Elystan Street, London
Tasted Wednesday, July 17, 2019 by BenBlu with 637 views
After a great kick-off to our champagne group a few months back with the 2008 vintage we now moved onto 2002. A topical event as those champagnes are starting to show some signs of maturity and are still commercially widely available, plus it being one of those heralded vintages. So very keen to assess these under (mostly) blind conditions and get a somewhat unbiased impression. All flights were served blind with exception of flight 1 which was the kick-off and served in magnums.
Beautiful evening of great company, lovely service and food and last but not least a truly epic line-up of 2002 (white) vintage champagnes that can be called fairly comprehensive. To me 2002 and 2008 could be called on par after the impression of both nights, albeit I felt the heights (Cristal and Cristal rose) were (very slightly) higher in 2008 possibly. The 2002 today stood out for me by its overall serenity, being quite a "winey" champagne vintage at this point, with particularly pinot dominated blends showing amazingly well (not to say there were no highlights on the Chard side). Overall a very strong showing by a lot of champagnes and to sum it up for me the top wines were: Roederer Cristal, Krug, Billecart CSH, Dom Perignon, Taittinger Comtes, Philipponat Goisses, Bollinger RD. The champagnes punching above their weight and positive surprises up there almost with the just named were Gosset Celebris, Deutz CWD, Roederer Vintage magnum, Lanson Noble Cuvee. Disappointments of the night were Delamotte Collection, Pommery Louise, Moet Grand Vintage (magnum), and Salon (for the price tag). Many thanks to Peter for organising and each and every one for their respective contribution(s) both in terms of bottles but also in terms of enthusiasm and knowledge. Looking forward to the next vintage assessment.
Unfortunately the only let-down for me of the evening was the loss of my tasting notes on the way home. So these are all from memory only and might be less descriptive / useful as I would want them to be. Although on the scores / overall ranking I feel fairly confident on relying on my (admittedly champagne clouded) memory.
2002 Louis Roederer Champagne Vintage Brut 93 Points
France, Champagne
A divine start to a great evening - this was served non blind from magnum. This cuvee is an overperformer in my view out of magnum as I have still fond memories of a 1996 magnum I had ~6-7 years back, i.e. at around a similar age. This to me was a perfectly balanced champagne with very good depth that was very classic Roederer to me. I also have a nostalgia of that old label (which is when their Brut Premier was still a great NV but that is different point of discussion). To me a beautiful champagne that is drinking at its early phase of full maturity in magnum but will keep and will probably improve for the next 10 years.
Read 2 Comments / Post a Comment / 3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2002 Moët & Chandon Champagne Grand Vintage 88 Points
France, Champagne
This one didn't work for me - out of magnum served non blind as starter to the event and after / side by side a Roederer 02 from magnum (which was divine). I got a quinine tone on the palate akin to tonic water which is not something I am looking for in a champagne. It felt quite green and unbalanced. One my very the few glasses that ended up in the spittoon.
Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue