champagne night
binny's highland park
Tasted Tuesday, December 30, 2008 by KeithAkers with 821 views
Introduction
my store hosted its annual champagne gala, so it was a chance when I got off to do some tasting. Since I only had an hour and a half, I was at a premium as to what to taste. There were over 50 sparkling wines, so I just restricted myself to essentially french bubblies
Flight 1 (34 Notes)
Closing
lots of really good stuff was had and its always fun to try to make your way through that much champagne
NV Roederer Estate Brut Rosé Anderson Valley 86 Points
USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
nose: nice light strawberry tones with bits of cherries and hints of earth. Nice and easy but lacking depth to really bring it out
taste: crisp acidity with lighter tones of strawberries, roses, and cherries. Easy going with a nice lighter feel
overall: a nice rose, but while having decent depth, it's lacking that next level to make it stand out. Good acidity and feel with nice flavors, this is a solid rose for the price, but it shows the gulf between champagne and the rest of the world when it comes to sparklers
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2000 Roederer Estate L'Ermitage Brut 89 Points
USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
nose: real interesting nose with good depth providing tones of smoke, nuts, bread, dough, citrus tones, and minerals. Very nice and showing a class difference between the normal estate cuvee and their version of a tete-cuvee
taste: nice feel with medium depth and medium/high acidity providing tones of smoke, nuts, dough, lemon peels, and strong mineral undertones
overall: An excellent wine that needs a bit of time to calm down the acidity. Well put together, but doesn't blow me away like the 99 did. Excellent depth and its certainly in a different league from the rose at the tasting
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NV Louis Roederer Champagne Brut Premier 88 Points
France, Champagne
nose: crisp and clean nose filled with baking spices, yeast, lots of citrus tones, and bits of bread. Precise nose with nice medium depth
taste: new disgorgement, so big acidity on this with tones of baking spices, breads, and lots of citrus tones persist with good depth
overall: the acidity is very high, so this could probably use a short nap to calm down. Excellent NV that is well put together with clean and precise aromatics and tones on the palate. Good lighter feel that flows well across the palate with a refreshing citrus finish
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2002 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut 92 Points
France, Champagne
nose: much more depth then the bottle that was opened almost three weeks ago. Seashells, minerals, baking spices, white florals and nice tangy citrus tones meld together well, but are vibrant at the same time
taste: very lush and luxurious feel with minerals, seashells, bits of cinammon, tangy citrus tones, and white florals. Great depth and class on this with medium+ acidity to create a nice spine
overall: a much better showing then the bottle that was had almost three weeks ago. Much more depth and class to this, but it still isn't a real blow away wine. Very classy and elegant, this may need time to show itself off real well, but i wouldn't expect a blow away wine
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1998 Deutz Champagne Cuvée William Deutz 92 Points
France, Champagne
nose: very bready nose filled with minerals, green apples, cinammon, and loads of baking spices. Very well balanced and vibrant nose that jumps out of the flute. Good depth to it with a touch of class
taste: great feel with bits of florals, loads of breads, green apples, cinammon and baking spices. Nice well defined flavors that are well in balance with medium+ acidity
overall: young, but there is good growth potential on this. Very classy and intriguing, the nose is already very deep and the depth is as good on the palate too. Vibrant with medium+ acidity, this is a lot of fun right now and is one to look forward to in a few years
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NV Deutz Champagne Brut Classic 89 Points
France, Champagne
nose: very crisp nose with lemons, apples, citrus tones, baking spices, and a good helping of minerals. Well defined and enjoyable with medium depth
taste: fuller feel with lemons, apples, baking spices, and minerals. medium acidity binds this with good effervescance and puts it well in balance
overall: Good full feel and crispness. Well defined and fat, this is an excellent NV and is extremely enjoyable
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NV Taittinger Champagne Brut Prestige Rosé 88 Points
France, Champagne
nose: nice and light nose with tones of strawberries, red florals, cherries, cinammon, and spices
taste: good fat feel with spice tones, strawberries,bits of cinammon and some hints of cherries. medium depth with decent acidity
overall: a fairly standard rose. Nice fat feel with a good spice based attack and tasty cinammon finish
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2002 Taittinger Champagne Brut Millésimé 90 Points
France, Champagne
nose: very pungent nose filled with nuts, citrush tones, spices, dough, lemon rinds, and bits of apples. Very attractive with great balance and good depth
taste: good medium/full feel with nuts, dough, spices, lemon rinds, and a good helping of red apples
overall: a lovely champagne with good depth and acidity. Nice medium/full feel that flows well on the palate and is classy at the same time
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1998 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 93 Points
France, Champagne
nose: very deep on the nose showing off its class with loads of citrus, minerals, vanilla extract, apples, and all sorts of spices. Very classy wine that is just a baby
taste: very elegant and long on the palate with deep tones of citrus, minerals, apples, some white floral tones, and a good dose of spices to round it all out. Very polished and smooth that just oozes class
overall: an absolutely lovely champagne that is almost everything you'd want from a young top bubbly. Medium/high acidity gives this a great spine and base to work from for aging, as it will need time to come around, but when it does, it will be a real treat
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NV Henriot Champagne Brut Souverain 90 Points
France, Champagne
nose: nice tart citrus tones strike right off the bat with nuts, smoke, baking spices, and green apples right behind them. Fairly classic henriot nose that is well put together and very balanced. Very aromatic and stands out in the crowd at the tasting
taste: excellent depth for a large house NV with a great medium bodied feel providing tones of baking spices, green apples, and lots of tart citrus tones. Very well balanced with a nice acidic spine
overall: a classic henriot. I'm a big fan of this house, so maybe its a slight bit of bias on my part, but this is a great NV bubbly for under 40. Very well put together and showing off the henriot style very well with great depth to boot
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NV Henriot Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 90 Points
France, Champagne
nose: great blanc de blanc nose just loaded with almonds, roasted nuts, bits of warm dough, and tart tones of green apples
taste: excellent medium bodied feel with good depth and precise flavors of almonds, roasted nuts, green apples, bits of citrus, and baking spices
overall: Medium acidity and a great feel give this wine what it needs. Classic chardonnay flavors from a quality house that works very well together in perfect balance. A straight up blanc de blancs with no frills and good depth
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NV Henriot Champagne Brut Rosé 91 Points
France, Champagne
nose: very feminine and demure nose with lots of strawberries, roses, cinammon, and spice tones. very frangrant with nice depth to it that is a contrast from the more robust henriot noses
taste: delicate and playful on the palate with well defined tones of strawberries, roses, spice tones, and some other red floral tones that lurk underneath
overall: a lovely rose. Much more refined then the blanc de blanc and brut souvrain. It has a woman's touch to it and a pretty light salmon color that is backed up with a lighter feel and medium acidity
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1998 Henriot Champagne Brut Millésimé 91 Points
France, Champagne
nose: very smokey nose filled with nuts, green apples, and baking spices. Deep and pure with good complexity, though not as deep and elegant as the 96
taste: nice elegant and medium feel on the palate with smoke tones, roasted nuts, baking spices, green apples, and various citrus tones
overall: a great young champagne. Lots of promise with big acidity and a medium feel. While acidic, there is a nice elegance to it and it should get better with age
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NV Domaine Langlois-Château Crémant de Loire 84 Points
France, Loire Valley, Crémant de Loire
nose: light nose of grass tones, lemons, and sweet tones of light citrus. nice and easy with not much depth
taste: easy going with lower acidity with bits of lemons and light citrus tones
overall: a solid sparkler that is well put together. Light and easy but with a clipped finish
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NV Domaine Langlois-Château Crémant de Loire Brut Rosé 86 Points
France, Loire Valley, Crémant de Loire
nose: good classic rose nose with roses, strawberries, and bits of cinammon
taste: bits of earth tones with roses and strawberries. not much depth, but well put together
overall: a good starter rose. Nicely put together, but it lacks depth and works at the price
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NV Bollinger Champagne Special Cuvée Brut 88 Points
France, Champagne
nose: very bready nose with yeast tones and lots of citrus. Nice medium depth with well defined tones, this is a bread bomb on the nose and unmistakable
taste: again, the bread bomb carries through with baking spices, citrus tones, and some bits of yeast. Nice medium depth with medium acidity
overall: a quality NV, but not for the price. When this was under 40, it worked much better, but since its over 50, its an easy one to avoid. Industrial NV that is solid, but not much more
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NV Moët & Chandon Champagne White Star 82 Points
France, Champagne
nose: decent and tangy nose of citrus', apples, and bits of minerals. A solid nose that isn't as sweet as I'd expect from an extra dry
taste: this is where things go downhill, medium depth with tangy citrus tones, apples, and bits of minerals, but the finish just ruins this as there is a rotted apple taste that happens
overall: was decent before the finish, it was very off putting and ruined the wine for me. Its a solid wine up until the finish with tangy tones and a tart medium feel
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2000 Moët & Chandon Champagne Grand Vintage 89 Points
France, Champagne
nose: good citrusy nose with peaches and pears along with good tones of smoke, roasted nuts, and apples. While having good complexity, there isn't a lot of depth on the nose to go with the complexity
taste: better depth on the palate with a good medium+ acidic spine and medium feel providing tones of smoke, pears, apples, and nice mineral undertones
overall: good medium depth and very nice overall. Not really a "wow" bubbly at all, but a good quality vintage bubbly from a very large producer. Good feel and length with solid acidity
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NV Veuve Clicquot Champagne Brut 87 Points
France, Champagne
nose: decent and light nose of citrus, breads, and apples. Not too much depth on the nose, but fairly solid and rather pedestrian
taste: good medium feel with cinammon, baking spices, light citrus tones and bits of apples. Better complexity on the palate than the nose, but still leaves me a bit wanting compared to some of the other NVs out there
overall: a solid, if unspectacular wine. Very industrial and leaves a bit of a cold feeling as there just isn't much warmth to it
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1999 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon 91 Points
France, Champagne
nose: very mineral driven with round tones of citrus, lemons, limes, apples, and bits of toast. nice polish and depth on the nose with good elegance too
taste: nice and elegant medium feel with baking spices, loads of minerals, lemons, toast, and good tart tones of apples with good medium acidity to back it all up
overall: elegant and pretty, but doesn't bring that next level that one would expect of a tete-cuvee. An excellent champagne, but it just doesn't seem to excite me all that much. I'm not sure that this will get a lot better with time, only different
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NV Ruinart Champagne Brut Rosé 90 Points
France, Champagne
nose: very good and deep nose filled with smoke, cherries, cinammon, and lovely tones of roses
taste: high acidity showing off its very recent disgorgement with bits of tree fruits, cherries, raspberries, smoke, and roses. good medium feel that flows well across the palate too
overall: a young NV rose that does need some time to get the acidity fully in check. even with the acidity, the feel is great with good effervescance
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NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée 92 Points
France, Champagne
nose: very deep nose with great purity and defined flavors of lemons, apples, citrus tones, minerals, and rich toast notes. Very deep, in fact, this has more depth on the nose then some of the tete-cuvees. clearly showing off the krug quality right here
taste: again, the depth of flavors is massive(as is the acidity right now) with great tones of baking spices, lemons, apples, and rich mineral tones. Very smooth and polished feel with a lot of class to spare
overall: this was one of the newer labels, and I didn't have the exact lot #. This performs up to big cuvees with its depth and can certainly age as the acidity was very vibrant. A real lovely wine that would be a lot more fun to just sit down to and enjoy over the course of an evening
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NV Perrier-Jouët Champagne Grand Brut 88 Points
France, Champagne
nose: very perfumed nose filled with tropical citrus, mangoes, lemons, and nice racy mineral undertones. The nose is really good with medium depth
taste: a bit of a let down as there was just something very lovely on the nose, it doesn't posses the depth on the palate that the nose gave, but still has nice tones of apples, perfumes, and tropical citrus tones. Very nice, but just lacking that one extra part to really drive it
overall: a very nice effort with a great nose. A slight bit of a let down on the palate, but this is a excellent mainstream bubbly and thenose is worth it alone IMO
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NV Pommery Champagne Brut Royal 88 Points
France, Champagne
nose: good smokey backdrop filled with apples and citrus tones with a slight hint of baking spices. While not overly complex, its very well put together and has nice depth on the tones
taste: excellent medium feel with roasted nuts, apples, and nice citrus tones. Nice medium acidity that works well with the wine, but doesn't dominate in any way
overall: a quality wine. Won't jump at you, but well put together and solid all around. Good depth on both the palate and nose, this is a good NV to go to when one just needs a solid bubbly for under 35
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NV Heidsieck & Co. Monopole Champagne Blue Top Brut 87 Points
France, Champagne
nose: very nice and clean nose of citrus tones, lemons, bits of yeast and minerals
taste: lighter feel with yeast, lemons, and mineral tones. lighter acidity on this bottling, but nice depth with the lighter and easier feel
overall: an enjoyable and affordable bubbly. While not really bring either lots of complexity or depth, there is something to like about this that satisfies and works
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1995 Pommery Champagne Cuvée Louise Brut 91 Points
France, Champagne
nose: very toasty with a good amount of green apples, roasted nuts, bits of floral tones, peaches, and drops of honey that give off a good balance. Good depth, and surprisingly mature tones, but the aromatics are working well here
taste: elegant and long with lush tones of green apples, honey, roasted nuts, florals, and nice toasty tones that form the base. Nice medium acidity that is a bit surprising in a bottle this young
overall: a lovely champagne that works on many different levels for me. Not as much depth on the palate as the nose, but very elegant and demure. Good acidity, this seemed very ready to go and may be on a faster evolutionary track then one would first think
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NV Joseph Perrier Champagne Cuvée Royále 87 Points
France, Champagne
nose: standard nose of roasted nuts, smoke, and citrus tones. Easy going with medium depth, but nothing really standing out or setting itself apart
taste: good medium/light body feel with nice effervescance providing tones green apples, smoke, and citrus tones. Easy going and decent depth for the money
overall: a solid champagne. its decent, but rather forgettable
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1998 Joseph Perrier Champagne Cuvée Royále 89 Points
France, Champagne
nose: good clean nose providing tones of bread, minerals, yeast tones, and bits of lemon peels. Good depth with precise tones, though not very deep and not overtly complex
taste: nice medium acidity with precise tones of minerals, lemon peels, and yeasty notes. Good medium feel too that move well across the palate
overall: this is almost there, but something is just slightly lacking. A quality vintage champagne, but it just doesn't knock it up to that next gear to really get it going
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NV Joseph Perrier Champagne Cuvée Royale Rosé 89 Points
France, Champagne
nose: pretty nose with strawberries, melons, cinammon, and spice tones. relatively straight forward nose with medium/light depth to it
taste: excellent medium feel with roses, spice tones, strawberries, and bits of cinammon sticks. More depth on the palate then on the nose that is backed up by good medium acidity
overall: an excellent rose from a massive producer. The feel and depth on the palate makes up for the lighter nose and the acidity provides a nice crispness to it
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NV Charles Heidsieck Champagne Brut Réserve 91 Points
France, Champagne
nose: very good crisp and clean nose filled with citrus tones, minerals, vanilla extract, and a nice core of red and green apples. Really good depth with a touch of class too on the nose that was missing from other NVs at the tasting
taste: great medium feel with red and green apples dominating along with bits of minerals and yeast along with some slight tones of vanilla extract. Excellent depth that doesn't normally come from a NV wine all that often
overall: an outstanding bubbly and a great NV. Excellent depth and medium+ acidity to allow for further aging with a great nose. this is a really high quality NV and one to buy when one wants to spend under $50 for a really good champagne
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1995 Charles Heidsieck Champagne Blanc des Millénaires 93 Points
France, Champagne
nose: very deep nose filled with brioche, lemon peels, apple cores, baking spices, dough, and underlying tones of minerals. A very sumptuous and alluring nose that starts to seperate the pretender bubblies from the next level
taste: extremely smooth and polished medium feel with succulent tones of brioche, yeast, dough, and all sorts of various citrus tones. Medium/high acidity lets you know that this is still very much a young wine
overall: this is why some wines cost what they do. There is a class and elegance to this that is hard to match. Great balance on both the nose and palate already with a very youthful character to it. This is one that will be fun to revisit in 5-8 years to see where its development is as there is a lot of promise in it
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NV Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Cuvée Brut 87 Points
France, Champagne
nose: good nose of breads, apples, and bits of citrus tones. Very nice and pleasant, but lacking a bit of depth
taste: good medium/light feel with baking spices, breads, and nice tart tones of lemons. decent medium acidity, but not a ton of depth on this
overall:a quality champagne for under 30. Nice acidity and flavors blance this out and its generally a very consistent wine thats a good go to when you want a certain style
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NV Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Extra Dry 88 Points
France, Champagne
nose: very interesting nose that has a smokey backdrop, roasted nuts, tangerines, bits of tropical citrus and some spice tones. pretty good comlexity with medium depth
taste: a bit of a letdown on the palate, but it's still a real good feel with smoke, tangerines, tropical citrus, and some slight bits of nuts. not as deep on the palate and posseses medium/low acidity
overall: a excellent extra dry. I normally don't enjoy extra drys all that much, but this one has complexity that others don't give. Great for the money, this is a quality wine
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NV Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Brut Rosé 89 Points
France, Champagne
nose: nice soft nose of florals, cinammon, cherries, and spice tones. Good depth on the nose with nice lifting tones
taste: very elegant feel on the palate with rounded tones of cherries, cinammon, and floral tones
overall: a very pretty rose with great medium+ acidity. Well defined with good depth on both the nose and palate, this is a great entry point rose as it shows off all of the good qualities and is well balanced
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