NV Champagne Suenen Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut

Community Tasting Notes (25) Avg Score: 89.9 points

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  2/20/2021 - Paul S wrote: 89 Points

  Dinner at Bar-a-Thym (Bar-a-Thym): Disgorged Jan 2017. This was a decent Champagne, but not quite my favourite style. It could be partly was actually really tight, seeming to need more time even with its decent amount of bottle age. The nose was expressive enough, with a touch of lemon curd and whiff of feta cheese along with a touch of yeast and brioche. The palate was a lot tighter and more primary, with bright acidity and a frothy mousse wrapped around a core of citrus lemony flavours and a little trail of mineral pulling away into a mouthwatering finish. Altogether, a pretty decent Champagne to start night with, but nothing much to shout about. This had good weight, a nice mouthwatering freshness, but in the end felt a little simple to me.

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  1/25/2021 - julen789 Likes this wine: 91 Points

  DG 01/2016; Base 2012
  The 2012 base is the last bottling that Suenen released as an assemblage of his three grands crus (Cramant, Chouilly, Oiry) before bottling them separately as his cuvées 'C+C' and 'Oiry.' A strong chalky minerality usually characterizes Suenen's wines, and this is no exception; from opening: tons of chalk and wet stones with a touch of smoke, fresh oysters, and sea salt; ripe citrus fruits such as grilled lemons, mature grapefruit (quite typical of Chouilly in our experience), oranges, pineapple, and peaches; somehow 'clean' on the nose and perfume-like with some 'eau de toilette'; as this continued to open with air, it showed some butter, young cheese, toasted bread, and freshly baked cookies; on the finish it was very slightly oxidative with some notes of meatiness, brown sugar, and old furniture.
  This was such a surprise for a base cuvée; it really shows how time and patience are everything in terms of wine. With the attractive base vintage and its 5 years of post-disgorgement ageing, this was a pleasurable bottle with a creamy, dense texture on the palate, and a still-present acidity, although there would be no real reason to wait before drinking. Suenen's wines are very worthwhile.
  91pt

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  12/26/2018 - oropeza Likes this wine:

  Floral, soft character, mineral core, nicely balanced

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  4/21/2018 - 5laton wrote:

  2012 base, 3g/L, disgorged 6/5/2015.
  Despite 3 years post-disgorgement age this is still tight and severe, with aggressively frothy bubbles. It smells like a vin clair, but the base material seems to be solid - leave it to go flat in the glass and you have a fine glass of slightly underripe white Burgundy. But I found myself wishing for a touch fewer atmospheres and a few more grams of balancing dosage.
  I figure it will become friendlier with some additional time in bottle, so to my surprise the leftovers haven't improved on day 2 - this is still skin and bones without flesh. At least today, unbalanced and not my style of Cramant.

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  2/18/2018 - astroman wrote:

  Creamy well balanced with good complexity on the palate. Usually find them too lean but this time was different.

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