Champagne tasting & packed like sardines

K&L Wine Merchant - Redwood City
Tasted Friday, April 3, 2026 by WineBurrowingWombat with 38 views

Flight 1 - A warm tasting (6 Notes)

  • 2017 Launois Pere et Fils Champagne Grand Cru Helia 92 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

    Nose of ripe yellow pears, earth and frayed straw with dried tree bark. There’s crisp pear as well but just a touch of it.

    Medium weight on the palate, not sure where the bubbles are but seems flat even tho there was some on pour. Nice ripeness like the nose and similar fruits. Could use a notch of acidity. Nice drinker. Would've loved to have tasted this at a proper chilled temp.

    It could be the warmth in this packed room with no kind of air circulation..

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  • 2018 Launois Pere et Fils Champagne Grand Cru Helia Rosé 91 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

    Fragrant nose of cleanly washed, ripe red apples, and stones covered by its juices. Subtle earth and straw show a bit of interest.

    Dry fruits on the palate, along with minerals, bitter red apple skins, and dried earth. Again, either flat or the bubbles dissipated rapidly. Saw bubbles on pour but it’s not there on the palate.

    I wanted this to be chilled, would've probably done a touch better.

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  • 2012 Drappier Champagne Grande Sendrée 94 Points

    France, Champagne

    Very aromatic white flowers and honeysuckle. Something like sweet flowers with subtly ripe yellow fruits. Gentle scent of warm stones baking in the sun.

    Palate showing a nice balance of ripe fruits. It makes the earth taste like sweet earth, along with round and smooth river pebbles. Even the stones are gently sweet. Fine beads on the palate. Good freshness. 94+

    Needed to be chilled more, sensed a bit of crispness creeping on the cooler range.. this is going to be a recurring theme for this tasting.. unfortunately.

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  • NV Laurent-Perrier Champagne Grand Siècle Iteration 26 Grande Cuvée 95 Points

    France, Champagne

    There was a heavy, dull yeastiness and dark yellow fruits on pour (very likely due to the warmth in the room). But with a ton of swirling, it goes away, leaving behind a bit of freshness. Fruits still dark and almost heavy, but there's a nice cut of mineral, giving me hope.

    Crisp lime and pears on the palate. Crushed minerals help leave a fresh impression here. Subtle honey here with the fruit, a bit dulled though. A bit of quince peeks through. Fruits and minerals drag on the finish thankfully. 95+

    If it weren’t for the poor ventilation in this room, this would've shown very nice with crisp freshness.

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  • NV Laurent-Perrier Champagne Grand Siècle Iteration 27 Grande Cuvée

    France, Champagne

    Clean, crisp fruits, really fresh (surprisingly with some of the fruit coming from a 2015 vintage).

    A wash of gently ripe fruits on the palate, along with softly bitter river stones. But the mid-palate kinda disperses into thin air. It’s like the flavors were floating in space, and due to the vacuum of space, just spreads out so thin until there's nothing. There’s no real finish.. kinda like walking into a living room expecting a typical layout, but there’s nothing.. the lights aren't even on, just darkness.

    Maybe this will wake up with some sleep.. why else does this cost more than iteration 26. AND there are grapes from the '15 vintage too?!..

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  • 2016 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut 95 Points

    France, Champagne

    A bit of heavy bruised fruits and deep earth, kinda gives off a meaty note even..? There’s a scent of baking dough, mid-knead, full of flour. And also like a couple playing with clay in the corner, like that one scene from Ghost (1990).

    Fruits do exist on the palate, thank goodness - was a little worried it wasn’t gonna be there from the nose. White and yellow pears and peaches (more on the crisper side) with gently savory minerals, grapefruit and lime skin. Maybe snapped chalk.

    It’s too warm in here man.. these things are heating up way too quickly to enjoy. Would’ve loved to have experienced this with proper temp.

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Closing

Way too many people, a lot of hard breathing, loud yelling for some reason, and aggressively toasty in a small room with poor ventilation (just a door.)

I feel like a half of these would've done so much better if chilled properly. They were chilled, but the second a wine was poured, the temp drops within seconds.

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