Académie des Cinquante Champagne Tasting

Villa Oldenhoff, Abcoude, Netherlands
Tasted Saturday, November 30, 2013 by Xavier Auerbach with 819 views

Flight 1 - Terroirs and Vignerons - I (3 Notes)

  • NV Veuve Fourny & Fils Champagne Premier Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut 91 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

    Over 40 year old vines, 100% Vertus Premier Cru, “rendzine sur craie” soils, 80% 2007, 20% 2006 and 2005, 75% steel fermented, 25% on oak, malo 75% completed, 30 months sur lattes, dosage 6 gr/l, DIAM cork. A wonderfully pure expression of its terroir, silky, fresh, precise, elegant, stylish.

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  • 2004 Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Champagne Premier Cru Extra Brut Oenophile 91 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

    This is the same wine as the Fleuron but without any dosage. Steel fermented, malo complete, 60 months sur lattes. Uncompromising. Unadorned. Liquid rock. Tight and austere. The northern Côte des Blancs in all its naked mineral glory.

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  • 2000 Jacquesson & Fils Champagne Dizy Corne Bautray Extra-Brut 92 Points

    France, Champagne

    Dizy single vineyard, "sol argileux avec cailloux meulières", fermented in large oak vats. Seven and a half years post disgorgement ageing have given this wine a developed nose in which the wood is noticeable, the fruit is becoming candied but the wine retains a citrussy core; the saline minerality is quite amazing and this is big for a Blanc de Blancs - it has the weight of a full-blown Pinot champagne. Not as uncompromising as in 2010, age has mellowed it a bit. Will last - until 2020?

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Flight 2 - Terroirs et Vignerons - II (3 Notes)

  • 2008 Bérêche et Fils Champagne Rive Gauche 92 Points

    France, Champagne

    Identical to my August 2013 note. Delectable character of pain d'épices, beautifully made, still quite a handful at present, the energy of the great 2008 vintage shines through, should be able to improve for another 3-5 years.

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  • NV Benoît Lahaye Champagne Grand Cru Brut Essentiel 91 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

    A blend of 80% Bouzy and 20% Ambonnay, 80% fermented in oak and 20% in steel. Fully mature, at peak, delicious fruit of estery cherries, rich and mineral, the weight of the 90% Pinot Noir balanced beautifully by the 10% Chardonnay. Great QPR.

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  • 2008 Camel Valley Pinot Noir Brut 91 Points

    United Kingdom, England, South West, Cornwall

    100% Pinot Noir, medium loam soils, TA 9 gr/l, sulphur 70 mg/l, disgorged autumn 2010, dosage 13.8 gr/l. Very expressive nose, truffle and (raspberry and strawberry) jam, relatively sweet style compared to the champagnes in this tasting and far less mineral but attractive and rounded.

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Flight 3 - Champagne Raymond Laurent (2 Notes)

  • 2002 Raymond Laurent Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Non-dosé 92 Points

    France, Champagne

    100% Chardonnay from Celles-sur-Ource, fermentation in large oak vats, 10 years sur lattes, disgorged à la volée, as traditional as it gets in Champagne. Identical to my previous note. According to a number of participants, this blew away most of what came before or after in the tasting.

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  • 2002 Raymond Laurent Champagne Blanc de Noirs Brut Non-dosé 92 Points

    France, Champagne

    100% Pinot Noir from Celles-sur-Ource, fermentation in large oak vats, 10 years sur lattes, disgorged à la volée, as traditional as it gets in Champagne. Identical to my previous note. According to a number of participants, this blew away most of what came before or after in the tasting.

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Flight 4 - Grandes Marques - I (3 Notes)

  • 2002 Lanson Champagne Gold Label Brut 92 Points

    France, Champagne

    A blend of 53% Pinot Noir (Aÿ, Louvois, Verzenay, Verzy) and 47% Chardonnay (Cramant, Le Mesnil), non malo, disgorged September 2011, dosage 11 gr/l. Very uneasy today, dosage unintegrated, far too young, apples, almost completely closed, needs ten years. Score based on potential only.

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  • 2002 Laurent-Perrier Champagne Brut Millésimé 92 Points

    France, Champagne

    50% Chardonnay Grand Cru Côte des Blancs, 50% Pinot Noir Montagne de Reims, disgorged autumn 2011, dosage 8 gr/l. Showing very well today, stylish, floral, energetic, elegant, long and subtle.

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  • 2002 Moët & Chandon Champagne Grand Vintage 92 Points

    France, Champagne

    51% Chardonnay, 26% Pinot Noir, 23% Pinot Meunier, disgorged November 2009, release oktober 2010, dosage 5.5 gr/l. Extremely attractive, rounded and supple, lovely Meunier spice, perfectly judged dosage, fully mature, excellent length.

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Flight 5 - Grandes Marques - II (3 Notes)

  • 2002 Veuve Clicquot Champagne Brut Vintage 89 Points

    France, Champagne

    60% Pinot Noir, 7% Pinot Meunier, 33% Chardonnay, a blend of wines from 20 different Premier and Grand Cru vineyards, disgorged autumn 2008, dosage an estimated 8-10 gr/l. Big and weighty but lacks finesse and energy, ripe fruit, ill-at-ease, seems quite tired five years post disgorgement, caramelly development. Actually quite disappointing, one can see why no La Grande Dame 2002 was produced.

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  • 2002 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année 94 Points

    France, Champagne

    60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay, 71% Grand Cru, 29% Premier Cru, a blend of almost 300 different wines, vinification and maturation (for 6-7 months) in old oak barrels of 225-400 litres, 8 years sur lattes under natural cork before disgorgement in July 2011, dégorgement à la volée, dosage 8 gr/l. This is the bees knees. Vinous, subtle, layered, complex, seamless, exquisite. Unanimous wine of the tasting.

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  • 2002 Drappier Champagne Grande Sendrée 93 Points

    France, Champagne

    55% Pinot Noir, 45% Chardonnay, vineyards in Urville (majority), Montagne de Reims and Cramant, six years sur lattes, low sulphur (40 mg/l), liqueur d’expédition aged in wood, dosage 9 gr/l. Correct colour, no premature deepening in spite of the low sulphur level. Rich, stylish, marries Côte des Bar power to Côte des Blancs elegance, expressive fruit, elegance, citrus and minerality on the finish, lovely.

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Flight 6 - Aperitif (1 Note)

  • 2009 Camel Valley Annie's Anniversary Brut Cornwall 90 Points

    United Kingdom, England, South West, Cornwall

    Served as an aperitif after the tasting and before lunch. A welcome palate cleanser after 14 champagnes of which no fewer than 8 were from the powerful 2002 vintage. Clean, well-balanced, fresh, fruit-driven, classic English Seyval Blanc. Went down very well with all the participants.

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Flight 7 - Lunch (4 Notes)

  • 2010 Jean-Philippe Fichet Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières 92 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

    Wonderfully rich fruit, pure, peach and apricot, passionfruit, opens up to mealiness, perfectly judged and subtle oak, excellent balance, intense and rich, stylish, very approachable.

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  • 1995 Château Malartic-Lagravière 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Fully mature, soft and silky, expressive and attractive nose, ink and ripe fruit, medium weight and intensity, nice tannic grip, good length. Far better than the bottle tasted in November 2011. Drink now - 2015.

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  • 1998 Château Kirwan 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Perfectly judged oak, rounded, good depth, quite Rolland but shows Margaux minerality and femininity, has weight and power, delicious ripe black fruit, good length.

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  • 2002 Weingut Johannishof (H.H. Eser) Johannisberger Hölle Riesling Auslese 92 Points

    Germany, Rheingau

    Pristine half bottle. A rich Auslese, almost Beerenauslese weight, lovely botrytis, honey, apricot and peach, pure, energetic and balanced, attractive bitters, very good length. Great Auslese, great QPR.

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