BWC Summer Barbecue
Petts Wood
Tasted Sunday, July 27, 2025 by lozatron with 79 views
Introduction
Fabulous lunch delivered by a superb chef, and a quantity of oysters that can only be described as "adequate".
Flight 1 (12 Notes)
Closing
Such a fabulous lunch, the perfect synthesis of human connection, sensory pleasure and the contemplative joys of wine. My heart is full.
NV Louis Roederer Champagne Collection 242
France, Champagne
Served from magnum. Yellow straw colour. Lovely balance here. This is maturing but still there's freshness - sherbet on the palate. Just a hint of sourness, something lactic on the finish? Stellar start to proceedings.
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2013 Forget-Chemin Champagne Special Club
France, Champagne
Served from magnum. Lighter colour. Hint of oyster shell on the nose? Or is that just that we've been gorging ourselves on oysters? I do think there's genuinely something saline here though, and a slightly bready nose. Lovely, precise, but to me this seemed a little junior when sat beside the 242. I should say other diners preferred this so...
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2013 Louis Roederer Champagne Vintage Brut Rosé
France, Champagne
Served from magnum. A fellow diner commented "this is a proper rosé colour" and i agreed. There's an intense core here - a kind of non-sweet sweetness. A fellow diner said "strawberry ice" and yes - this was spot on.
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2012 Louis Roederer Champagne Vintage Brut Rosé
France, Champagne
Served from magnum. Hmm - interesting to see my notes on this over the past three years. It's clearly still on the upslope - this may be the best of these i've tasted. There's a butyric hint on the nose at the start, and it's so elevated. Somehow more youthful than the 2013 - like lying on the beach when you're a teenager on one of those days when the world is full of excitement and everything is going right. Everything is so in focus, the detail is so richly defined. This is just fab.
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2020 Sugrue South Downs Cuvée Boz Blanc de Blancs Coldharbour Vineyard
United Kingdom, England, Sussex, West Sussex
Served from demi magnum. Elevated nose, hint of walnut. Lovely - does it pass the Roederer Collection test? Well no - but as a British taxpayer I would very much support our embassy in Paris serving this at fancy dinners.
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2014 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru l'Esprit
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Served from demi magnum. Fresh, lively, real zip to it - still has that paracetamol finish I associate with 14 Champagne.
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NV Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Cuvée de Réserve
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Served from demi magnum. This is a step up! Some depth, some complexity - I think this has just the right amount of bottle age. We saw off the Gavroche auction bottles tonight, and this was a wonderful farewell.
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2018 Crystallum Chardonnay Clay Shales
South Africa, Cape South Coast, Walker Bay, Hemel-en-Aarde Valley
Served from demi magnum (two were very generously provided). This is fab - spiky and energetic. One wine where I really feel i didn't get to engage properly - would love to try again.
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2008 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Volnay 1er Cru Santenots-Du-Milieu
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
From magnum. Well - this is lovely, strong acid core, some cherry stone, but oh so 2008. It's not terribly happy, the person in front of it in the queue keeps forgetting their pin number, the garage didn't fix the car properly and the council still hasn't sorted out the potholes. A very 2008 character to this - I wonder if the magnum effect has arrested development a little, and this will open up again in a little while, as other 08s seem to be doing.
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1996 Louis Jadot Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Vaucrains
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru
From magnum. If the preceding burgundy was stereotypical of its vintage...this was quite the opposite. Super engaging, fresh but also complex - this is what you want burgundy to be.
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2000 Château Gruaud Larose
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien
We're running low on red! Disaster! Our hosts did what any absurdly generous person would do, and brought out mags of mature claret and rioja. This was fab, proper claret, fully correct with cedar and cigar box but still energetic. Thoroughly enjoyed this.
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2005 La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 904
Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja
Served from magnum. This is great but, unlike the 2000 Gruaud, still so far to go. Tightly coiled, high toned, lovely structure and length, just a hint of cherry stone at the end. I suspect this is at least 5-10 years from its best.
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