My note from February indicated that this was a new bottling and needed to calm down. It has mostly calmed down. Like a lot of champagnes it needs a good 10-15 minutes from popping the bottle for it to open. Initially, there is some bitterness that resolved itself and you're left with a toasty, relatively simple but nonetheless authentic champagne. You can taste pear, lemon and yeast. At this price point, it gets a thumbs up qualitatively and a thumbs up stylistically, making it a great buy for me.
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One of the better champagnes I’ve had in recent memory. Wish I had more. 75 pinot noir, 25 Chardonnay, from the south of Champagne. Yeast, minerality, lovely finish, well balanced, and had some depth and age on it. 90% from the 2006 vintage. A mix of bubbles which was slightly odd but didn’t harm it much. A killer value at $27 that I bought it for on WTSO.
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Aromas of bread dough, yeast, slate and tough of lime. Flavors of short bread, yeast, lime and mineral. Just a touch of creaminess mixed in there. Ends with a mineral driven finish of 15+ seconds. Impressive especially for the price.
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I haven't had this champagne for 4 years. I just bought another batch from WTSO. Like a lot of NV champagne I buy from them, this seems to be quite new. It kind of tastes like cookie dough or a cookie that wasn't fully baked. There's all the components to turn into a satisfying champagne, they are not quite integrated. Baking spice, almond extract, vanilla, yeast, brioche. There's a strange combination of superfine bubbles and big burly bubbles. Too bad summer is approaching, because this shipment really needs to sit for 6 months or longer. We shall see.
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For the last three years, I have coached my son's high school J.V. basketball team. If you have ever coached your child, you know how it can be both rewarding and maddening. This year, he was called up to the Varsity, for which I serve as the assistant coach. Up until recently, my son had not been called upon to do much as he was third or fourth off the bench on a team of just nine. The last couple of games, though, he has started and, for the most part, played rather well. Tonight, with his team down one, he grabbed the rebound off of the opponent's missed free throw, threw a perfect outlet pass and sprinted up the court. The ball was quickly moved up the sideline and into the hands of one of the better players on the team. He drove to the basket and hoisted a shot. It missed. It careened off the other side of the basket and into the hands of, yes, you guessed it, my son. Without hesitation, he grabbed the ball, jumped, and shot. The last second peeled off the clock and the horn sounded as the ball was in the air.
He missed. And we lost.
Both he and I were crestfallen (more my son than I--I have been around that block before). When we got home, I pulled some champagne. My son, incredulous, asked why I was celebrating and I offered up the oft-cited quote from Napoléon Bonaparte:
“In victory, you deserve Champagne; in defeat, you need it.”
A dark gold in the glass with notes of oxidated peach and pear, and freshly baked well-done croissant. The palate is equally if not more enticing with all kinds of yeasty, citrusy goodness. The sparkle is faint, but the flavors are not. Whoa.
I tried to get my son to try some, but I was worried his tears would dilute this rather extraordinary wine. thedrunkencyclist.com
Thursday night and my wife had to work late, I teach a Spin class on the fourth evening of the week (depending on how you count the days), which puts a rather tight squeeze on the evening schedule. That meant I needed to hit the H.E.B. (if you live in Texas, you know what a pseudo-religious experience that is) immediately after class to procure provisions for dinner for the boys who were at Taekwondo. Yeah, Thursdays can be hectic. The antidote? Bubbles. But not any run of the mill, quotidien sparkler would do--I needed a visit from the mother ship, Champagne. Normally, I sit at my desk, access Cellar Tracker, sort, scroll, and choose. Not today. I ventured into the cellar unprepared, unaware, waiting for my muse to call. It turned out to be this Brut from the Aube, southeast of Troyes, not far from Les Riceys--the almost mythical town in Champagne, famed for its rosé of Pinot Noir. I have never visited, and have only had the pink-hued elixir once, but that singular taste -caused the town to be placed on my bucket list. In black Sharpie. This wine? 90% comes from the 2006 vintage, the remaining 10% from 2004 and 2005. The near-golden color reveals its age, the yeasty, lemony nose indicates a rather lengthy time sur lies. The Pinot here clearly dominates, as one would expect, with plenty of yeast and lemon curd on the nose. Heft and backbone define the palate as this is no shrinking violet. Lovely from start to finish, this certainly jump-started the extinction of my Thursday blues. At least for about seven days. thedrunkencyclist.com
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I'm not sure when this was disgorged but it was in my cellar for 3 years--now showing lots of brioche and bakeshop aromas and flavors. Very nice! Drink within the next year or two.
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It was Cinco de Mayo and we had my Korean in-laws over for dinner, so I figured a French wine made sense. I bought this nearly three years ago from Wines Til Sold Out, and this is the fourth or six bottles, and my last note from two years ago still holds true. thedrunkencyclist.com
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Light-medium gold. Drank 1 glass over an hour. Two years of cellar time. Toasted nuts, filberts, stone fruits, oxidative, sour apple, orange peel, and wet chalk. This grows on you with some complexity and walks the line with the oxidative style for me. 90+pts.
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Poured straight out of the bottle, this wine was shrilly acidic, meagerly flavored, and astringent. But by day 3 of being tasted and recorked immediately, the wine went from bud to blossom. much more flavorful, enjoyable, and richer, going from bland to tingly, textured, and tasty.
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Very good, and an exceptional value for $25 - rich, with some yeasty notes, but not particularly dry. Very well balanced, and the finish is fairly long. Bubbles are not tiny.
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I have to pat myself on the back with this one. Rich, full, this Pinot dominant (75% Pinot, 25% Chardonnay) from the Côte des Bar really delivers what champagne hounds seek out the most: baked bready, yeasty goodness. This was a steal for $25. thedrunkencyclist.com
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light gold color. Drank 2 glasses over 45 minutes. This is really growing on me. I think this was the best bottle we've had yet. Seemed even more refined, good presence, nice mousse, red apple and bosc pear. The minerality is more clean, less chalky and the finish lingers. Very nice indeed. 90+ to 91pts.
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Drank this over 5 days. By itself, the wine was a great palette awakener and refresher that was aromatic, brisk, tingly, mouth cleansing, floral, citric, and very long. But with foods, the wine was the blue ribbon winner that was both uniquely good with some foods and fine with all the rest. Our clear choice if we had to pick only one wine to drink with a meal.
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Every time we drink a bottle of this, I'm so happy I bought more than a few. Lively mousse, with an elegant palate of apple tart, yeasty brioche crisp apple, lemon zest and some chalky minerality. Very, very good and an amazing bargain from WTSO.
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Served at our dinner party last night. Citrusy and yeasty with a lingering tannic finish. Excellent. One of the best buys in the NV Champagne market, and a standard at our house.
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Lots of green apple in the nose and on the palate. Fairly simple with not much complexity but still quite enjoyable and reasonably priced for what it is. A champagne that will not break the bank if you need to buy several bottles for a get together.
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Christmas Eve with Family (Dave's, Mpls): Spot on with bottle from 12/12/15. Very solid, hard to beat the price point, I do think I like the offerings from Philippe Prie a bit better overall.
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Champagne that punches up. Beautiful notes of lemon zest, toasted brioche, bright acids, enchanting minerality, and sunshine captured in this bottle. It's a champagne that's all pleasure, nothing stretched, no buttons flying off. Brut Reserve shows in this NV.
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Sunfish Cellars Holiday Tasting (Sunfish Cellars, St. Paul, MN): Light gold color. Drank 2 glasses over an hour. This was fairly deep and muscular, offering up a nose of citrus, pear, red apple, and minerals. The palate is similarly fruited with some chalkiness to the minerality, yeast, and some citrus pith creating a slightly bitter finish.
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I like this stuff. Big flavor, lots going on, great color, bubbles stay until the last glass, yeasty with lots of Pinot noir backbone, drank with lobster salad and lamb chops, will drink again if I can get it, this wine has some age to it as most of the blend is from 06, a very good value.
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Excellent sparkler with lots of flavor, medium bodied but a big Champagne, the Pinot Noir drives the taste as the Chardonnay smoothes things. Enjoyed with lobster, great value, will drink again.
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Delicate. Pale lemon-green, very fine effervescence <0.5 mm. Medium aromas of marzipan, yeast, lemon. Dry, high acidity, minmimal tannin, medium(-) alcohol and medium body. Medium palate of lychee, pineapple, lemon, bread. Soft rich and fine mousse. Good length, racy, with residual fruit-sugar providing an ever so slightly sweet counterpoint in the dry finish. Excellent!
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I also found this champagne to be quite rich. Lots of toast and yeast on the nose. A rich full palate. I guess that's my preferred style. This wine exceeded my expectation at this price. Toasty and balanced. 90+ easy.
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Huh, I'm surprised to see Josh Raynolds writing "full and quite rich" and notes here echoing that: my bottle was really incisive, full of citric cut, ginger, and minerals. Super refreshing and just a terrific drink at a very entry-level price. Maybe this varies a lot by disgorgement, or even bottle to bottle?
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Yummm-yum! Christmas cookies!! Ginger, vanilla and lemon. Intense fine bubbles, long head. Deep, intense midpalate and satisfying, biscuity finish. This is about as good as NV champagne gets at this price point. I could drink a 5-gallon bucket of this delicious stuff.....
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Well-endowed with ginger, pear, lemon peel and quince on both the nose and the palate; quinine and biscuit on the finish. Absolutely lovely; should have bought a case.
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Light gold color. Drank 2 glasses with dinner over an hour. Red apple nose with apple blossoms, mineral. The palate is tart, green apple, pear, subtle citrus, shells, light and rather elegant, good acid, medium plus finish. 90+pts.
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Bright golden green in color, with a medium mousse. The nose shows green apple, freshly squeezed citrus fruit, and an edge of vanilla bean. On the palate, bright citrus, white flower, and mineral flavors are persistently tart. There’s a creaminess that fills in the lemon yeasty notes that linger on the finish. 75% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay.
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In both the nose and palate: ginger, toast, bitter citrus peel, and pear...and a hint of wormwood. At the end there is a pleasant tannic dryness accompanied by faint cocoa and coffee. Nicely acidic throughout, this would complement a great many foods. Finish is unusually long for a wine at this price point.
Intensely flavored. Very nice, and well worth the $24.99 from WTSO. Wish I'd bought more.
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8/15/2020 - galewskj wrote: 90 Points
My note from February indicated that this was a new bottling and needed to calm down. It has mostly calmed down. Like a lot of champagnes it needs a good 10-15 minutes from popping the bottle for it to open. Initially, there is some bitterness that resolved itself and you're left with a toasty, relatively simple but nonetheless authentic champagne. You can taste pear, lemon and yeast. At this price point, it gets a thumbs up qualitatively and a thumbs up stylistically, making it a great buy for me.
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7/7/2020 - winepog wrote: 90 Points
Interesting intensity and flavors. Great at this price point.
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5/23/2020 - capscapscaps Likes this wine: 91 Points
One of the better champagnes I’ve had in recent memory. Wish I had more. 75 pinot noir, 25 Chardonnay, from the south of Champagne. Yeast, minerality, lovely finish, well balanced, and had some depth and age on it. 90% from the 2006 vintage. A mix of bubbles which was slightly odd but didn’t harm it much. A killer value at $27 that I bought it for on WTSO.
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5/15/2020 - slywka7 wrote: 90 Points
Aromas of bread dough, yeast, slate and tough of lime. Flavors of short bread, yeast, lime and mineral. Just a touch of creaminess mixed in there. Ends with a mineral driven finish of 15+ seconds. Impressive especially for the price.
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4/13/2020 - winepog wrote: 90 Points
Very rich, apple flavors. Acidity is present.
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3/28/2020 - galewskj wrote: 88 Points
I haven't had this champagne for 4 years. I just bought another batch from WTSO. Like a lot of NV champagne I buy from them, this seems to be quite new. It kind of tastes like cookie dough or a cookie that wasn't fully baked. There's all the components to turn into a satisfying champagne, they are not quite integrated. Baking spice, almond extract, vanilla, yeast, brioche. There's a strange combination of superfine bubbles and big burly bubbles. Too bad summer is approaching, because this shipment really needs to sit for 6 months or longer. We shall see.
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1/10/2020 - The Drunken Cyclist Likes this wine: 93 Points
For the last three years, I have coached my son's high school J.V. basketball team. If you have ever coached your child, you know how it can be both rewarding and maddening. This year, he was called up to the Varsity, for which I serve as the assistant coach. Up until recently, my son had not been called upon to do much as he was third or fourth off the bench on a team of just nine. The last couple of games, though, he has started and, for the most part, played rather well. Tonight, with his team down one, he grabbed the rebound off of the opponent's missed free throw, threw a perfect outlet pass and sprinted up the court. The ball was quickly moved up the sideline and into the hands of one of the better players on the team. He drove to the basket and hoisted a shot. It missed. It careened off the other side of the basket and into the hands of, yes, you guessed it, my son. Without hesitation, he grabbed the ball, jumped, and shot. The last second peeled off the clock and the horn sounded as the ball was in the air.
He missed. And we lost.
Both he and I were crestfallen (more my son than I--I have been around that block before). When we got home, I pulled some champagne. My son, incredulous, asked why I was celebrating and I offered up the oft-cited quote from Napoléon Bonaparte:
“In victory, you deserve Champagne; in defeat, you need it.”
A dark gold in the glass with notes of oxidated peach and pear, and freshly baked well-done croissant. The palate is equally if not more enticing with all kinds of yeasty, citrusy goodness. The sparkle is faint, but the flavors are not. Whoa.
I tried to get my son to try some, but I was worried his tears would dilute this rather extraordinary wine. thedrunkencyclist.com
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10/24/2019 - The Drunken Cyclist Likes this wine: 92 Points
Thursday night and my wife had to work late, I teach a Spin class on the fourth evening of the week (depending on how you count the days), which puts a rather tight squeeze on the evening schedule. That meant I needed to hit the H.E.B. (if you live in Texas, you know what a pseudo-religious experience that is) immediately after class to procure provisions for dinner for the boys who were at Taekwondo. Yeah, Thursdays can be hectic. The antidote? Bubbles. But not any run of the mill, quotidien sparkler would do--I needed a visit from the mother ship, Champagne. Normally, I sit at my desk, access Cellar Tracker, sort, scroll, and choose. Not today. I ventured into the cellar unprepared, unaware, waiting for my muse to call. It turned out to be this Brut from the Aube, southeast of Troyes, not far from Les Riceys--the almost mythical town in Champagne, famed for its rosé of Pinot Noir. I have never visited, and have only had the pink-hued elixir once, but that singular taste -caused the town to be placed on my bucket list. In black Sharpie. This wine? 90% comes from the 2006 vintage, the remaining 10% from 2004 and 2005. The near-golden color reveals its age, the yeasty, lemony nose indicates a rather lengthy time sur lies. The Pinot here clearly dominates, as one would expect, with plenty of yeast and lemon curd on the nose. Heft and backbone define the palate as this is no shrinking violet. Lovely from start to finish, this certainly jump-started the extinction of my Thursday blues. At least for about seven days. thedrunkencyclist.com
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11/21/2018 - Labrador Likes this wine: 88 Points
Lovely and enjoyed by all.
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9/6/2018 - IlonaN wrote: 90 Points
I'm not sure when this was disgorged but it was in my cellar for 3 years--now showing lots of brioche and bakeshop aromas and flavors. Very nice! Drink within the next year or two.
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5/14/2018 - td1836 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Continues to be good. Had with Mother's Day lunch which paired well with shrimp scampi. Tart citrus mixed with bread/yeasty notes.
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5/5/2018 - The Drunken Cyclist Likes this wine: 91 Points
It was Cinco de Mayo and we had my Korean in-laws over for dinner, so I figured a French wine made sense. I bought this nearly three years ago from Wines Til Sold Out, and this is the fourth or six bottles, and my last note from two years ago still holds true. thedrunkencyclist.com
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12/25/2017 - rocknroller wrote: 90 Points
Light-medium gold. Drank 1 glass over an hour. Two years of cellar time. Toasted nuts, filberts, stone fruits, oxidative, sour apple, orange peel, and wet chalk. This grows on you with some complexity and walks the line with the oxidative style for me. 90+pts.
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5/28/2017 - Mossrose wrote: 92 Points
Poured straight out of the bottle, this wine was shrilly acidic, meagerly flavored, and astringent. But by day 3 of being tasted and recorked immediately, the wine went from bud to blossom. much more flavorful, enjoyable, and richer, going from bland to tingly, textured, and tasty.
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1/28/2017 - td1836 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Yeasty flavors stood out the most. Enjoyable, good price.
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10/28/2016 - BBinSC wrote: 91 Points
Consistent with prior notes. Drank with Minnie Pearls burgers from Helen's at Bakersville for tenth anniversary.
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9/18/2016 - BBinSC wrote: 91 Points
Very good, and an exceptional value for $25 - rich, with some yeasty notes, but not particularly dry. Very well balanced, and the finish is fairly long. Bubbles are not tiny.
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5/16/2016 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine: 93 Points
A lovely yeasty pinot-noir based champagne. Amazing QPR.
Me - 92, Wife - 94/95
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5/6/2016 - pifcho Likes this wine: 92 Points
My best bottle yet. More mineral and intense than I remember. This is without a question the best value champagne out there.
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4/24/2016 - The Drunken Cyclist wrote: 92 Points
I have to pat myself on the back with this one. Rich, full, this Pinot dominant (75% Pinot, 25% Chardonnay) from the Côte des Bar really delivers what champagne hounds seek out the most: baked bready, yeasty goodness. This was a steal for $25. thedrunkencyclist.com
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4/10/2016 - rocknroller wrote: 90 Points
light gold color. Drank 2 glasses over 45 minutes. This is really growing on me. I think this was the best bottle we've had yet. Seemed even more refined, good presence, nice mousse, red apple and bosc pear. The minerality is more clean, less chalky and the finish lingers. Very nice indeed. 90+ to 91pts.
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3/21/2016 - galewskj wrote: 90 Points
Consistent with previous notes.
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3/16/2016 - Mossrose wrote: 92 Points
Drank this over 5 days. By itself, the wine was a great palette awakener and refresher that was aromatic, brisk, tingly, mouth cleansing, floral, citric, and very long. But with foods, the wine was the blue ribbon winner that was both uniquely good with some foods and fine with all the rest. Our clear choice if we had to pick only one wine to drink with a meal.
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1/25/2016 - IlonaN wrote: 91 Points
Every time we drink a bottle of this, I'm so happy I bought more than a few. Lively mousse, with an elegant palate of apple tart, yeasty brioche crisp apple, lemon zest and some chalky minerality. Very, very good and an amazing bargain from WTSO.
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1/10/2016 - Swaggering Beaunie Likes this wine:
Served at our dinner party last night. Citrusy and yeasty with a lingering tannic finish. Excellent. One of the best buys in the NV Champagne market, and a standard at our house.
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1/2/2016 - td1836 Likes this wine: 90 Points
This was my first bottle, and I enjoyed the style. Good value.
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12/27/2015 - winepog wrote: 90 Points
Very consistent with other notes, very rich, some yeasty, breadlike flavors. I don't know of many better Champagnes at this price point.
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12/25/2015 - pifcho Likes this wine:
Perhaps my favorite NV under $30. Continues to deliver bottle after bottle.
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12/25/2015 - americanstorm Likes this wine: 88 Points
Lots of green apple in the nose and on the palate. Fairly simple with not much complexity but still quite enjoyable and reasonably priced for what it is. A champagne that will not break the bank if you need to buy several bottles for a get together.
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12/24/2015 - rocknroller wrote: 90 Points
Christmas Eve with Family (Dave's, Mpls): Spot on with bottle from 12/12/15. Very solid, hard to beat the price point, I do think I like the offerings from Philippe Prie a bit better overall.
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12/19/2015 - atl10trader Likes this wine: 92 Points
Champagne that punches up. Beautiful notes of lemon zest, toasted brioche, bright acids, enchanting minerality, and sunshine captured in this bottle. It's a champagne that's all pleasure, nothing stretched, no buttons flying off. Brut Reserve shows in this NV.
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12/14/2015 - galewskj wrote: 90 Points
This is the most powerful inexpensive NV I have come across.
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12/14/2015 - winepog wrote: 91 Points
Stands out as being very rich. Flavor was even a bit reminiscent of brandy. Excellent value.
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12/12/2015 - rocknroller wrote: 90 Points
Sunfish Cellars Holiday Tasting (Sunfish Cellars, St. Paul, MN): Light gold color. Drank 2 glasses over an hour. This was fairly deep and muscular, offering up a nose of citrus, pear, red apple, and minerals. The palate is similarly fruited with some chalkiness to the minerality, yeast, and some citrus pith creating a slightly bitter finish.
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12/11/2015 - Polindz wrote: 90 Points
A very good champagne. Very lively with citrus tones. Holds its own with food.
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11/29/2015 - galewskj wrote: 90 Points
Consistent with previous notes.
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11/28/2015 - pifcho Likes this wine: 91 Points
Similar to my last note. This was a hit at Thanksgiving.
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11/22/2015 - EMTAME wrote: 88 Points
Assertive bubbles, with an acidic spine and a lemony edge. Not especially complex, but it's good with food. Much better on the chilly side.
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11/21/2015 - pifcho Likes this wine: 91 Points
This right in my wheel house. Rich, yet very fresh and full of character. Nice yeasty brioche notes, fine bubble, fresh green apples. 91+
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11/3/2015 - Swaggering Beaunie Likes this wine: 92 Points
Delightful, with lots of leesy and green-apple character, and ginger at mid-palate. A great value.
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10/8/2015 - Swaggering Beaunie Likes this wine: 93 Points
Outstanding. Full, rich, lots of ginger and leesy character. As good as NV Champagne gets. Powerful. Must find more.
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8/17/2015 - winepog wrote: 93 Points
Lovely. Lemony and bakehouse type flavors. Nice mousse. Outstanding and just fantastic QPR.
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8/9/2015 - mwneil Likes this wine: 92 Points
I like this stuff. Big flavor, lots going on, great color, bubbles stay until the last glass, yeasty with lots of Pinot noir backbone, drank with lobster salad and lamb chops, will drink again if I can get it, this wine has some age to it as most of the blend is from 06, a very good value.
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7/20/2015 - galewskj wrote: 90 Points
All 4 of my bottles have been consistently good. Now I need to buy more.
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7/19/2015 - rocknroller wrote: 90 Points
Best Burger Event, Monthly Tasting Group (Jason and Tracy's, Mpls, MN): Small pour. Nice, with citrus, minerals and yeast. Not complex, but very good with good typicity at the price point hard to beat.
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7/11/2015 - galewskj wrote: 90 Points
Another good bottle. Lots of yeast and toast. Slightly harsh acidity upon first opening the bottle, but it calmed down nicely after about 30 minutes.
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6/19/2015 - mwneil Likes this wine: 92 Points
Excellent sparkler with lots of flavor, medium bodied but a big Champagne, the Pinot Noir drives the taste as the Chardonnay smoothes things. Enjoyed with lobster, great value, will drink again.
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5/29/2015 - Barolo Raymond wrote: 90 Points
Delicate. Pale lemon-green, very fine effervescence <0.5 mm. Medium aromas of marzipan, yeast, lemon. Dry, high acidity, minmimal tannin, medium(-) alcohol and medium body. Medium palate of lychee, pineapple, lemon, bread. Soft rich and fine mousse. Good length, racy, with residual fruit-sugar providing an ever so slightly sweet counterpoint in the dry finish. Excellent!
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5/23/2015 - galewskj wrote: 90 Points
I also found this champagne to be quite rich. Lots of toast and yeast on the nose. A rich full palate. I guess that's my preferred style. This wine exceeded my expectation at this price. Toasty and balanced. 90+ easy.
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5/12/2015 - EMTAME wrote: 89 Points
Lime on the front end, with grapefruit on the back. Lots of assertive bubbles. Touch of chalkiness on the finish.
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3/3/2015 - nietzschephilosopher Likes this wine: 91 Points
Consistent with previous notes.
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1/19/2015 - Charlie Pendejo Likes this wine:
Huh, I'm surprised to see Josh Raynolds writing "full and quite rich" and notes here echoing that: my bottle was really incisive, full of citric cut, ginger, and minerals. Super refreshing and just a terrific drink at a very entry-level price. Maybe this varies a lot by disgorgement, or even bottle to bottle?
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1/2/2015 - nietzschephilosopher Likes this wine: 91 Points
Good balance between acidity and yeasty richness. I like it a lot.
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12/21/2014 - F_&_M Likes this wine: 89 Points
Other reviewers on point. A little more brightness would be welcome.
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12/12/2014 - nietzschephilosopher Likes this wine: 93 Points
Lots of complexity and good weight. Bread and nuts and lemon peel. Amazing.
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11/23/2014 - rocknroller wrote: 90 Points
Monthly Tasting Group: Champagne and Sushi (Sushi Fix, Wayzata, MN): Very small pour, consistent with last note, very good - 90+pts.
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11/22/2014 - Swaggering Beaunie Likes this wine: 92 Points
Yummm-yum! Christmas cookies!! Ginger, vanilla and lemon. Intense fine bubbles, long head. Deep, intense midpalate and satisfying, biscuity finish. This is about as good as NV champagne gets at this price point. I could drink a 5-gallon bucket of this delicious stuff.....
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10/18/2014 - wirelesswine wrote:
This bottle could be flawed, a bit too yeasty and oxidative for my taste..,
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9/8/2014 - Swaggering Beaunie wrote:
Well-endowed with ginger, pear, lemon peel and quince on both the nose and the palate; quinine and biscuit on the finish. Absolutely lovely; should have bought a case.
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8/10/2014 - rocknroller wrote: 90 Points
Light gold color. Drank 2 glasses with dinner over an hour. Red apple nose with apple blossoms, mineral. The palate is tart, green apple, pear, subtle citrus, shells, light and rather elegant, good acid, medium plus finish. 90+pts.
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3/19/2014 - europat55 wrote: 85 Points
1978-2003 Guigal Hermitages (Tom's house in Palo Alto, California): Good fruity nose (B+). So-so palate (B-). Tasted blind.
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3/19/2014 - aagrawal wrote: 89 Points
Guigal Hermitage Vertical (Palo Alto): More yeasty, slightly more nutty, more complex; nice finish. Overall very nice. 89-90
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2/14/2014 - PostOakBluffer Likes this wine: 91 Points
Agree with Scott Davis (below) right down the line. Excellent QPR at $25 from WTSO!
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1/13/2014 - scott davis wrote: 91 Points
Bright golden green in color, with a medium mousse. The nose shows green apple, freshly squeezed citrus fruit, and an edge of vanilla bean. On the palate, bright citrus, white flower, and mineral flavors are persistently tart. There’s a creaminess that fills in the lemon yeasty notes that linger on the finish. 75% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay.
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1/7/2014 - Swaggering Beaunie Likes this wine:
In both the nose and palate: ginger, toast, bitter citrus peel, and pear...and a hint of wormwood. At the end there is a pleasant tannic dryness accompanied by faint cocoa and coffee. Nicely acidic throughout, this would complement a great many foods. Finish is unusually long for a wine at this price point.
Intensely flavored. Very nice, and well worth the $24.99 from WTSO. Wish I'd bought more.
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1/3/2014 - brooklynJ&O wrote: 85 Points
good stuff. a little odd at first but comes around quickly with air.
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12/17/2013 - Just Grapes wrote: 90 Points
Solid QPR as are all of the Philippe Prie Champagnes.
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10/29/2013 - drdecanto Likes this wine: 92 Points
Delicious. Great value at $26.
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6/19/2013 - J.L. Likes this wine:
Delicious. Pale yellow. Floral and fruity without being sweet. Tight, creamy mousse. Prefer it to the Phillipe Prie NV.
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6/16/2013 - dougie Likes this wine: 91 Points
Really good. Rich with a touch of creaminess. A hit at friends graduation. Great QPR for 26 bucks with free shipping from WTSO.
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6/10/2013 - drdecanto Likes this wine: 91 Points
Amazing frothy, persistent mousse. Nose of peaches. Very dry. Lovely
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