April 14, 2024 - Champers and Napa Cabs Blind - Fun Times! (Chateau Simms): This was presented in a blind tasting of some high-end Champagnes:
1. NV Ulysse Collin Blanc de Blanc Enfers (Extra Brut)
2. 2015 Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill
3. 2015 Cristal
4. 2012 Leclerc Briant Château d'Avize, Blanc de Blancs, Brut Zéro
5. NV Selosse Lieux-dits Extra Brut Ay La Côte Faron
6. 2007 Billecart-Salmon Cuvée Elisabeth
7. NV Selosse V.O.
2007 Billecart-Salmon Elisabeth - This was served double blind, and all I could tell is that it was a world class rose! I typically like Blanc de Blancs more than roses, but this was up to the task, even in this elite company. In retrospect, I should have guessed this from the classic salmon color of the rose, but alas, I did not! This was delicious though, with classic subtle red fruit (strawberry and raspberry) and loaded with chalky minerality. This kept getting better as it warmed in the glass. A classy rose that I wish I could have tasted against other rose, such as Krug, Dom, Cristal and Tat. 94+ to 95.
Note: I typically love a non-oxidative style more than the oxidative style when drinking them without food, but with salty foods (think caviar), I actually preferred the oxidative style which went remarkably well with the food!
April 14, 2024 - I pegged this as a Dom Rose in the blind, which I guess describes how good this wine was. Very good bubbles.
April 14, 2024 - Eyes Wide Shut - Day 2 (A quiet place): Nose: Light pink cherries, a bit of quiet tartness, decent freshness with a gentle sea breeze.
Palate: Ripe yet light note of blood oranges, clean watery minerals and light earth.
Something on the palate gave this a watered-down aspect, not sure what, maybe the minerals?
April 10, 2024 - Better than previous tasting in 2022. Has put on a bit off weight since then. Still primarily strawberry on nose and palate. A touch of sweetness creeping in. Hints of lemon oil. Would be much better with more acidity and bubbles but very enjoyable with oysters.
January 20, 2024 - Very interesting color of yellow-amber with miniscule orange tinge, but so vibrant it almost looked as if it was glowing or backlit. Very tiny bubbles, but steady supply from the center of the bottom of the glass. Maybe influenced by the color, but bouquet of citrus fruits something like not quite ripe strawberries, but very nice. Finish a touch short, but a very fine bottle of Champagne.
November 25, 2023 - A night with neighborhood friends: A big step up from the delicious NV. Orange zest and lemon, orchard fruit and strawberries. Very elegantly styled. It felt a little less open than my last bottle, but that was influenced by the fact it followed a 2009 Cristal.
July 16, 2023 - Champagne Cornucopia - DP vs Krug MV (Chez D): Good grief - helluva intermezzo. Thanks again M. Clear wine of the flight for me - and if we’d have been allowed to vote for pinks, would have been 3rd of the lunch. Some of the crazy energy and funk of the 98, but clean and pure and all in alignment. Hugely enjoyed this - would love to taste again, with the opportunity to really slow down and engage with it.
January 1, 2023 - 2022 New Years Eve: Drank a small glass over 45 minutes. Toasty with deep red fruit that manages to remain light on the palate. Quite elegant, but missing any wow-factor that the price would indicate.
December 31, 2022 - New Years Eve Celebration (Rocknroller's (Kevin & Vicki's Place)): Pale pink color. Drank a glass over an hour. Drank with the NV version. The wine starts off quite subtle in glass, very elegant and what I would describe as quite delicate. The nose shows strawberry, cinnamon and nutmeg spices are well delineated, more distinct chalk vs the NV. Like most vintage Rose Champagne, this comes at a healthy premium over the NV and many other vintage Rose Champaagnes for that matter. Very gradually as this warms there is more complexity that is revealed and the pedigree shows itself. The step up in quality is not always readily evident, though it eventually does edge ahead. There is a subtlety that you have to look for. I've yet to be really wowed by a B-S CES. It does seem like they require more time, so I keep waiting and hoping. I've found the Taitinger Comte Champagne Rose and Bollinger Grand Annee Rose superior and usually at a better tariff.
October 12, 2022 - Surprising wine for me. Kinda on the fence too- aromas of strawberry-raspberry jelly, mineral, salt spray, and lemon oil. Intense on the nose, almost sweet smelling. In the mouth, the wine carries that strawberry-raspberry flavor, it is big and fruity, almost too much for me. Palate is vinous, deep, there is a pleasant acidity and almost green finish, fine pearlage. The wine seems almost too young to judge, the acidity and the seriously fruity nature of the body seem to be fighting each other. That being said, I paid $209 and I feel like I paid too much, I much prefer their NV Rose to this, and I could have bought a magnum of that for still less than this. Maybe time's the answer?