetables, wax, smoke, dust, chemical tone (ether), volatile acidity, low fruit, slightly musty/old.
Fresh on the palate, nice acidity, smooth and round, long finish. 92p
BV 1
WV 2 (mine)
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2/21/2020 - Elvis1969 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Magnum. Vann hela Billecart 1996-horisontalen.
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2/21/2020 - Elvis1969 wrote: 90 Points
Lite oxiderad och obalanserad. Syran tar över. Inte en perfekt flaska av Grande Cuvée.
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2/8/2020 - AllRed wrote: 96 Points
Dinner with Framily (Claudia, Chicago): Deep color with a medium mousse and fine, persistent bead. Complex, offering something new every time one lifts the glass. Apple, pear, cooked ginger, pineapple, honeycomb, lemon and marshmallow. Rich and layered, creamy at times, with a long finish. There's a nuttiness on the palate suggesting maturity which for me pushes to the edge of sherry/past peak, but does not cross over. I kept some in my glass for quite a while, finishing it with the lobster course. This made for a wonderful match for many of the first five courses. A beautiful example of mature Champagne at its peak. 96-97 pts.
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2/8/2020 - thelostverse wrote: 93 Points
Opened by Allred at Claudia. Notes of roasted nuts and orchard fruits. A lovely wine that is perhaps starting to enter the oxidative spectrum of its life. An excellent beginning to the evening, and a nice pairing with the BENTO BOX of tuna-foie, scallop cracker, squid ink madeleine, potato-caviar.
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4/23/2019 - sdr Likes this wine: 91 Points
Second place for me among the 8 twentieth century champagnes, behind only the supernal 1996 Goisse. Very strong mousse, medium intensity. Not very distinctive, just very good champagne without arousing the senses too much.
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5/7/2018 - odds Likes this wine: 95 Points
I think it is an excellent example of well aged champagne that carries the balance of the floral, palate, minerals, finish and bubbles. All in well matched to a great full course meal. Can still age more in good storage. One of the longest champagne finishes I had on floral, little honey, citrus and orange I had for a while. Truly enjoyable. First of seven bottles to run out during the dinner. Became part of my four-way problem (aka- which wine to 'park' on?)
(Fair disclosure, came from my cellar)
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12/31/2017 - Clos du Mesnil wrote: 98 Points
Almost perfect! Matured and perfectly balanced. Less citrus and acidity than its litte brother NF 96, also feels more of oak and PN. Complex with subtle layers of flavours. Long taste.
Shame they dont make it anymore...
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9/27/2017 - sdr Likes this wine: 91 Points
Very nice, still very young. Almost shrill, the acidity is so high and not yet integrated. Still, the underlying matière is there, so be patient with this one and ye shall (probably) be rewarded.
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3/14/2017 - Vin Lover wrote: 93 Points
Just come into the drinking window, nice mixture of youth and yet with some maturity characters of nice honey tones, bread crumbs, slight cameralized, oxidized flavor with good level of acidity. Focus, good balance and nicely intergrated. Quite a long, tight finish. Drinking beautifully now but lots of potential still. Can only can get better in the next decade or so.
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12/25/2016 - Tartiflette Likes this wine: 95 Points
(25.Dec-2016) Quite difficult to really judge this wine after 20 bottles. But no doubt it is one of my favorites. So mature and full of life. Good acidity along the very rich fruit. Long aftertaste.
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11/11/2016 - MBKDK wrote:
Heavy and fruity style with lots of chocolate and the density of a Gevrey Chambertin. Heavy on the oak and a strong note of gunpowder. This is a food wine. A good wine but too aggresive for me and missing some acidity.
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11/3/2016 - discoverwine Likes this wine:
Amazing Champagne. Drank to celebrate buying Hamburg Mitsubishi.
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8/25/2016 - RolfT wrote: flawed
For me this was cork tainted. Most others didnt seem to notice. A shame, because it seemed like a nice wine. More powerful and dense than the NF 1998 and even the Hillaire 1999.
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4/29/2016 - giba ochman Likes this wine: 94 Points
Good moment to drink this champs. Early signs of age.
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4/11/2016 - hargy Likes this wine: 95 Points
outstanding with wonderful length and depth - very ready to drink and at its peak perhaps but undoubtedly one of the best I have tasted
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2/27/2016 - Tartiflette Likes this wine: 97 Points
What a monster this wine has developed into. Brought to restaurant Lieffroy, Nyborg DK. Drank out of large glass. This wine is perfectly ready to enjoy now. And what a Champagne this is. In such a perfect balance right now. And the otherwise screaming acidity of the 1996's is perfectly balanced with fruit. Very classic with citrus/lemon, brioche, yeast, hazelnuts, flint/chalk stone. Good and persisting mousse which seems good for the future of this wine. Very long aftertaste. Glad I have another 3 bottles.
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1/1/2016 - discoverwine Likes this wine:
Toasted the New Year in 2016 with family. Awesome bottle of bubbly!
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7/18/2015 - Wine Canuck wrote: 91 Points
Year 3 - Super Tasting 2 of 5 - Andrew does 96 Chamapgne (Langdon Hall, Cambridge, ON): We all found that this wine was markedly effervescent. It pours a moderate golden straw. Nose is down the middle stylistically with obvious autolautolytic character in full display. The nose is of unbaked dough, french pastry, melon and mixed citrus fruit. While quite enjoyable this was ultimately simple compared to the competition. The palate is typical with moderate dosage and the expected elevated acid.
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7/18/2015 - Dave Canada wrote: 91 Points
Year 3 - Super Tasting 2 of 5 - Andrew does 1996 Champagne (Langdon Hall - Andrew Little's Rooom (Also known as the Red Room)): Quite autolytic....brioche, biscuit, yeast, honey, preserved lemon and minerals. This is right down the middle champagne...very typical.
Mousse on the palate is quite creamy....flavours are dominated by biscuit, yeast, honey and lemon.
Finish is long and quite correct.
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5/23/2015 - Elvis1969 Likes this wine: 95 Points
An amazing wine, one of the top 1996's for me.
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5/5/2015 - FamilyLarsson wrote: 92 Points
En doft med fina mognadstoner, gula äpple, knäck, rostat bröd, mineral och aningen kaffe.
Fin balans, fin syra och riktigt bra längd
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5/5/2015 - Ramberg wrote: 93 Points
Complex and developed nose, oxidized yellow apples, lemons, toasty bread, nuts and brioche with a touch of rubber, smoke and coffee.
Balanced palate, mature, apples, fudge, fine medium acidity with fine citrus fruits.
Round and mature with medium length, citrus and a small touch of exciting pepper on the finish.
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11/6/2014 - AllRed wrote: 93 Points
L66271526407A. Notes of cashew and hazelnuts, roasted apple and pastry cream. Rich texture, with flavors of caramel apple and orchard fruit with rich, nutty qualities on the finish. Lovely.
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10/28/2014 - Jeff Leve wrote: 93 Points
Served double blind, the wine showed slightly older than its true age due to its color and slight loss of bubbles. Still, the brioche, citrus and green apple nose, coupled with elegant textures gave the wine quite a bit of charm and pleasure.
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7/20/2014 - RolfT wrote: 91 Points
Very nice but still very young with no notes of maturity. Easy drinking og open on nose and palate. Store or drink if you like your champagne fresh and zesty!
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7/4/2014 - levinml wrote: 94 Points
Drank with family at Dad's condo 4th of July, first bottle of the evening. Immediately obvious this was great champagne. Toasty, yeasty, balance of sweet and dry. Lots of fun to drink. This could become a habit if I could drink champagne like this every day. Seemed at a peak, so wouldn't wait too long if you have it.
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11/21/2013 - kwachtv Likes this wine: 93 Points
A classy and well matured Champagne. Too bad it was shared with 8 others...and dont think another bottle will be bought.
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11/2/2013 - Tartiflette wrote: 93 Points
Light yellow in color. Good mousse and lots of citrus on the nose. Baked apple, citrus, grape, dough and yeast. Quite young in appearance. Still lacks some depth but might appear with time.
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4/14/2013 - sdr Likes this wine: 94 Points
Superb clean champagne, classical B-S. medium weight, clearly emphasizes the citrus fruit. Energetic, vigorous. Still young and will be even more exciting in a few more years.
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3/26/2013 - BradKNYC wrote:
Terrific wines with outrageously good cassoulet as the supper club reconvenes. (Christine & Marty's.): Shows a rich nose of yellow fruit, brioche, mineral and toasted nuts. While largely fresh on the palate, light nutty flavors are creeping in as the wine develops secondary flavors. Pleasantly tart with nice depth and balance and similar flavors as aromas. A-.
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1/1/2013 - TheFoodieTraveler Likes this wine: 93 Points
very mineral, nicely oxidized with long finish.
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7/7/2012 - Shorepower wrote:
No notes
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6/10/2012 - Pacalet wrote: 93 Points
Nice nose of green apples and yeast. Light golden color with very fine bubbles, fresh and still very young, would love to revisit this in 3-5 years.
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4/15/2012 - Kirk Grant wrote:
I had the privelage of tasting this with some friends over sushi for a period of about 2 hours. This was a wonderfully complex Champagne bursting on the nose and with all the power, and structure to last a VERY long time. However, having said that...I think given the price I'd be just as happy with Cuvée Nicolas-François Billecart for a lot less. Still, none the less it was a pleasure to taste this.
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3/3/2012 - Gavin Sutherland Likes this wine: 93 Points
"Brioche, toast & bruised apples on the nose. Delicate bubbles, slight sherry taste with age"
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2/24/2012 - jreis wrote:
This was the best bottle yet of this champagne. Gorgeous mousse, classic nose of stony flint, baked bread and hazelnuts. Still young on the palate, but great stony structure and acidity with yeasty bread and a long finish. Fantastic food wine.
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12/26/2011 - Topper wrote: 94 Points
Another great 96. Very reminiscent of the 96 Dom with the same cream, citrus, aced and great vibrancy, as if straining to be released from the bottle and then from the glass. Great, great wine, and half the current price of the dom. Would love to find more.
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12/11/2011 - jreis wrote:
Drank alongside a bevy of 96 champagnes, including the 96 Nicholas Francois Cuvee, Pol Roger Champagne Brut Rose Extra Cuvee De Reserve, Henriot Champagne Brut Millésimé and the A. R. Lenoble Champagne Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru. This wine was quite good, but probably my least favorite of a great 96 line up. Just a hint of sherry, beautiful strawberries and minerals on the palate. Nice mousse and beautifully textured fruit on the palate. Starting to slide from youth to maturity on the palate with hints of coffee, earth and dark cherries starting to creep in. Very nice, the sherry note would be the only criticism I would have (more of a personal bias than anything else). Plenty of life left, particularly if you like more secondary characteristics.
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7/21/2011 - sdr Likes this wine: 94 Points
Fabulous. Immensely energetic and mouth filling. Leads with the dark side with toast and hazelnut. Well integrated acidity. Seems like it could be a blancs de noir. With a few more years, this could become a masterpiece.
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4/24/2011 - PJRONeill wrote: 93 Points
Easter Sunday aperitif, pale gold colour, toffee apple with a touch of salinity on the nose. On the palate, lovely hint of orange marmalade - if you could reduce this to syrup, you could put it on toast. Delicious fruit, a slightly salty finish and some apple at the end, wonderfully refreshing, still early in its evolution. Love this for what it is, but it will clearly get better.
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2/2/2011 - Shorepower wrote:
Är bara så bra, stram, struktur , mineraler, inital mognad, lång, lång eftersmak. En av de bästa 96orna, helt klart. Krispig, kristalklart med skärpa. Jag är kär
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10/2/2010 - jaga wrote: 94 Points
Extremely good aged champagne... at first a bit closed, then it exploded.
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7/25/2010 - Shorepower wrote: flawed
Korkskadad.
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2/20/2010 - Shorepower wrote:
Kvällens vin, WOW, vilket vin. syran känns långt bak i gommen men ändå sån balans. Perfekt nu och perfekt om 10 år. Har allt som en champagne ska ha, Kanske till och med lite för perfekt. Filtrering, ståltank, här finns inga orenheter. För oss som gillar lite porrig champagne kanske lite smuts saknas men det kan jag väl leva med
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12/31/2009 - edge wrote: 96 Points
From Magnum, great bottle for New Years. A big, tight, creamy champagne. Hold on to this if you have them as it is only beginning to show its potential.
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5/2/2009 - sdr wrote: 91 Points
This champagne seems to be getting younger and more backwards with age. Clearly fine quality but today wrapped up it an acidic grip which opens only a fraction with time, air and temperature. Still, the balance is there and underneath the acids there seems to be a fine core of green apply fruit. Better to wait at least a couple more years before trying again to let it unwind a bit.
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8/2/2008 - sdr wrote: 95 Points
Simply stunning. Not a big or muscular wine - it's Billecart-Salmon. But side by side with the '98 B-S Cuvee Nicolas Francois, it was very obvious this was a huge step up which I don't attribute solely to the difference in vintage. Medium body but a kaleidiscopic range of flavors including wheat thins, lemon, orange peel and others too numerous to describe. A wine of remarkable breed and complexity and drinking very, very well right now. Can it age?
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