Served blind from mag, and we all were guessing older than it turned out. Enjoyed by all, but it had stiff company with the terrific 2010 and 2007 served alongside.
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Grand Jury du Vin - Republic of Georgia; 11/1/2023-11/9/2023 (Republic of Georgia then stopover in Paris and Dijon): Perfectly cellared en magnum. Perfectly mature nose displaying succulent sweet yellow fruit, peach, baked apple, clementine, honey, light caramel, brioche, sweet spices and mineral. Excellent concentration, layers upon layers of generous yellow fruit, rich and opulent but also beautifully balanced, medium generous fine mousse, good acidity, strong mineral, and a long ripe opulent yellow fruit driven finish with honey and caramel at the end. Drinking incredibly well. Champagne is always better in magnum format.
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Blanc de Blancs over lunch (Summer Pavilion, Ritz Carlton, Singapore): A delicious Champagne, drinking quite at peak at 32 years of age. It had such a lovely nose - red apples, yeast, fresh bread, all laced with just taht little oxidative egde in the form of savoury, ciderish aromas. The palate was soft, rounded, and ripe, but still showed a lovely balance in its mature flavours of honeysuckle, orange blossom and honey, all dancing a round a core of red apples and preserved lemons. The mousse had been tamed after all these years, but there was a lovely bit of juicy acidity to this, all very nicely integrated, though still fresh enough to give the wine some persistence as it glided away into gliding away into a minerally tail. Not super long at the finish, but decent enough. With time, in the glass, all sorts of little complexities started emerging - butter, nuttiness, some saline notes, a bit of mushrooms, all playing against those lovely matured notes of apples and honey. Such a lovely drop this. I am glad we caught it at its apogee.
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It’s rare when a bottle of older Champagne wows me. This 90 @ruinart is a head turner — complex as can be, so dense and concentrated, while still effervescent and energetic. Magical when those stars align.
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(Mostly) Burgundy Dinners with Friends; 4/21/2022-4/22/2022 (Chicago, IL): This bottle came directly from Ruinart in 2008, so was in perfect condition. Maybe slightly lacking in effervescence, but so rich and concentrated with ripe apple, baked apple, dried apricot and slightly sweet spice. Long and layered, this was at least as good when finished two hours after opened vs when popped-and-poured.
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Epic Bordeaux for an Epic Birthday!; 9/1/2021-9/12/2021 (Paris & Bordeaux): From a magnum. For me one of the wines of the evening. This was really just wonderful. It has some good age and that extra character that comes with it but it is still quite a young wine. Funny because it would pour a slightly golden color and with time in the glass the color would fade a bit. Very lovely. Happy to see we have a bottle resting.
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Well, this was a poetry unravelling out of a bottle. A sublime orange misty color is meeting our eyes and immediately follows a most delicate aromas of flowers, fading orange marmelade, honey, honeyed citrus and marzipan all wrapped in the 'only time can provide' oxidation profile. Once on your palate the fizz is so refined and the above aromas turn into sublime and poetic flavors, therefore the whole experience is providing a magical uplift. Very strange how, despite the desolate state in which we currently live in our world, this moment is providing solace and hope. Cheers everyone~
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Good acidity and vibrancy. A bit simple on the palate but very enjoyable. Certainly less ripe than many 90 champagne such as 90 dp. Drinking at peak. No need to wait.
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Sadly, corked. Only mildly so, which gave a sense of the quality underneath. Plenty of fizz and full of life, with notes of honey, pear and brioche. And wet newspaper. Sigh.
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Solid, dowel-like cork ("cheville"), but no loss of pressure. Pretty, aged nose of pear, brioche, and caramel. Tight, very small bubbles with a round, full weight and flavors of orchard fruit, spice, and lees. This isn't the most complex Champagne but it has aged nicely and should drink well for a few more years.
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Fourrier Griottes (The Ledbury, London): Very fine stream of small bubbles. Creamy nose. A nice mix of lemon with a touch of hazelnut. Positive and focused attack. Very fine and smooth. Silky. Nicely mineral with a hint of roundness on the finish. Very good acidity. Long and fine. just a hint of dosage on the finish. Maybe just a slight lack of complexity but that's really quite picky. *****
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Wonderful bottle but showing age, color in the glass is bright gold with smaller than normal bubbles. Mature flavors are interesting and tasty but showing age.
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Tyvärr ett exempel på den lite sämre halvan av champagne från 1990. Drack denna för ungefär ett år sedan. Där den förra flaskan hade lite oxidationstoner så hade denna en konstig , svavelaktig doft, sulfat som avtonar efter ett tag men hela tiden hänger kvar. Det går att urskilja lite kola och choklad. Smaken är bättre med fin smörighet och hyfsad balans men vinet är väldigt moget. Troligen var vinet bättre för 3-4 år sedan. Vet att det finns en del kännare som anser att dessa 90or kommer att resa sig men jag håller helt enkelt inte med. De riktigt bra 90or jag druckti har ofta varit på magnum och i jämförelse med exempelvis 88 så känns många 90or lite trötta.
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A magnum, provenance uncertain but reassured by an aggressive pop on opening and plenty of mousse and deep yellow buttery notes. Lovely brioche nutty bready tastes with loads of elegance and subtlety. A big crowd-pleaser yet to my mind uncertain storage showed up in a fading aspect to its taste. But a special glass of wine when it was on.
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Lite oxidationstoner som snabbt försvinner. Smörig, brödig , rostad som efter ett tag utvecklas med katrinplommon , smörkola och brioche. Smaken är krämig med honung och en antydan till citrus. Moussen känns på tungan och det är en lång eftersmak som hänger kvar i munnen. Bra syra. Vinet lever länge i glaset och har glasutveckling. Dock så är vinet betydligt mer moget än jag förväntar mig. Tror att det är på topp nu eller till och med passerat toppen. Riktigt bra men inte storslaget.
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Ledbury with B&A and R&Y (The Ledbury, London): Pale straw. Initially quite muted nose, opening up to a creamy, minerally comlexity and elegance. Oh so silky smooth. Long, creamy and mineral with the dosage evident on the seemingly off-dry finish.Supremely elegant and effortless this is all poise and precission, a grand cru burgundy with a gentle mouse and a silky texture. To my palate this is one of the best fizzes I've had, certainly in the last couple of years, knocking at the door of 90 Cristal. *****
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This bottle was flown to Connecticut for my brother's wedding. It was shared with the groom, the other groomsmen, our father, and the father of the bride, the night before the ceremony. There was some question of provenance with this particular bottle, as I purchased it at auction at home in New Orleans. The cellar which donated the bottle for auction was a local hotel, and it was likely that the bottle suffered through Hurricane Katrina; the label was scuffed badly and potentially water-damaged. Nonetheless, as it was mislabeled in the auction guide as a non-vintage Ruinart BdB, and was one of the last lots, many folks were uninterested, tipsy, empty-walleted, and not paying attention. I picked the bottle up at a ludicrously low price.
My fears about the storage conditions of the wine were allayed as I removed the firmly-planted cork. A strong hiss came forth as the cork was dislodged intact and with no signs of seepage. Immediately, medium-sized bubbles rose lazily to form a beautiful mousse, seemingly ignorant of their voyage through arguably the worst natural disaster in American history, with hundreds dying in inhumane conditions within less than 5 miles of the bottle's cellar. The bottle itself likely went through weeks without power in a flooded cellar during a scorching summer, but one would never know this as the bubbles ascended to the tops of the cups and glasses as I poured, bursting into beautiful aromatics delightfully. I reflected briefly on the voyage this wine has had as others in the room immediately commented on the beautiful aromas that permated the room. The nose carried with it honey, buttered toast, white flowers, and butterscotch atop a firm foundation of crisp chalkiness, rounded citrus acidity, and a bit of minerality. The palate presented this flavor profile methodically, stepwise, and smoothly, with the full range of the palate expressing itself over the course of many seconds in the mouth. The sweeter flavors were bracketed with well-balanced light chalkiness as the fizz presented beautiful miniature breaks from what the juice itself offered to the palate. The finish showed each of the flavors gracefully bowing out over 45, 60 seconds, or maybe more. All in all, the experience was enjoyed by everyone involved, and this wine certainly did its label justice.
I don't know that this wine will evolve much in the next few years, and the richer parts of the flavor profile struck me as possibly being at the tail end of their peak; I wouldn't keep this wine for 10 more years, but it certainly has a few more good years left if you have a few bottles. It is drinking very well at this moment, however, so if you have a bottle, by all means, pop the cork and enjoy it!
A great bottle enjoyed with great company.
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Dom Ruinart Tasting (St Quentin, Knightsbridge): 100% CH, 50% CdB, 50% MdR From Magnum Pale lemon, again a very slow mousse Gunpowder and flinty notes rule the nose, again quite austere, no real signs of maturity, not honied Like a good young Grand Cru Chablis in style Potentially better when mature (95pts)
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Lovely pale yellow, with medium mousse. This is still very lively. Nose wouldn't give up much other than some bread, but we were in a restaurant. On the palate, it's round without being big, creamy without being buttery, focused without being harsh .... Very elegant stuff.
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12/2/2023 - Eric Wright Likes this wine: 93 Points
A little musty on the nose, but that blew off with time. Clearly showing the age, but still lovely brioche with some complexity.
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11/7/2023 - BradE wrote:
Served blind from mag, and we all were guessing older than it turned out. Enjoyed by all, but it had stiff company with the terrific 2010 and 2007 served alongside.
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11/1/2023 - dcwino wrote: 97 Points
Grand Jury du Vin - Republic of Georgia; 11/1/2023-11/9/2023 (Republic of Georgia then stopover in Paris and Dijon): Perfectly cellared en magnum. Perfectly mature nose displaying succulent sweet yellow fruit, peach, baked apple, clementine, honey, light caramel, brioche, sweet spices and mineral. Excellent concentration, layers upon layers of generous yellow fruit, rich and opulent but also beautifully balanced, medium generous fine mousse, good acidity, strong mineral, and a long ripe opulent yellow fruit driven finish with honey and caramel at the end. Drinking incredibly well. Champagne is always better in magnum format.
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3/3/2023 - Eric Wright Likes this wine: 93 Points
Initially a bit metallic. With some air, lovely brioche. Hints of cheese, but not unpleasant. Surprising effervescence. Overall enjoyable
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7/19/2022 - Paul S wrote: 94 Points
Blanc de Blancs over lunch (Summer Pavilion, Ritz Carlton, Singapore): A delicious Champagne, drinking quite at peak at 32 years of age. It had such a lovely nose - red apples, yeast, fresh bread, all laced with just taht little oxidative egde in the form of savoury, ciderish aromas. The palate was soft, rounded, and ripe, but still showed a lovely balance in its mature flavours of honeysuckle, orange blossom and honey, all dancing a round a core of red apples and preserved lemons. The mousse had been tamed after all these years, but there was a lovely bit of juicy acidity to this, all very nicely integrated, though still fresh enough to give the wine some persistence as it glided away into gliding away into a minerally tail. Not super long at the finish, but decent enough. With time, in the glass, all sorts of little complexities started emerging - butter, nuttiness, some saline notes, a bit of mushrooms, all playing against those lovely matured notes of apples and honey. Such a lovely drop this. I am glad we caught it at its apogee.
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4/21/2022 - Nanda wrote: 94 Points
It’s rare when a bottle of older Champagne wows me. This 90 @ruinart is a head turner — complex as can be, so dense and concentrated, while still effervescent and energetic. Magical when those stars align.
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4/21/2022 - Burgundy Al wrote: 94 Points
(Mostly) Burgundy Dinners with Friends; 4/21/2022-4/22/2022 (Chicago, IL): This bottle came directly from Ruinart in 2008, so was in perfect condition. Maybe slightly lacking in effervescence, but so rich and concentrated with ripe apple, baked apple, dried apricot and slightly sweet spice. Long and layered, this was at least as good when finished two hours after opened vs when popped-and-poured.
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9/2/2021 - MC2 Wines wrote:
Epic Bordeaux for an Epic Birthday!; 9/1/2021-9/12/2021 (Paris & Bordeaux): From a magnum. For me one of the wines of the evening. This was really just wonderful. It has some good age and that extra character that comes with it but it is still quite a young wine. Funny because it would pour a slightly golden color and with time in the glass the color would fade a bit. Very lovely. Happy to see we have a bottle resting.
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8/26/2021 - swyang wrote:
Well, this was a poetry unravelling out of a bottle. A sublime orange misty color is meeting our eyes and immediately follows a most delicate aromas of flowers, fading orange marmelade, honey, honeyed citrus and marzipan all wrapped in the 'only time can provide' oxidation profile. Once on your palate the fizz is so refined and the above aromas turn into sublime and poetic flavors, therefore the whole experience is providing a magical uplift. Very strange how, despite the desolate state in which we currently live in our world, this moment is providing solace and hope. Cheers everyone~
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12/20/2018 - Burgnick Likes this wine: 92 Points
Good acidity and vibrancy. A bit simple on the palate but very enjoyable. Certainly less ripe than many 90 champagne such as 90 dp. Drinking at peak. No need to wait.
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8/18/2018 - Elvis1969 wrote: 91 Points
Lätt oxiderad och lite trött, men fortfarande väldigt god.
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10/26/2017 - Burgundy Al wrote: 92 Points
Zachys Capital Collection Pre-Auction BYO Wine Dinner (Fiola Mare - Washington, DC): Small glass, brief note. Very rich and tasty, with a slightly sherried character that was both positive and negative. I wouldn't cellar this much longer. Fun and certainly enjoyable.
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2/14/2017 - PJRONeill wrote: flawed
Sadly, corked. Only mildly so, which gave a sense of the quality underneath. Plenty of fizz and full of life, with notes of honey, pear and brioche. And wet newspaper. Sigh.
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1/7/2017 - Vancou350 wrote: 93 Points
Nez de pain d'épices et fruits confits. Un peu maderisé en bouche mais très agréable. Longueur exceptionnelle.
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9/22/2016 - BradE wrote:
Somewhat unattractive nose. Decent, but not that appealing in the end.
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12/30/2015 - rlove wrote: 92 Points
Solid, dowel-like cork ("cheville"), but no loss of pressure. Pretty, aged nose of pear, brioche, and caramel. Tight, very small bubbles with a round, full weight and flavors of orchard fruit, spice, and lees. This isn't the most complex Champagne but it has aged nicely and should drink well for a few more years.
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5/2/2015 - Barry Rothof wrote:
RUINART (@ Rotterdam, Netherlands): Purchased from a private cellar. This bottle is more Sherry rather than Champagne. Too far!?
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1/1/2014 - jhngo wrote: 88 Points
alive but lacked power and complexity.
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5/28/2013 - mygrogro wrote: 95 Points
what a treat!
Crisp pear and honey
perfect fruity dry finish!
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10/18/2012 - Rupert wrote: 95 Points
Fourrier Griottes pre-Jean-Marie (The Ledbury, London): Very fine, lacy textured, rich, refined, and yet bursting with energy, showing few signs of age. Brilliant
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10/18/2012 - SimonG wrote: 95 Points
Fourrier Griottes (The Ledbury, London): Very fine stream of small bubbles. Creamy nose. A nice mix of lemon with a touch of hazelnut. Positive and focused attack. Very fine and smooth. Silky. Nicely mineral with a hint of roundness on the finish. Very good acidity. Long and fine. just a hint of dosage on the finish. Maybe just a slight lack of complexity but that's really quite picky. *****
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11/10/2011 - treaganjr wrote: 86 Points
Wonderful bottle but showing age, color in the glass is bright gold with smaller than normal bubbles. Mature flavors are interesting and tasty but showing age.
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8/28/2011 - Shorepower wrote:
Tyvärr ett exempel på den lite sämre halvan av champagne från 1990. Drack denna för ungefär ett år sedan. Där den förra flaskan hade lite oxidationstoner så hade denna en konstig , svavelaktig doft, sulfat som avtonar efter ett tag men hela tiden hänger kvar. Det går att urskilja lite kola och choklad. Smaken är bättre med fin smörighet och hyfsad balans men vinet är väldigt moget. Troligen var vinet bättre för 3-4 år sedan. Vet att det finns en del kännare som anser att dessa 90or kommer att resa sig men jag håller helt enkelt inte med. De riktigt bra 90or jag druckti har ofta varit på magnum och i jämförelse med exempelvis 88 så känns många 90or lite trötta.
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4/9/2011 - Jossik wrote: flawed
corked
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1/1/2011 - mygrogro wrote: 93 Points
crisp and clean!
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11/7/2010 - PJRONeill wrote: 92 Points
A magnum, provenance uncertain but reassured by an aggressive pop on opening and plenty of mousse and deep yellow buttery notes. Lovely brioche nutty bready tastes with loads of elegance and subtlety. A big crowd-pleaser yet to my mind uncertain storage showed up in a fading aspect to its taste. But a special glass of wine when it was on.
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10/31/2010 - Shorepower wrote:
Lite oxidationstoner som snabbt försvinner. Smörig, brödig , rostad som efter ett tag utvecklas med katrinplommon , smörkola och brioche. Smaken är krämig med honung och en antydan till citrus. Moussen känns på tungan och det är en lång eftersmak som hänger kvar i munnen. Bra syra. Vinet lever länge i glaset och har glasutveckling. Dock så är vinet betydligt mer moget än jag förväntar mig. Tror att det är på topp nu eller till och med passerat toppen. Riktigt bra men inte storslaget.
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9/29/2010 - SimonG wrote:
Ledbury with B&A and R&Y (The Ledbury, London): Pale straw. Initially quite muted nose, opening up to a creamy, minerally comlexity and elegance. Oh so silky smooth. Long, creamy and mineral with the dosage evident on the seemingly off-dry finish.Supremely elegant and effortless this is all poise and precission, a grand cru burgundy with a gentle mouse and a silky texture. To my palate this is one of the best fizzes I've had, certainly in the last couple of years, knocking at the door of 90 Cristal. *****
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8/1/2009 - Rossodio wrote: 93 Points
This bottle was flown to Connecticut for my brother's wedding. It was shared with the groom, the other groomsmen, our father, and the father of the bride, the night before the ceremony. There was some question of provenance with this particular bottle, as I purchased it at auction at home in New Orleans. The cellar which donated the bottle for auction was a local hotel, and it was likely that the bottle suffered through Hurricane Katrina; the label was scuffed badly and potentially water-damaged. Nonetheless, as it was mislabeled in the auction guide as a non-vintage Ruinart BdB, and was one of the last lots, many folks were uninterested, tipsy, empty-walleted, and not paying attention. I picked the bottle up at a ludicrously low price.
My fears about the storage conditions of the wine were allayed as I removed the firmly-planted cork. A strong hiss came forth as the cork was dislodged intact and with no signs of seepage. Immediately, medium-sized bubbles rose lazily to form a beautiful mousse, seemingly ignorant of their voyage through arguably the worst natural disaster in American history, with hundreds dying in inhumane conditions within less than 5 miles of the bottle's cellar. The bottle itself likely went through weeks without power in a flooded cellar during a scorching summer, but one would never know this as the bubbles ascended to the tops of the cups and glasses as I poured, bursting into beautiful aromatics delightfully. I reflected briefly on the voyage this wine has had as others in the room immediately commented on the beautiful aromas that permated the room. The nose carried with it honey, buttered toast, white flowers, and butterscotch atop a firm foundation of crisp chalkiness, rounded citrus acidity, and a bit of minerality. The palate presented this flavor profile methodically, stepwise, and smoothly, with the full range of the palate expressing itself over the course of many seconds in the mouth. The sweeter flavors were bracketed with well-balanced light chalkiness as the fizz presented beautiful miniature breaks from what the juice itself offered to the palate. The finish showed each of the flavors gracefully bowing out over 45, 60 seconds, or maybe more. All in all, the experience was enjoyed by everyone involved, and this wine certainly did its label justice.
I don't know that this wine will evolve much in the next few years, and the richer parts of the flavor profile struck me as possibly being at the tail end of their peak; I wouldn't keep this wine for 10 more years, but it certainly has a few more good years left if you have a few bottles. It is drinking very well at this moment, however, so if you have a bottle, by all means, pop the cork and enjoy it!
A great bottle enjoyed with great company.
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3/8/2009 - Trim wrote: 91 Points
toasted yeasty flavour, good fizz.
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6/13/2007 - cortoncharlie wrote: 90 Points
Not bad but nothing special either
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3/26/2006 - jhngo wrote: 90 Points
No fizz anymore. Good creamy and heavy. Needs the fizz to be better.
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11/2/2005 - Russell Faulkner wrote: 92 Points
Dom Ruinart Tasting (St Quentin, Knightsbridge): 100% CH, 50% CdB, 50% MdR
From Magnum
Pale lemon, again a very slow mousse
Gunpowder and flinty notes rule the nose, again quite austere, no real signs of maturity, not honied
Like a good young Grand Cru Chablis in style
Potentially better when mature (95pts)
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9/4/2005 - ticketking wrote: 97 Points
Light straw in color with microscopic bubbles. Crisp fresh fruit with nice finish.
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1/18/2005 - basis wrote: 94 Points
Lovely pale yellow, with medium mousse. This is still very lively. Nose wouldn't give up much other than some bread, but we were in a restaurant. On the palate, it's round without being big, creamy without being buttery, focused without being harsh .... Very elegant stuff.
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