January 14, 2024 - Classic Dom notes but with a yougurty tang. Possibly a flaw but really enhanced the experience for me. Overall a much more unique Dom than I’m used to. Plenty of fizz and no signs of decline.
December 31, 2023 - Drank at friends as the clock struck Midnight and the 12-minute fireworks display began over Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour. Almost identical notes as the bottle we took to share with friends in Seattle over Christmas. Gorgeous mid-range bright jewelled gold colour. Brief mousse followed by persistent streams of micro-bubbles. Nose is still very primary… brioche, lemon skins, crushed limes. Palate is super-fresh, very primary, dilute by any DP standard but still a lovely indulgence. Has a lovely final resonance and reverberance at the back of the head on the finish. Happy New Year!
December 31, 2023 - Pure gold. Rich and developed. Tarte tatin and honeyed almonds. Very fine mousse. Great persistence. In a lovely spot to drink now.
December 27, 2023 - Gorgeous mid-range bright jewelled gold colour. Brief mousse followed by persistent streams of micro-bubbles. Nose is still very primary… brioche, lemon skins, crushed limes. Palate is super-fresh, very primary, dilute by any DP standard but still lovely over Christmas holiday eggs Benedict late breakfast. Has a lovely back end resonance and reverberance in the back of the head on the long finish. A nice way to say thank you to our friends who hosted us over a chilled Christmas in Seattle along with Angela cooking the Eggs Bebedict for them.
December 20, 2023 - Crisp, tasty, darker color, enjoyable. Last btl
December 14, 2023 - One of the best champagnes I've had; wine is at its peak, but certainly has a few more years. Fine bubbles, apple and pear in the nose; delicate on the palate with a long finish. Highly recommended
October 13, 2023 - From magnum. Half was decanted 45 minutes before pairing with a mixed cheese and charcuterie board. A medium+ yellow in the Riedel Vinum XL pinot noir glass with flashes of gold. Served a bit too cold, but still striking toasted brioche and nuttiness on the nose, with soft meyer lemon and heaps of slate. Quite structured straight from the bottle, with still very good acidity. The shocker was visiting the decanted portion. Much more obvious nose, this time with a striking note of freshly minced ginger, with all the other notes amped up. Everyone around the table noted these exquisite changes. Beautiful performance on the celebratory occasion. The fourth or fifth time we've had this vintage, and it bested all those previously poured from 750ml bottles. One magnum remaining - when should we open it?
July 22, 2023 - Tasted double blind. This DP is in its prime, with a tertiary complexity that compensates for the lack of depth the vintage offered. At its best, after some time in the glass, it scored 95 points. While the wine still has a nice freshness, the bubbles are slowly disappearing. So I don't think it can improve for much more than another 5 years.
TN: Intriguing nose with caramel and burnt sugar notes, citrus freshness and some salty notes. Medium+ expressive and intense. The palate is beautiful with some red fruit notes and even more salty minerality along with the caramel and burnt sugar notes. Not super complex but very enjoyable with very fine, slightly fading bubbles but a good acid backbone to keep it fresh, the texture lacks a bit of softness and the wine remains a bit more angular than I like. It doesn't have the oomph of the best years, but it's well balanced and at its peak.
Decanting: Good from the start, no extensive decanting needed. However, the best sips were the last ones towards the end of the evening.
July 15, 2023 - Burned sugar, salted caramel and nice minerality. Fruit profile includes pear and raisin-like dark grapes. At the same time lightly built but with good tension and fine perlage. This felt nicely mature without really showing any nutty oxidation notes. This reminded me somewhat of a more mature 2009, more limited in terms of intensity and complexity, but still well made and offering plenty of drinking pleasure.
June 15, 2023 - This was stunning and seemed to be at full maturity. I assume it still has some years left but I don’t know that there’s reason to wait.