December 31, 2020 - Golden colour, almost amber.
Fully mature BdB champagne. Good mousse despite its 30 years. Nose is a bit closed and not as expressive as expected. Better with some air and 12 C temp. Lemon tarte, yellow apple, some bread, and little oxidized notes. High citrus driven acidity and quite dry taste. Lost a bit of fruit. Long, but not very intense finish. Ok to the amuses and very good to "Bisque de homard". Probably better 3-4 years ago. Drink up.
August 10, 2020 - This is fantastic. Golden amber. Its a very big and substantial wine. Developed nose of biscuits and savory aromas. Incredible acidity.
August 6, 2019 - Fully mature, displaying good acidity, toasty citrus and a funky mushroom note.
April 30, 2019 - No formal notes, still very youthful and a fairly tightly knit package albeit quite drinkable, an excellent showing.
March 20, 2019 - Dinner at Jade Court (Chicago, IL): Drinking fabulously, despite being one of psmith's always-corked bottles. The nose is fairly mild, and doesn't show too many mature notes. There's amazing freshness overall here, with an incredible youthfulness thanks to the acidity. Sometimes I find older chardonnay can get a little funky and weird, but there's none of that here.
January 19, 2019 - outstanding and drinking beautifully now - a lovely balance of acidity and fruit
December 31, 2018 - Lovely yeasty nose of ripe tart lemons and fresh caramel. Great power and intensity and still drinking young but showing great integrated flavors of tangy pineapple, tart lemons and copper minerals. The finish is so satisfying with a fantastic crunchy complexity with notes of caramel and smoky chalk. A stunning blanc de blancs with many years of life ahead. 95+
March 1, 2017 - WIML94
Tasted non blind.
Light yellow color in the glass, clear looking throughout with tiny, light beading. Nose of yellow pears, yellow apples and a splash of creme. Flavors of sweet cherries, lemon zest and brandied soaked pears. Bright acidity, full bodied. Drink or hold.
August 13, 2016 - Seen some commentary of late about the 1996s not aging well- a lack of acidity- but this bottle was a pleasant relief. Honeyed with some brioche on the nose, it opened up over 30 min. Still hot fine bubbles and importantly good acidity. Better than the '96 Rose I had earlier in the year
February 19, 2016 - Much better than the 1996 Pol Roger Rose from the other week. Golden yellow in the glass. The acidity that has served it well is still there, but now more brioche on the nose. Honeyed, apricots. Showing very well still. As always - needs food to do it justice.