Acidity has balanced out vs. 2 years ago, but it's still there to provide a crisp balance to the richness. Mineral are there, and the fruit is starting to show secondary flavors at 15 years old.
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Pale lemon color (almost colorless), LARGE bubbles Lemon-lychee nose, some brioche Wonderful acidity, more lemon, some nuttiness, medium-plus finish Absolutely delicious bottle that punches way above its weight class with an excellent QPR (+1 pt), that will age well. I LOVE Paillard bubble.
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This was outstanding. Licorice, citrus, almonds, chalk and some spice. Lots of toast. Fine bubbles and great finish. My first experience with this producer and I wish I had bought more. We really enjoyed this and it is aging very well. Should be good for many more years.
55% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir. Enjoyable flavor and minerality, nice body. Despite over 13 years of age, this Champagne still tastes a bit young to me. High acid gives it a slightly crisp/high acid edge that could use some more time to smooth out. That lessens a little in the glass, but I’m going to hold off another year before opening more. The quality shines through and is still very good now, but could be great with time.
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Didn't particularly enjoy this, finding it a bit young and austere. Astringent note of granny smith apple predominates, and although the wine opened up a bit after about half an hour, it still lacked the sense of generosity and celebration that one would hope for from a bottle of vintage Champagne opened on Christmas Day.
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Nose: tilled earth, mushroom, lemon pith, hint of peach, very fresh. Palate: lush, elegant, balanced. medium body, medium plus acid, medium length. Meyer lemon, slate, oyster shell, poached pear, mushroom. Nose was more mature than the palate. Just starting to enter it's first plateau of maturity and with plenty of life left ahead. Was much better after thirty minutes and singing after an hour. The elegance was more muted upon opening, needed to warm up a bit and breathe.
Medium light straw yellow with very fine bubbles. Aromatically this was extremely low intensity over the two hours it was consumed. Very little richness or autolytic character. The nose gently wafts lemon, kiwi, honeydew melon, and stony mineral. The palate is well balanced with the fine bubbles playing a part in the textural mouthfeel. This comes across as low dosage as it is. If you value a more rich or autolyitc style (like me) then you might be disappointed.
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Anniversary Dinner at Demi (Demi, Mpls): Light gold plus color. Wine pairing at Demi. Drank a glass over 30 minutes. Stones and chalk, dense, dry and firm, apple, citrus, oxidative, strong apple peel finish. Very similar to my previous note on this. 50 Chard/50 PN.
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Second bottle from a half case purchased right after disgorgement (09/16).
Beautiful color just starting to turn gold about 2.5 years after disgorgement preceded by nine years or so on the lees.
The wine has picked up aromatic intensity from the last bottle sampled with pronounced citrus, honey and autolytic aromas- no sign of tiredness, advanced evolution etc.
Gorgeous on the palate with similar flavor characteristics, nice weight (medium to medium plus body) , high acidity and a nice long finish. Very well done.
Drink now or store for another decade plus in a cold cellar.
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Light straw with small beady bubbles. Savory gold apples, yellow raspberry, brioche...rich but not heavy nose. Lemon merriunge, green apple, citrus flower, honey. Very, very enjoyable...big hit across a variety of tastes. 50% Pinot Noir 50% Chard DG 7/17 2.7g/l
This wine per the back label was disgorged 09/16 and was dosed at 2.6g/l. So if my math is correct 9.5 years on its lees and then another 30 months in the bottle prior to drinking.
The wine has a beautiful pale golden color and looks at least 5 years younger than it is.
Pronounced , but sill youthful aromas of citrus, green and honeyed apples and some autolytics.
The wine is medium bodied with high acidity and just a gorgeous mouth feel. A bit more autolytic flavor on the plate which seems more complex than the nose. The finish is long.
This is delicious now and can last "indefinitely" in a cold cellar. Will it get better with time? Who knows.
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Made only in best years, very limited, made only from the first press. 45% Pinot Noir, 55% Chardonnay, dosage 2,7g. Disgorged 8/2017. Still very youthful, fresh and lifted ripe acidity, yet soft and honeyed texture and mature ripe flavours of pear and lime. Full palate, long and persistent, beautiful clean finish. This is a big one with great aging potential and great value.
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Slightly oxidized with sweet red fruit (raspberry), red apple, frangipane, and toast on the finish. Very smooth and easy to drink but still some noticeable acid.. Young. Disgorged 9/2016.
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Salil does Chicago 4; 4/6/2018-4/7/2018 (Chicago, IL): Disgorged September 2016, 2 g/L dosage. Apparently a new release from the estate. It's one I'm not particularly fond of, really. Way too leesy and bready for my palate, the nose here has tons of yeasty flavours as well as a prominent toast aroma. The palate shows some red delicious apple flavours (which, as a completely unrelated aside, is the most misnamed fruit in the history of fruit, maybe ever) and more bread and yeast and things like that. There's acidity but not enough to cut through the creaminess and sweetness; kind of odd that this happens given the low dosage here. It's a decent wine, but firmly not my preferred style of champagne at all.
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From magnum. Brief and informal tasting. Quite some temp to the bottle, as I like it. Red and yellow apples, mild spices, dough and wood on nose. Again apples, touch of citrus, minerals, hints of honey and vanilla on the palate. Really fine mouth feel, concentration and lenght. Good backbone. This will of course only get better, but really fine and tasty already. 92p for now.
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2017 K&L Annual Champagne Tasting (K&L San Francisco Store): K&L Champagne Event 2017, I was told this was 10 years on the lees, nose of Gala Apple, Fuji Apple, chalk dust, and minerals, same on the palate, big body, very tasty, good acid, needs cellar time-maybe 3 years to peak, subtle, subdued, savory like honey on toast, and a long, flavorful finish.
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A blend of Chardonnay (50%) and Pinot Noir (50%) from three different Grand Cru plots. Aged for 8 months in stainless steel on the fine lees before bottling. Aged 9½ years in bottles with the lees. Disgorged in November 2016. Dosage 2,6 g/l. Served blind.
Pale lime green color - surprisingly youthful and pale for a Champagne with +10 years of age. Nuanced and attractive, but also surprisingly light - even a bit mute - nose with aromas of yeasty leesiness, some bright apple-driven fruit, a little bit of sweeter white fruit and a hint of bready autolysis. The wine is surprisingly tightly-knit and austere on the palate with light flavors of green apples, steely minerality, some wet stones and a hint of lemony citrus fruits. No noticeable autolysis on the palate - which is quite odd, considering how long the wine has aged on the lees and it's 9 months since disgorgement - and even the ripeness of the fruit feels rather understated. The mousse is quite persistent, but extremely light and subtle, nothing more than a barely noticeable prickle on the tongue. The finish is lively and mouth-cleansing in its freshness, but also very restrained and one-dimensional, exhibiting mainly flavors of piercing steely minerality, some wet stones, a little bit of tart green apples and a hint of chalky bitterness.
Overall this is a very fine, focused and structured, but also very linear and tangy Grand Cru Champagne that feels dead-serious and pure in its crystalline expression, but offering very little fun and enjoyment. Perhaps the wine is now in some sort of dead phase, turning its fruit character a bit mute before they emerge again with more tertiary complexity? Who knows. Based on how the wine is drinking now, I wouldn't pop any bottles open for the next 5-8 years. Without any food this wine is pretty aggressive and unforgiving now. Feels a bit overpriced at ~60€, but I might reconsider my assessment in the future if the wine develops nicely in the cellar.
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Casual Burg Dinner with Friends (The Bristol - Chicago IL): 50% each Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. 2006 ripeness works well with the moderately low dosage (3.5 g/l), with richness and luxury coming through nicely. Very good length and textural mouth feel.
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Explosive aromatics of iced pie crust, raspberries, green apple, citrus. Hot damn!
On the palate, a perfectly balanced dosage, ripeness, and acid. Tastes like lower dosage (correct - 3.5g) Mix of apples, citrus, and a hint of red berries. Clean baguette interior (modest autolytic notes) and long fruit and pie crust finish. Silken weight. Meyer lemon on the finish.
My favorite of the tasting. 9-9.5
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Pale straw. Clean, slightly reductive style, with hints of peach. Very fresh, with fresh baguette and green apple. Showing just a slight bit of savory development. I like it. Fresh with well-contained dosage and high acid. Around 9 $65
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6/4/2023 - Vancouver Likes this wine: 95 Points
Brilliant 2006.
Disgorged 02/2017 and dosed at 2.7g/l.
Gorgeous medium golden appearence at age 16 +.
Lots of buttered citrus, honey and autoltyics on the fresh and classy nose.
Medium bodied on the palate with high acidity and a long finish.
Just delicious and this stuff will last for a long long time in a cold cellar....
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12/31/2022 - RajivAyyangar wrote: 92 Points
So good. Explosive apple pie crust notes. High intensity aromatics. Fresh acid. Everything you’d want in a champagne. Green apple skins.
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12/17/2021 - GGinSF wrote: 91 Points
Acidity has balanced out vs. 2 years ago, but it's still there to provide a crisp balance to the richness. Mineral are there, and the fruit is starting to show secondary flavors at 15 years old.
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2/14/2021 - Genghis88 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Pale lemon color (almost colorless), LARGE bubbles
Lemon-lychee nose, some brioche
Wonderful acidity, more lemon, some nuttiness, medium-plus finish
Absolutely delicious bottle that punches way above its weight class with an excellent QPR (+1 pt), that will age well. I LOVE Paillard bubble.
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12/9/2020 - americanstorm Likes this wine: 94 Points
This was outstanding. Licorice, citrus, almonds, chalk and some spice. Lots of toast. Fine bubbles and great finish. My first experience with this producer and I wish I had bought more. We really enjoyed this and it is aging very well. Should be good for many more years.
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11/14/2020 - r.o.man Likes this wine: 93 Points
See my previous TNs. Literally no aging at all. Very good, but still young.
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8/3/2020 - bjlcrucrazy Likes this wine: 93 Points
Fantastic pinot fruit. Had at Kippewa with charcuterie!! Fantastic
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1/10/2020 - GGinSF wrote: 89 Points
55% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir. Enjoyable flavor and minerality, nice body. Despite over 13 years of age, this Champagne still tastes a bit young to me. High acid gives it a slightly crisp/high acid edge that could use some more time to smooth out. That lessens a little in the glass, but I’m going to hold off another year before opening more. The quality shines through and is still very good now, but could be great with time.
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12/25/2019 - NickA wrote: 88 Points
Didn't particularly enjoy this, finding it a bit young and austere. Astringent note of granny smith apple predominates, and although the wine opened up a bit after about half an hour, it still lacked the sense of generosity and celebration that one would hope for from a bottle of vintage Champagne opened on Christmas Day.
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10/16/2019 - jpwineguy Likes this wine:
Nose: tilled earth, mushroom, lemon pith, hint of peach, very fresh.
Palate: lush, elegant, balanced. medium body, medium plus acid, medium length. Meyer lemon, slate, oyster shell, poached pear, mushroom.
Nose was more mature than the palate. Just starting to enter it's first plateau of maturity and with plenty of life left ahead. Was much better after thirty minutes and singing after an hour. The elegance was more muted upon opening, needed to warm up a bit and breathe.
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9/21/2019 - Wine Canuck wrote: 90 Points
Medium light straw yellow with very fine bubbles. Aromatically this was extremely low intensity over the two hours it was consumed. Very little richness or autolytic character. The nose gently wafts lemon, kiwi, honeydew melon, and stony mineral. The palate is well balanced with the fine bubbles playing a part in the textural mouthfeel. This comes across as low dosage as it is. If you value a more rich or autolyitc style (like me) then you might be disappointed.
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8/28/2019 - Bakerbd Likes this wine: 92 Points
Granny smith, stone fruit, mineral - neither super fresh not super oxidative - in a great place
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7/26/2019 - yasha Likes this wine: 93 Points
very nice.
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7/14/2019 - rocknroller wrote: 91 Points
Anniversary Dinner at Demi (Demi, Mpls): Light gold plus color. Wine pairing at Demi. Drank a glass over 30 minutes. Stones and chalk, dense, dry and firm, apple, citrus, oxidative, strong apple peel finish. Very similar to my previous note on this. 50 Chard/50 PN.
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6/23/2019 - Vancouver Likes this wine: 94 Points
Second bottle from a half case purchased right after disgorgement (09/16).
Beautiful color just starting to turn gold about 2.5 years after disgorgement preceded by nine years or so on the lees.
The wine has picked up aromatic intensity from the last bottle sampled with pronounced citrus, honey and autolytic aromas- no sign of tiredness, advanced evolution etc.
Gorgeous on the palate with similar flavor characteristics, nice weight (medium to medium plus body) , high acidity and a nice long finish. Very well done.
Drink now or store for another decade plus in a cold cellar.
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6/9/2019 - Bakerbd Likes this wine: 92 Points
Lemon zest, tangerine, flint, mineral, bit tart, intense
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6/2/2019 - TChidlaw Likes this wine:
Pretty but not super complex maybe could have aged more
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3/30/2019 - jvphoto Likes this wine: 91 Points
Light straw with small beady bubbles. Savory gold apples, yellow raspberry, brioche...rich but not heavy nose. Lemon merriunge, green apple, citrus flower, honey. Very, very enjoyable...big hit across a variety of tastes.
50% Pinot Noir 50% Chard
DG 7/17 2.7g/l
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3/2/2019 - Vancouver Likes this wine: 93 Points
This wine per the back label was disgorged 09/16 and was dosed at 2.6g/l. So if my math is correct 9.5 years on its lees and then another 30 months in the bottle prior to drinking.
The wine has a beautiful pale golden color and looks at least 5 years younger than it is.
Pronounced , but sill youthful aromas of citrus, green and honeyed apples and some autolytics.
The wine is medium bodied with high acidity and just a gorgeous mouth feel. A bit more autolytic flavor on the plate which seems more complex than the nose. The finish is long.
This is delicious now and can last "indefinitely" in a cold cellar. Will it get better with time? Who knows.
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1/27/2019 - r.o.man Likes this wine: 92 Points
Tasted with Pierre - we both agreed this is still too young. Tight, powerful, great texture. (disgorged 8/2017)
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10/6/2018 - AllRed wrote: 91 Points
Light yellow color with a medium mousse. Pear, caramel and roasted nut aromas. Apple and pear flavors with a doughy undertone. Fine bead. Excellent.
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10/4/2018 - rocknroller wrote: 91 Points
A Whiter Shade of Pale: Featuring Killer Chablis (Martina, Mpls): Light medium gold color. Drank a glass over 40 minutes. This was fairly masculine on the palate, apple, chalk, oxidative in character, with a full body and apple peel.
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9/24/2018 - RajivAyyangar wrote: 92 Points
IMW 2018 Champagne - Walk-Around Tasting (Hyatt, San Francisco): Extra Brut. RM-grower - love it! Iced green apple pastry. Savory apple with fresh cream. Long finish with apple, mineral, cold pastry dough.
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8/7/2018 - r.o.man Likes this wine: 94 Points
Made only in best years, very limited, made only from the first press. 45% Pinot Noir, 55% Chardonnay, dosage 2,7g. Disgorged 8/2017. Still very youthful, fresh and lifted ripe acidity, yet soft and honeyed texture and mature ripe flavours of pear and lime. Full palate, long and persistent, beautiful clean finish. This is a big one with great aging potential and great value.
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4/18/2018 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote: 92 Points
Slightly oxidized with sweet red fruit (raspberry), red apple, frangipane, and toast on the finish. Very smooth and easy to drink but still some noticeable acid.. Young. Disgorged 9/2016.
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4/7/2018 - acyso wrote: 88 Points
Salil does Chicago 4; 4/6/2018-4/7/2018 (Chicago, IL): Disgorged September 2016, 2 g/L dosage. Apparently a new release from the estate. It's one I'm not particularly fond of, really. Way too leesy and bready for my palate, the nose here has tons of yeasty flavours as well as a prominent toast aroma. The palate shows some red delicious apple flavours (which, as a completely unrelated aside, is the most misnamed fruit in the history of fruit, maybe ever) and more bread and yeast and things like that. There's acidity but not enough to cut through the creaminess and sweetness; kind of odd that this happens given the low dosage here. It's a decent wine, but firmly not my preferred style of champagne at all.
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12/16/2017 - BSA Likes this wine: 92 Points
From magnum. Brief and informal tasting. Quite some temp to the bottle, as I like it. Red and yellow apples, mild spices, dough and wood on nose. Again apples, touch of citrus, minerals, hints of honey and vanilla on the palate. Really fine mouth feel, concentration and lenght. Good backbone. This will of course only get better, but really fine and tasty already. 92p for now.
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10/22/2017 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 92 Points
2017 K&L Annual Champagne Tasting (K&L San Francisco Store): K&L Champagne Event 2017, I was told this was 10 years on the lees, nose of Gala Apple, Fuji Apple, chalk dust, and minerals, same on the palate, big body, very tasty, good acid, needs cellar time-maybe 3 years to peak, subtle, subdued, savory like honey on toast, and a long, flavorful finish.
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9/30/2017 - bcaz Likes this wine: 94 Points
Absolutely fantastic. Great body, light notes of stone fruits, light liberality.
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8/16/2017 - forceberry wrote: 88 Points
A blend of Chardonnay (50%) and Pinot Noir (50%) from three different Grand Cru plots. Aged for 8 months in stainless steel on the fine lees before bottling. Aged 9½ years in bottles with the lees. Disgorged in November 2016. Dosage 2,6 g/l. Served blind.
Pale lime green color - surprisingly youthful and pale for a Champagne with +10 years of age. Nuanced and attractive, but also surprisingly light - even a bit mute - nose with aromas of yeasty leesiness, some bright apple-driven fruit, a little bit of sweeter white fruit and a hint of bready autolysis. The wine is surprisingly tightly-knit and austere on the palate with light flavors of green apples, steely minerality, some wet stones and a hint of lemony citrus fruits. No noticeable autolysis on the palate - which is quite odd, considering how long the wine has aged on the lees and it's 9 months since disgorgement - and even the ripeness of the fruit feels rather understated. The mousse is quite persistent, but extremely light and subtle, nothing more than a barely noticeable prickle on the tongue. The finish is lively and mouth-cleansing in its freshness, but also very restrained and one-dimensional, exhibiting mainly flavors of piercing steely minerality, some wet stones, a little bit of tart green apples and a hint of chalky bitterness.
Overall this is a very fine, focused and structured, but also very linear and tangy Grand Cru Champagne that feels dead-serious and pure in its crystalline expression, but offering very little fun and enjoyment. Perhaps the wine is now in some sort of dead phase, turning its fruit character a bit mute before they emerge again with more tertiary complexity? Who knows. Based on how the wine is drinking now, I wouldn't pop any bottles open for the next 5-8 years. Without any food this wine is pretty aggressive and unforgiving now. Feels a bit overpriced at ~60€, but I might reconsider my assessment in the future if the wine develops nicely in the cellar.
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11/6/2016 - Burgundy Al wrote:
Knightsbridge Annual Holiday Burgundy/Champagne Tasting and Sale (Northbrook, IL): Tasting, brief note. Lush fruit showing more Pinot Noir than Chardonnay character. Lush, rich start-to-finish. Not classically "extra brut" and I consider that a positive. Very good value Champagne.
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11/6/2016 - Burgundy Al wrote: 91 Points
Casual Burg Dinner with Friends (The Bristol - Chicago IL): 50% each Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. 2006 ripeness works well with the moderately low dosage (3.5 g/l), with richness and luxury coming through nicely. Very good length and textural mouth feel.
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9/26/2016 - RajivAyyangar wrote: 92 Points
IMW 2016 Champagne - Walk-Around Tasting (Hyatt, San Francisco): - 50-50 Chard and Pinot.
- Stainless steel ferment.
- Full malo.
- 8 months on lees.
- 3.5g Dosage.
Explosive aromatics of iced pie crust, raspberries, green apple, citrus. Hot damn!
On the palate, a perfectly balanced dosage, ripeness, and acid. Tastes like lower dosage (correct - 3.5g) Mix of apples, citrus, and a hint of red berries. Clean baguette interior (modest autolytic notes) and long fruit and pie crust finish. Silken weight. Meyer lemon on the finish.
My favorite of the tasting.
9-9.5
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9/26/2016 - RajivAyyangar wrote: 91 Points
IMW 2016 Champagne - Prestige Tasting (Hyatt, San Francisco): 50-50 Pinot/Chard, Brut. Full Malo, 8 months on lees, 9 years age in bottle before release.
Pale straw.
Clean, slightly reductive style, with hints of peach.
Very fresh, with fresh baguette and green apple.
Showing just a slight bit of savory development.
I like it. Fresh with well-contained dosage and high acid.
Around 9
$65
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