Christmas Champagne Bash with friends

At home
Tasted Saturday, December 22, 2012 by Krugman with 551 views

Introduction

While this was not planned to be anything more than a Christmas party with friends, it quickly turned into a champagne gala!

Flight 1 (1 Note)

  • 2004 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier d'Or 92 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

    This 2004 Vilmart Grand Cellier D'Or Magnum was very youthful and much younger tasting than even the 2006 Grand Cellier D'Or from a 750 ML bottle. This still had wonderful minerality, citrus, spices, and creaminess, but I would recommend holding this for at least a couple more years if you have the Magnum.

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Flight 2 (1 Note)

  • NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Rosé 90 Points

    France, Champagne

    This Billecart Salmon Brut Rose was the second bottle poured at our Christmas champagne party and seemed to go over very well with all the guests. The light Billecart style with lots of minerals is something that almost everyone seems to love, even if they are not big champagne drinkers. For me this was good, but I have had better bottles of this wine and it was a bit of a letdown after the Magnum of 2004 Vilmart Grand Cellier D'Or.

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Flight 3 (1 Note)

  • 2005 André Robert Champagne Grand Cru Le Mesnil 90 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

    My last bottle of this champagne. While this is clearly not in the same class as the 2004 Vilmart Grand Cellier D'Or consumed a couple bottles earlier, it still performed very well for its $35 price tag. It is reasonably rich tasting with lots of chalk and minerals and a clean wave of citrus on the palate.

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Flight 4 (1 Note)

  • 2002 André Clouet Champagne Brut Millésimé 91 Points

    France, Champagne

    This Andre Clout vintage wine was impressive and clearly showed its pinot centric origins and bright red fruit flavors from Bouzy. What I liked about this was that it was extremely dry on the palate, which served to further highlight the chalky minerality. But the dryness never seemed out of balance due to the ripe fruit.

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Flight 5 (1 Note)

  • 2002 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année 94 Points

    France, Champagne

    This is the bottle that seemed to spoil everyone for the rest of the night and was certainly the crowd favorite. This was showing wonderful rich flavors of creamy red apples, honey, caramel, biscuits, yeast, and chalky minerality. So focused and pure. Drinking at an extremely high level.

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Flight 6 (1 Note)

  • 2004 Veuve Clicquot Champagne Brut Rosé Vintage 93 Points

    France, Champagne

    This champagne had an excellent showing as well and was clearly head and shoulders above the Billecart Salmon Brut Rose (the only other rose consumed at the event). This showed beautiful bright red fruit, with creamy raspberries, cherries, strawberries, yeast, wild flowers, and perfectly balanced chalky minerality.

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Flight 7 (1 Note)

  • NV Pehu Simonet Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 92 Points

    France, Champagne

    David Pehu made an incredible Blanc de Blancs this year. The 2009 vintage is incredibly bright and gives this wine a wonderful vibrant tension, while at the same time giving very ripe fruit flavors. This champagne has aromas of wild flowers and honey, while the palate shows off its zesty acidity, sweet pears, green apples, a touch of spice, wet stones, white pepper, and metal shavings.

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Flight 8 (1 Note)

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