Some Champagnes

Tasted Sunday, April 19, 2015 by LWI with 862 views

Introduction

The majority of the bottles had been bought upon release and kept in the various cool passive cellars of the tasters.

Flight 1 (1 Note)

  • 1985 Charles Heidsieck Champagne Cuvée Charlie 95 Points

    France, Champagne

    Served as a started, blind to the others. Peak maturity, and thus a bit more advanced than the best bottles I have had – admittedly some years back. Honey and nuts were wonderfully kept in balance with a very fine acidity. Very long, and gained complexity with air. Intriguing finish.

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Flight 2 (3 Notes)

Flight 3 (3 Notes)

  • 1999 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année 88 Points

    France, Champagne

    Some burned notes here as well. Fresh, decent length, lots of freshly baked bread, high dosage - which did not balance the rather high dosage. Full split. The weakest wine of the night.

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  • 1996 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année 90 Points

    France, Champagne

    Rather developed, high dosage which is oddly not well balanced by the acidity. I have had much more complex and less developed bottles recently.

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  • 1997 Bollinger Champagne R.D. Extra Brut 92 Points

    France, Champagne

    Less dosage than the GAs, fresher, less oxidative. Deep and complex nose, alas not so impressive in the mouth. Demands attention, and although lighter on its feet than the GA, it is still full bodied and slightly oxidative.

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Flight 4 (4 Notes)

  • NV Jacques Selosse Initial 91 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

    (Disorged 2009). Although being a BdB it is rather heavy handed and almost some red apples, high dosage, intense wine. Honey and yellow plums, powerful, quite developed.

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  • NV Jacques Selosse V.O. Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut 91 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

    (Disgorged 2011) Good depth to the fruit, developed, lacking in complexity. Power at the expense of elegance.

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  • NV Jacques Selosse Substance 93 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

    (Disgorged 2010, Solera from 1986). Wonderful creamy mousse. Structured and intense wine, yet very big boy - almost on steroids.

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  • 1999 Jacques Selosse Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra-Brut Millésimé 89 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

    (Disgorged 1999). The vintages are often made in somewhat off-years, and it may not be of his main projects. Caramel and malty, some sweetness and big body here as well, but not so taken to extreme as in the NV wines. Rather developed and may be on its way down; a wine some years ago was definitely fresher.

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Flight 5 (3 Notes)

Flight 6 (3 Notes)

  • 2004 Dom Pérignon Champagne 93 Points

    France, Champagne

    Chablis like minerality and intensity, chalk and seafood, buckthorn flowers. Very fresh and structured, lots of sulphur. What a surprise, this is going to get great, rating for now. The best QPR of the night.

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  • 1996 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon 95 Points

    France, Champagne

    Slight development, tight at first but develops with air and higher temperature. Structured and intriguing, emerging complexity, wonderful balance. It has enough fruit to handle the 96-acidity. More development to come and will be a great DP.

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  • 1990 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon 93 Points

    France, Champagne

    Good complexity, but not very expressive. Greenish-bitter finish, but mature fruit. Tight, less vinous that previous bottles. Still a bit young?

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Flight 7 (3 Notes)

Flight 8 (3 Notes)

Flight 9 (4 Notes)

  • 1996 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut 96 Points

    France, Champagne

    Orange peel and gun powder, some apricots. Big acid, which is finely balanced by the ripe fruit. Complex, and a fantastic spicy finish. Will eventually be an even better wine in 10-20 years time.

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  • 1989 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut 93 Points

    France, Champagne

    Sweet mature fruit, emerging camphor and some tobacco, the dosage is just right - for my taste. Some bitter nuts.

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  • 1988 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut 96 Points

    France, Champagne

    Clear similarity to the 1996. Complex and intense, brilliant harmony between fruit and acidity. Still young.

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  • 1986 Krug Champagne Clos du Mesnil 96 Points

    France, Champagne

    Coffee and malt, huge concentration and intensity, most complex. Perhaps lacking a bit in structure compared to the 96 and 88 Brut.

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Flight 10 (5 Notes)

Closing

No off bottles, perhaps with the exception of Bollinger GA 1996. The tasting turned out to be most educative as regard house styles. The downside was that there is almost a linear price-quality relationship. Paillard was a bit too rustic /foursquare, whereas Bollinger somehow tried too much and there was a mismatch between the dosage, fruit and acidity. The oxidative, masculine wines of Selosse may not be to everyone’s liking, I prefer my champagnes more linear/elegant. This trio of champagnes is perhaps more food friendly (birds, calf) than the later ones. 1990 turned out to be of lesser quality than expected, both in terms of complexity and finish – they all, except for the Salon, had some bitterness/greenness. Perhaps did the warm harvest result in grapes maturing faster sugar wise that their phenolic ripeness? DP 1996 was the QPR wine of the night. Otherwise no clear winner.

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