Light on the bubbles - to be expected - very nice on the flavors with plenty of weight. light citrus even yet with the buttery brioche note. Very mouth filling. Impeccably well stored.
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Golden colour with small persistent bubbles Nose shows lemon, salted caramel, toffee, butterscotch, minerals, brioche and very subtle tangerine…there are definite oxidative notes which add further complexity The palate is full with flavours of caramel, biscuit, toffee, preserved lemon, hazelnuts, minerals and lemongrass, lime. The finish is medium + with pure primary fruit of lemon and lime but augmented with great autolytic character and secondary flavour. Great wine
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A Small Saturday Night Wine Dinner: Very nice and thoroughly enjoyable champagne. Nose shows a touch of oxidation toffee, caramel, lemon custard, walnuts, and predominantly citrus fruit. Palate repeats the oxidative elements and is a touch sweeter than I usually like with relatively little in the way of perceived acid. Finish is quite long carried on walnuts and toffee.
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This won't knock you over, but it's a good example of a mature '95. Full body for a blancs de blancs. Not much on the nose, but pleasant enough. Excellent balance, not too acidic.
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Outstanding showing for this small but famous grower. Finally mature, the wine is exuberent and extroverted. Big waves of croissant on nose and palate. The PN gives it weight and ask - but wait, this is all Chardonnay from Mesnil. Flavorful, dense and very long.
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Cali Cabs and Bordeaux at Ian's (Alexandria, VA): nose showed almonds, a bit of petrol and honey. really balanced on the palate: great creaminess, intense acid, powerful flavors of apples, almonds and chalk with a long finish. this wine has miles to go before it sleeps.
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Celebrating my 30th birthday with 1990 Bordeaux (Lula Cafe, Chicago IL): nose: real classy and elegant nose of bread, citrus tones, minerals, lemon zest, green apples and bits of almonds. Great depth and polish on the nose as well, very pure and though not young on the nose, it isn't getting into that next gear just yet. There's still a bit of baby fat that can be shed, but the nose is very nice right now
taste: lovely and smooth medium feel with noticeable medium/high acidity as well balanced tones of bread, citrus', white florals, almonds, green apples and some bits of pears. The acidity isn't too much, but it is there
overall: a very classy and beautiful bottle of champagne. Needs a bit more time to fully shed some baby fat, but this was a real lovely wine that is showing well and providing yet another different style to the bubbly flight
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A nicely developed mid-gold colour, intially with a slightly too frothy and coarse mousse. This soon settled down nicely into a nice steady stream of relatively fine bubbles which lasted well overnight and into the next evening. A nicely developed and well defined bouquet of sweet tangerine with a quieter backing note of the village typical green walnut which itself became more prominent on day two. On the palate this really explodes with ripe tangerine with plenty of fine backing acidity. There is a sense of precision here which gives this the elegance of a pirouetting ballerina. The cushiony mousse adds to the effect and extends the finish. Not the most complex wine ever, but a great pleasure to drink in a beautifully light-bodied style. This appears to have arrived at full maturity all in a rush. An amazing transformation.
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Light bright gold with nice steady and small bubbled bead. A wonderfully evocative Mesnil nose. It has that wonderfully elastic fresh walnut character so reminiscent of the village and really couldn't be from anywhere else. A nice touch of mineral edging completes this. On the palate this seems sufficiently concentrated to carry the dry and mineral flavours through the mousse which is just a little less good than it appears. It's just a touch coarser than it looks, but this is but a minor distraction to what is a very good wine. Lovely acidity and just a touch of creamy development in a longish finish complete the picture. Far better than the previous two bottles, which have had an oxidative element to them, suggesting that they were on the way out. Score is for this bottle. The two previous bottles would have been in the mid eighties.
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Essentially identical to the bottle last week. Interesting comparison at Prime 112 with the much screechier '96. This is the one to drink now while waiting for the '96 to settle down.
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I forgot to make a note right after tastng this, but I can recollect it was remarkably good; developing very well, good energy and lift and gaining in complexity. Very fine with perhaps even better things to come.
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This is getting better each time I taste it. It's just starting to round off and the acidity is not as aggressive as last year. Frothy and vigorous and quite pale. Youthful fragrance of yeast and wheat. Solid attack and very refreshing if not especially long. The evolution will be interesting to follow as will the comparison with the '96.
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6/9/2015 - KeithAkers wrote: 92 Points
Tuesdays at TDS: Moncuit Champagne (Table, Donkey, and Stick, Chicago IL): Nose: The nose is refined and showing maturity with honey notes, apples, pears, biscuits, florals, and some brioche.
Taste: Medium bodied with medium/high acidity. There is a layered quality to the feel with apples, brioche, pears, minerals, and some honey tones.
Overall: This is really in its pomp right now. It's at that perfect stage of maturity while having freshness to the tones as well.
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11/9/2013 - theusualsuspect wrote: 93 Points
Light on the bubbles - to be expected - very nice on the flavors with plenty of weight. light citrus even yet with the buttery brioche note. Very mouth filling. Impeccably well stored.
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10/19/2013 - Dave Canada wrote: 92 Points
Golden colour with small persistent bubbles
Nose shows lemon, salted caramel, toffee, butterscotch, minerals, brioche and very subtle tangerine…there are definite oxidative notes which add further complexity
The palate is full with flavours of caramel, biscuit, toffee, preserved lemon, hazelnuts, minerals and lemongrass, lime.
The finish is medium + with pure primary fruit of lemon and lime but augmented with great autolytic character and secondary flavour. Great wine
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10/19/2013 - Wine Canuck Likes this wine: 91 Points
A Small Saturday Night Wine Dinner: Very nice and thoroughly enjoyable champagne. Nose shows a touch of oxidation toffee, caramel, lemon custard, walnuts, and predominantly citrus fruit. Palate repeats the oxidative elements and is a touch sweeter than I usually like with relatively little in the way of perceived acid. Finish is quite long carried on walnuts and toffee.
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8/18/2011 - sdr Likes this wine: 90 Points
This won't knock you over, but it's a good example of a mature '95. Full body for a blancs de blancs. Not much on the nose, but pleasant enough. Excellent balance, not too acidic.
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5/29/2011 - sdr Likes this wine: 93 Points
Outstanding showing for this small but famous grower. Finally mature, the wine is exuberent and extroverted. Big waves of croissant on nose and palate. The PN gives it weight and ask - but wait, this is all Chardonnay from Mesnil. Flavorful, dense and very long.
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5/16/2011 - Madidus wrote: 89 Points
Tropical fruit, apricot, brioche, toast. Delicious.
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11/5/2010 - isaacjamesbaker wrote: 91 Points
Cali Cabs and Bordeaux at Ian's (Alexandria, VA): nose showed almonds, a bit of petrol and honey. really balanced on the palate: great creaminess, intense acid, powerful flavors of apples, almonds and chalk with a long finish. this wine has miles to go before it sleeps.
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11/5/2010 - tooch wrote: 91 Points
Ian's Birthday Dinner - (Cali & Bordeaux: 1975/1990/1995) (Alexandria, VA): Lovely nose of almonds, toast and yeasty notes. Full-bodied wines that seemed quite young despite being from 1995. Good minerality and iron notes on the finish. Very nice way to start the evening.
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6/3/2010 - Rupert wrote:
Russell's Pebbles Fizz Offline (Alex's office, near Old Street tube): Pongy, fizzy, mouthfilling, deep and oxidative, but the depth more than compensated for the sweatiness, big and exciting
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6/3/2010 - SimonG wrote:
Russell's Pebbles Fizz Offline (Alex's DML Office): Big, yeasty, meaty nose. Quite robust. A food wine. Lacks elegance but I like it. ****
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6/2/2010 - LeatherPalate wrote: 92 Points
Nutty,yeasty and citrusy nose. Very fresh and firm on the palate with lemon zest,apples,and yeast.
Young,Fresh,balanced.
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5/21/2010 - KeithAkers wrote: 93 Points
Celebrating my 30th birthday with 1990 Bordeaux (Lula Cafe, Chicago IL): nose: real classy and elegant nose of bread, citrus tones, minerals, lemon zest, green apples and bits of almonds. Great depth and polish on the nose as well, very pure and though not young on the nose, it isn't getting into that next gear just yet. There's still a bit of baby fat that can be shed, but the nose is very nice right now
taste: lovely and smooth medium feel with noticeable medium/high acidity as well balanced tones of bread, citrus', white florals, almonds, green apples and some bits of pears. The acidity isn't too much, but it is there
overall: a very classy and beautiful bottle of champagne. Needs a bit more time to fully shed some baby fat, but this was a real lovely wine that is showing well and providing yet another different style to the bubbly flight
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12/25/2009 - jbrekke wrote:
Nice combination of citrus/pear and yeast. Well balanced.
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10/29/2009 - TBAFB wrote: 94 Points
A nicely developed mid-gold colour, intially with a slightly too frothy and coarse mousse. This soon settled down nicely into a nice steady stream of relatively fine bubbles which lasted well overnight and into the next evening.
A nicely developed and well defined bouquet of sweet tangerine with a quieter backing note of the village typical green walnut which itself became more prominent on day two.
On the palate this really explodes with ripe tangerine with plenty of fine backing acidity. There is a sense of precision here which gives this the elegance of a pirouetting ballerina. The cushiony mousse adds to the effect and extends the finish. Not the most complex wine ever, but a great pleasure to drink in a beautifully light-bodied style.
This appears to have arrived at full maturity all in a rush. An amazing transformation.
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9/3/2009 - TBAFB wrote:
A further bottle with oxidative tendencies. Maybe I was lucky with the noted bottle and this cuvé is on the way out. Caveat Emptor.
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6/6/2009 - cadamson wrote: 92 Points
This was really good. Medium gold color. Very clean and sharp, lots of apple and citrus. Really special stuff.
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4/20/2009 - TBAFB wrote: 92 Points
Light bright gold with nice steady and small bubbled bead. A wonderfully evocative Mesnil nose. It has that wonderfully elastic fresh walnut character so reminiscent of the village and really couldn't be from anywhere else. A nice touch of mineral edging completes this. On the palate this seems sufficiently concentrated to carry the dry and mineral flavours through the mousse which is just a little less good than it appears. It's just a touch coarser than it looks, but this is but a minor distraction to what is a very good wine. Lovely acidity and just a touch of creamy development in a longish finish complete the picture. Far better than the previous two bottles, which have had an oxidative element to them, suggesting that they were on the way out. Score is for this bottle. The two previous bottles would have been in the mid eighties.
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6/7/2008 - sdr wrote: 91 Points
Essentially identical to the bottle last week. Interesting comparison at Prime 112 with the much screechier '96. This is the one to drink now while waiting for the '96 to settle down.
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5/24/2008 - sdr wrote: 91 Points
I forgot to make a note right after tastng this, but I can recollect it was remarkably good; developing very well, good energy and lift and gaining in complexity. Very fine with perhaps even better things to come.
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4/2/2005 - sdr wrote: 89 Points
This is getting better each time I taste it. It's just starting to round off and the acidity is not as aggressive as last year. Frothy and vigorous and quite pale. Youthful fragrance of yeast and wheat. Solid attack and very refreshing if not especially long. The evolution will be interesting to follow as will the comparison with the '96.
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