May 29, 2023 - Bottle was given to me with questionable previous proper storage about 20 years ago and I was not able to store exactly properly either. Noticed the 1973 vintage date which corresponded to my high school graduation year and decided to serve it to our 50 year reunion committee at a post celebration brunch after the 50th reunion, with guarded expectations. The color was a hazy cream soda light to medium caramel brown. Minimal bubbles. No sediment that we discovered, but it sat upright the day before. Definite light sherry taste. No legs and a light finish. Having no experience with old Champagne or really much with old wines, it was only enjoyable because of the date on the bottle. The bottle served 19 people with some left over. No one wanted a second pour, including me. I was happy to get the cork extracted in two separate pieces without it crumbling back into the bottle.
May 28, 2023 - Bottle was given to me with questionable previous proper storage about 20 years ago and I was not able to store exactly properly either. Noticed the 1973 vintage date which corresponded to my high school graduation year and decided to serve it to our 50 year reunion committee at a post celebration brunch after the 50th reunion, with guarded expectations. The color was a hazy cream soda light to medium caramel brown. Minimal bubbles. No sediment that we discovered, but it sat upright the day before. Definite light sherry taste. No legs and a light finish. Having no experience with old Champagne or really much with old wines, it was only enjoyable because of the date on the bottle. The bottle served 19 people with some left over. No one wanted a second pour, including me. I was happy to get the cork extracted in two separate pieces without it crumbling back into the bottle.
February 1, 2022 - A friend of mine who is a very big Champagne collector and connoisseur brought this. It showed stellar right from the first sip. Beautiful aromas of tangerine and caramelized sugar, reminding me of great bottles of aged Dom. Amazing complexity and length. Very grand.
April 3, 2021 - Very good looking bottle and cork. No bubbles and brownish color but it was still very much alive and got better with about an hour of air. We drank it like an old white burgundy. Good but not great. Lovely with cheese.
March 8, 2018 - Casual dinner at S.K.Y. (Chicago, IL): Golden color. The nose here is showing it's 40+ years with an oxidative, nutty, sherry character melded to mature, soft white fruit. The palate is still fresh and the bead has good energy, which held up over a couple of hours. Interesting to taste, but I like my bubbles much more young.
March 8, 2018 - A bit disjointed initially, with a ripe and honeyed front end, bit it hollows out out on the finish and turns bitter with nutty fino-type notes. It does fill out a bit with time, and has plenty of effervescence, but a bit old for my taste.
March 8, 2018 - Dinner at S.K.Y. (Chicago, IL): This bottle has aged brilliantly. Definitely shows its age, but there's a really spry and mischievous freshness underneath all those sherry tones. A bit saline in character as well. The bubbles here are still ridiculously lively too.
December 14, 2016 - This is a wine which I can imagine gets under-rated if drunk too quickly. Only 90pts for me initially, with sweaty leather and pecorino, with about 90mins in a glass it showed wonderful honeysuckle notes as the chardonnay came out. Lots of fizz and time left here. 92-93pts for the Champagne and a solid 100pts for the bottle design - the best Champagne bottle? Drink to 2050. 92pts
August 8, 2015 - Appearance: Bright and clear, it has medium gold color, with watery rims and legs.
Nose: Clean, with medium (+) intensity aromas of citrus fruit of lemon, green fruit of green apple, maturity notes of sugarcane, autolytic notes of brioche and lees, kernel notes of walnut, mineral notes of steely, some oxidation notes of sherry aromas. The wine is fully developed.
Palate: Dry with high acidity, the wine has medium alcohol and light body. It has medium flavors of green fruit such as apple, citrus fruit of lemon, with some stone fruit of peach on the aftertaste, autolytic notes of lees and bread, mineral notes of steel, oxidation notes of sherry and maturity notes of mushroom. The wine has a medium finish.
Conclusion: Very good quality Champagne with an intense nose showing amazing development, with nice complexity of some zesty and green apple characters supported by autolytic and mineral notes, the wine has strong acidity to provide crispness even after all these years, with elegance, but the finish was a bit mediocre. Even though still highly enjoyable, I think it would be even better at a slightly younger age, now is a bit too old.
November 11, 2012 - WWS 2012 - a few TNs including DRCs, Coche Dury, Rousseau and others; 11/8/2012-11/11/2012 (Villa D’este, Lake Como): En Magnum, initially a bit tired/madeira note. With time, it gets sweeter still not as good as the 73 perrier jouet brut.