Served double blind. From magnum. I thought this was a passable, unoffensive entry level champagne. The odd thing here was the sweetness, like some really poorly balanced dosage or something along those lines. I also thought this was a blend, as it didn't have the citrus purity of a blanc de blancs. Fine for what it is, but much less interesting once price is taken into consideration.
Original release. A lovely redemption from my previous corked bottle. This definitely shows correct for the age (in comparison to the sleek black bottles of the later releases). There's still some sweet fruit, but this is dominated by a lovely amount of baked bread and yeasty notes. Great freshness and acidity, this is a wine that always seems to hit the spot.
Surprisingly different from my last experience. A little smoky, but this has a nice green apple richness. I definitely didn't pick up the thinness that I remarked about a few months ago. Go figure.
Not a very convincing showing today. This is a fine bottle of champagne, but it's also a little light and simple especially given the high expectations coming from the vintage. A little thin with some pleasant fruit and acidity. At least based on this bottle, this wine won't blow your mind, but it's a pleasant enough drink.
Didn't really understand this wine at all. Comes off without the ripeness of the 2002, and feels a little soft and empty on the palate. There's an odd bitter note here that I didn't care for either.
Served double blind. Quite thin and lean on the palate, to the point I asked, is this Laval? It's odd that from my last experience with this wine I thought it was pretty great. To be sure, it's not really an acid bomb, but it is a lot leaner than what my last note seems to imply (I'm pretty inconsistent with my prior history today, it seems).
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
Have had this wine on multiple occasions now, and it has been consistently great. There's a mild reduction here, but with the expected grand cru depth and weight from the site. The palate shows a hint more reduction and sulphur than I remember, but it doesn't obscure the great material here. I don't know well the premox predisposition at Girardin, but this is a wine that could stand to take more age.
A bit of a rare bird if my understanding is correct. Beautiful, brilliant chardonnay that can definitely stand up to some of the better Burgundy producers. It's not quite... electric... as the Clos Electrique; this takes a more gentle, subdued character, and you get a little bit of creamy lemon going on here. Almost a bit of a shame to drink this so young, but it's delicious already.
113014. Biscuity and rich, with more of a brioche thing on the nose. Some browning apple, and a bit of an oxidative bent. With air, the brown tones seemed to grow in volume, but it's not like this was a fading wine. There was a really nice toffee note on the finish as well. What can I say, Krug is Krug.
USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
Pretty much consistent with my other notes on this wine. The nose is far better than the palate, with lots of red berries and a bit of pepper. It's very Gonon, to be honest. But the palate doesn't live up to it, showing more carbonic and far more acid than anything else. Not too complex either. I have some doubts as to ageability here, given that this doesn't seem to have the stuffing. But for now, a pleasant enough drink.
A little bretty on the nose, but this is a wine that is still alive, even if it's just mostly hanging on at this point. Beautiful red fruit, a generous amount of herbaceousness, and the relatively low 12.5% alcohol here gives this wine a lovely coolness. I'd still prefer drinking this than the modern Napa monsters.
Not the greatest vintage of this wine, this is one I'd be consuming a little sooner than later. That said, there is still a lot of pleasure to be derived from this wine. It's got the usual expected olives and pepper, with a really delicious juiciness on the palate. Easy drinking, but nice complexity and richness on the palate too.
Very good for the level. It's still a little young in that it shows an almost gummy candy kind of flavour, but underneath that is a wine with more depth than the appellation on the label would indicate. I think about another year for this to lose some of the hyper young wine flavours is in order.
Didn't love this -- just felt a little too lean with lots of the tart white acids and fruit. It doesn't have much breadth or complexity on the palate either. Probably a mix of the low dosage and acid-driven vintage.
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley
Just a very slight hint of reduction on the nose here. This is really nicely balanced and shows a fairly ripe profile, but underneath it is ample acid to round it out. A touch of white citrus on the finish here.
2015 Rhys Blancs de Blancs Bearwallow Vineyard 88 Points
USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Served double blind. From magnum. I thought this was a passable, unoffensive entry level champagne. The odd thing here was the sweetness, like some really poorly balanced dosage or something along those lines. I also thought this was a blend, as it didn't have the citrus purity of a blanc de blancs. Fine for what it is, but much less interesting once price is taken into consideration.
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1995 Charles Heidsieck Champagne Blanc des Millénaires 93 Points
France, Champagne
Original release. A lovely redemption from my previous corked bottle. This definitely shows correct for the age (in comparison to the sleek black bottles of the later releases). There's still some sweet fruit, but this is dominated by a lovely amount of baked bread and yeasty notes. Great freshness and acidity, this is a wine that always seems to hit the spot.
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NV Jacquesson & Fils Champagne Brut Perfection Flawed
France, Champagne
Corked.
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2009 Roger Pouillon et Fils Champagne Les Valnons 90 Points
France, Champagne
Surprisingly different from my last experience. A little smoky, but this has a nice green apple richness. I definitely didn't pick up the thinness that I remarked about a few months ago. Go figure.
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2002 Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Champagne Special Club Millesimé de Collection 90 Points
France, Champagne
Not a very convincing showing today. This is a fine bottle of champagne, but it's also a little light and simple especially given the high expectations coming from the vintage. A little thin with some pleasant fruit and acidity. At least based on this bottle, this wine won't blow your mind, but it's a pleasant enough drink.
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2002 Lanson Champagne Noble Cuvée de Lanson Brut 88 Points
France, Champagne
Didn't really understand this wine at all. Comes off without the ripeness of the 2002, and feels a little soft and empty on the palate. There's an odd bitter note here that I didn't care for either.
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2008 Agrapart Champagne Grand Cru Minéral Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut 85 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Served double blind. Quite thin and lean on the palate, to the point I asked, is this Laval? It's odd that from my last experience with this wine I thought it was pretty great. To be sure, it's not really an acid bomb, but it is a lot leaner than what my last note seems to imply (I'm pretty inconsistent with my prior history today, it seems).
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2010 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Corton-Charlemagne 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
Have had this wine on multiple occasions now, and it has been consistently great. There's a mild reduction here, but with the expected grand cru depth and weight from the site. The palate shows a hint more reduction and sulphur than I remember, but it doesn't obscure the great material here. I don't know well the premox predisposition at Girardin, but this is a wine that could stand to take more age.
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2017 Cameron Chardonnay Blanc Abbey Ridge 93 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills
A bit of a rare bird if my understanding is correct. Beautiful, brilliant chardonnay that can definitely stand up to some of the better Burgundy producers. It's not quite... electric... as the Clos Electrique; this takes a more gentle, subdued character, and you get a little bit of creamy lemon going on here. Almost a bit of a shame to drink this so young, but it's delicious already.
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2000 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut 93 Points
France, Champagne
113014. Biscuity and rich, with more of a brioche thing on the nose. Some browning apple, and a bit of an oxidative bent. With air, the brown tones seemed to grow in volume, but it's not like this was a fading wine. There was a really nice toffee note on the finish as well. What can I say, Krug is Krug.
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2017 Pax Syrah Sonoma Hillsides 90 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
Pretty much consistent with my other notes on this wine. The nose is far better than the palate, with lots of red berries and a bit of pepper. It's very Gonon, to be honest. But the palate doesn't live up to it, showing more carbonic and far more acid than anything else. Not too complex either. I have some doubts as to ageability here, given that this doesn't seem to have the stuffing. But for now, a pleasant enough drink.
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1972 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve 85 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
A little bretty on the nose, but this is a wine that is still alive, even if it's just mostly hanging on at this point. Beautiful red fruit, a generous amount of herbaceousness, and the relatively low 12.5% alcohol here gives this wine a lovely coolness. I'd still prefer drinking this than the modern Napa monsters.
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2019 Afterthought Brewing Co. Meringue: Gin Barrel
USA, Illinois
Indeed there's a hint of the juniper on the nose and palate here, but for me, this was a little too dominated by a distinct flavour of lees.
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2011 Pierre Gonon St. Joseph 93 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph
Not the greatest vintage of this wine, this is one I'd be consuming a little sooner than later. That said, there is still a lot of pleasure to be derived from this wine. It's got the usual expected olives and pepper, with a really delicious juiciness on the palate. Easy drinking, but nice complexity and richness on the palate too.
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2017 Etienne Sauzet Chardonnay Bourgogne 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Bourgogne
Very good for the level. It's still a little young in that it shows an almost gummy candy kind of flavour, but underneath that is a wine with more depth than the appellation on the label would indicate. I think about another year for this to lose some of the hyper young wine flavours is in order.
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2010 Leclerc Briant Champagne Millésime Extra Brut 88 Points
France, Champagne
Didn't love this -- just felt a little too lean with lots of the tart white acids and fruit. It doesn't have much breadth or complexity on the palate either. Probably a mix of the low dosage and acid-driven vintage.
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2012 Au Bon Climat Chardonnay Nuits-Blanches au Bouge 90 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley
Just a very slight hint of reduction on the nose here. This is really nicely balanced and shows a fairly ripe profile, but underneath it is ample acid to round it out. A touch of white citrus on the finish here.
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