Eight old bubbles vs the great French Meal

Where friends meet for a great casual French meal
Tasted Saturday, January 12, 2019 by odds with 197 views

Introduction

What do you for a late new year's dinner? never underestimate the power of a great french meal and the company of some friends, and old bubbles. It was time to open some aging bubbles to see how they are doing. Oldest circa '81. Four from the '80s. It was also nice to see how they 'kick' the youngesters.

Flight 1 - Just to warm up (2 Notes)

While everyone was settling in, we served a '99 Deutz. A good way to start a meal. Following with an '82 Pierre Paillard? Well, that's even better

  • 1999 Deutz Champagne Cuvée William Deutz 92 Points

    France, Champagne

    Well, you know you had a really good wine tasting when this one is not on the top three for the dinner. But-- it was still outstanding. I agree with BB review noting the peach (I was looking for that one), and the minerals. I think it took longer time for the grapefruit tasting to start showing up. IMHO, it still needs to age more. I had the '96 before and and the 2000 before, and surprisingly this one feels younger than either one (to an extent, even younger than the '06 I had before). Medium plus finish. Enjoyable, great color, long long long bubbles. But, in the line we had for the dinner it was a hard contest.
    91-92

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  • 1982 Pierre Paillard Champagne Grand Cru Brut Millésimé 96 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

    Wow, what a treat. We opened it for a tasting of some old champagnes mostly 80s and it was wonderful. Dark golden color (slightly closer to cognac), great nose from the bottle, noted very well by guests and by the waiter. On the palate, light caramel, biscuit, citrus - complex and evolved. It is in line with the classic pierre paillard wines, and certainly matured well. Think of the '02 pierre paillard but better. The citrus and peach are certainly in a very good harmony on this one. Good amount of fruit with little, well balance oak. Nice and long finish.

    Too early to determine if that is a WOTY, but it got two or three (out of eight) votes as the WOTN, and was the first bottle to receive two rounds of refill requests by guests.

    96 for me. I can drink more of that :-)

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Flight 2 - The Taittinger Comtes Vertical (3 Notes)

It takes at least eight people (plus two or three random restaurant guests) to determine which Comtes is the best in line. But someone needs to do it...

  • 2004 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 95 Points

    France, Champagne

    A late new year's dinner with a vertical of the Comtes '04-'05-'06. It was a close call with the '06 but this time it was a clear win for the '04 (not a large margin, but certainly a win. Compared with my last tasting (mid 2018) it was getting slightly more mature (could also be a slight bottle variation). The orange on the floral was 'wider' and more notable so to speak. Worth drinking now, and certainly worth aging. It would be interesting to see in the 20+ years line which would would age better. My take, it will be a close call. I will vote with the wallet and make sure there would be enough to reach the testing point
    95+

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  • 2006 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 95 Points

    France, Champagne

    Tasted again as part of a '04-'05-'06 comtes vertical. The '04 and '06 were a close call. Very enjoyable, but this time while close it was a winner for the '04. Both would age very well, and would be interesting to see at the 20+ year point.
    I don't think you can go wrong with either one. The rest is quite consistent with my previous TN on this one.
    This time, it was a 95 (maybe just below. because the '04 was along side)

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  • 2005 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 92 Points

    France, Champagne

    In a line of very strong bubbles, and as part of the '04-'05-'06 comtes vertical, this one was voted as the best by 2 of eight guests (plus two random restaurant guests who were also called in to vote, so 2 out of 10). It is somewhat sweeter than both the '04 and the '06. Long bubbles, and medium plus finish. But, IMHO the sweetness slightly over dominates the tasting. I would have gladly 'parked' on a glass have I not had the '04 and '06 near it. But, I would say it fits better with sweeter fish or the scallops. Well, it is a nice problem to have...

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Flight 3 (1 Note)

  • NV Pierre Paillard Champagne Grand Cru Demi Sec

    France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

    (Important, this is a NV Demi Sec from the early 1980's, newest vintage in the blend is 1981, not recent releases)

    It was worth waiting this long-- we served it with the desserts at the end of an eight old bubbles meal. Beautiful, dark gold color. Great floral, nice caramel(ish) taste. Naturally, it is notably sweeter than brut/extra brut. But it was not overwhelming.It balanced well (unlike 'less aged' Demi sec). It was voted by one guest as WOTN, and by few others as #2. Log finish. Enjoyable

    (~95, but given the multiple releases and potential confusion, no single grade number is added)

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