New Year's Champagne Madness
Casa Gill
Tasted Saturday, January 5, 2019 by Aravind Asok with 251 views
Introduction
At the '95/'96 Dinner, we hatched the idea that we could get a bunch of Champagne representatives together to pour their wines for us. We would pay them back by opening some grand cru burgs and maybe some geeky older champagnes. Somehow, the plan actually came together, and we had about 7 houses pouring champagne.
Flight 1 - House Champagnes (8 Notes)
These are among the Champagnes poured by the houses. I didn't write notes on the Ruinart wines that were poured, and the Ace of Spades Rose.
Flight 2 - Champagnes we brought (8 Notes)
The second flight consisted of Champagnes people not associated with houses had brought to Casa Gill.
Flight 3 - Grand Cru Burgs (10 Notes)
A bunch of Grand Cru Burgundies brought to Casa Gill.
Closing
The Burgundies were, as a whole, very disappointing. There were some real champagne surprises for me, like the Piper Cuvee Rare.
NV Henriot Champagne Cuvée 38 La Réserve Perpétuelle Blanc de Blancs
France, Champagne
This is wondeful if someone else brings it, but I'm with DrWine2001: I can't ever see myself buying a bottle. Very nice, soft bubbles, loads of toasty chardonnay, with nice floral flourishes. On the palate, excellent acidity and fantastic depth. Maybe my champagne of the night but, the pricetag is eyepopping. The solera goes back to vntg 90, and other Henriot wines will sometimes be topped up with this reserve.
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2002 Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Cuvée Rare
France, Champagne
I'm surprised I've never tried this before, and I was definitely missing out. A fantastic surprise, and stunning in this vintage. Wonderul rich nose with loads of fruit and a touch of oxidative character. On the palate, just so juicy and the bubbles are fine. This was just so rich and flavorful. An excellent btl.
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1998 Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Cuvée Rare
France, Champagne
From Magnum. Even better than the 02...mirroring those flavors, but adding more honeyed notes. Still stunning acidity on the palate. Maybe my second favorite btl of the night.
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2002 Bollinger Champagne R.D. Extra Brut
France, Champagne
Very good, but kind of expectedly so. Very rich and loads of toast, but backed up by good leesy density. This is very rich in style, and maybe the acidity could be zippier, esp since it is an 02.
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2004 Bollinger Champagne R.D. Extra Brut
France, Champagne
Huh, very similar to 02. Very good, but expectedly so. I guess this is current release right now. Acidity seemed even lower, so I slightly prefer the 02 now.
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2006 Louis Roederer Champagne Vintage Brut
France, Champagne
From Magnum. Huh, somewhat surprising. The nose reminded me a lot of a Ruppert-Leroy I had a while back: loads of coffee and toast, but almost earthily so. Apparently this sees no oak, but that seems hard to believe. Anyway, very enjoyable.
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2008 Dom Pérignon Champagne Brut Chef de Cave Legacy Edition
France, Champagne
Huh, not what I expected given all the hype. Tried from 2 separate btls. Very good, but the acidity seemed shrill in comparison with other vintages I have had recently. Seems like it has potential, but for my palate, this needs lots of time.
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NV Armand de Brignac Champagne Ace of Spades Brut Gold
France, Champagne
Wish I had tasted this blind, as the bottle is just so off-putting to me. Seemed pretty fruit forward and more broad, but I wouldn't have said this was any different from a basic bubbly.
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