7 champagnes incl 07`Taittinger Comtes BdB/Rose,08`Cristal,04`Bollie RD, 3 white/2 red Burgs, 2 Burt Williams Pinots

A couple of weeks ago, two friends put on a safe and fun Blanc de Blanc event on their lawn for a few of us and it went so well, we decided to do another one, this time on our rooftop. Everyone that attended the first one, came to this one too.

Many brought additional appetizers to share plus really great wines to adhere to our theme of high quality champagne, white and red Burgundy. Re the wines, I puled an 07 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Rose and then thought it might be appropriate to have the 07 BdB as well so that went into the mix along with a mag of 15 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune Grèves Vigne de L'Enfant Jesus and later on, 2 Burt Williams made Pinots from 96 and 97`.

The weather eventually cooperated moving back and forth between fog, clouds, gusty winds and sunlight before settling on the latter and so we enjoyed a classic Santa Barbara afternoon of fresh, clean air and comfortable temperatures while being exposed to spectacular views of the local mountains, surrounding neighborhoods, downtown areas and ocean and channel islands.

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I think it is fair to say that we were all more than ready to safely re-engage after being shut down for the past 3 months. Everyone came buzzed and left with a bit more.

Our wines:

2007 TAITTINGER COMTES de CHAMPAGNE BLANC de BLANC- many of us have had the 06 and other vintages of this marvelous champagne, but few have had the 07 which has not received a lot of love from Comtes followers; I’ve liked every bottle and this one joins the list as it had very enjoyable citrus notes with a touch of brioche and spice being delivered in a creamy mousse throughout; it is not quite as rich nor full bodied as the 06`, but its bright acidity, taste profile and texture all serve to make this a winner IMHO.

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2007 TAITTINGER COMTES de CHAMPAGNE BRUT ROSE- 70% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay; again, I’ve had a few of these and loved every bottle; it has a mouthful of fresh red fruit with red cherry being most prevalent; it’s creamy and rich and full bodied with finesse and elegance. This is literally a “glass” bowl full of cherries.

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2008 LOUIS ROEDERER CRISTAL BRUT- 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay; my friends have spanked my hands for opening too many of this great champagne before its time and so I have set the stash aside, but here it shows up and I`m again reminded of how much potential, class and reverence this has rightfully deserved; this bottle had beautiful balance and gave up lots of treasures from the nose through the tail; unlike other bottles, this was much more expressive out of the gate and the nose was very inviting with fresh citrus notes which translated into lemon, lime and green apple on the palate along with a new introduction of yellow peach; there’s a bit of saline and hint of spice and all is nice and it just needs to age and develop as it surely will.
As I have remarked previously, “you just know this is a wolf in sheep’s clothing; so it’s not time to wolf it down and I have positioned my remaining bottles in the cellar in such a way as to keep my fricking hands off them”.

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2004 BOLLINGER R.D. EXTRA BRUT- 66% Pinot Noir with 34% Chardonnay from 16 crus, 88% of which are classified as Grand Cru; yellow gold color; it had huge aromatics of stone fruit, citrus, vanilla and brioche; it was tangy, lively and had bracing acidity that stimulated the tactile receptors on my tongue; it also had weight and substance and if not for the bubbles, this could pass for a classy white Burg; I loved it although a few others did not.

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2012 LOUIS ROEDERER BRUT- 70% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay; last year, a member of my dinner group brought this and it was so good, I just had to get some after having already fallen in love with the 12` Rose; as my previous notes reflect, this is very generous, giving nice spicy, honeyed and toasty, mineral infused citrus fruit, especially lemon zest; its round and seamless and has bright acidity as well as being in perfect balance; it exudes class and elegance as it glides across the palate all the way to the back end.

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2008 GASTON-CHIQUET “OR PREMIER CRU” BRUT MILLESIME- 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay and was disgorged in July of 2018, after over 9 years aging sur latte.; I loved this while sipping it for the first time ever as it really has all of the hallmarks of a fine bubbly while being pretty serious with bold, expressive notes that include peach, apricot and nectarine with underlying citrus notes and accents of spice and creme brûlée; it’s super rich and full-bodied with a creamy texture. This stood out big and tall against those before it.

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2012 J. LASSALLE SPECIAL CLUB ROSE- 1er Cru; we have another winner here as this was so generous and giving; it had a huge inviting red fruity nose that translated into raspberry and red cherry on the palate; the frothy, creamy mousse served to enhance the tactile senses and this just kept on unfolding with more nuances showing up; yes, it’s full of energy and vibrantly young, but has so much structure to support a brilliant and pleasing future experience for all who partake.
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2017 BOUCHARD MEURSUALT-PERRIERES 1er Cru- this bottle got mixed reviews and mine was favorable as I liked it’s underlying acidity and its tasty fruit profile that included lemon grass, lemon zest and lemon meringue while being delivered in lemon oil; OK, it did have more than just a lemon profile, but that stood out even with the 2nd taste 30 minutes later so one would have to conclude, this is definitely fruit forward, but I believe it will balance out.

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2014 DOMAINE DES LAMBRAY CLOS du CALLERET PULIGNY-MONTRACHET 1er Cru- after some initial sulfur blew off, what remained was extra good; the aromatics had some minerals and graphite that joined in with ripe citrus and the taste also included some pear, apple and passion fruit; this was very rich and had excellent mouthfeel which served to enhance the long finish.

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2013 PIERRE=YVES COLIN-MOREY EN REMILLY SAINT-AUBIN 1er Cru- this is hone of this group`s go to white Burg producer and we’ve discovered PYCM knocks it out of the park consistently especially with this specific release every year; minerals and flint blend in with lemon, ripe golden delicious apple and orange blossoms while being delivered to the back end in an oily, viscous medium to satisfy even the most discerning of palates; it’s nicely balanced, full bodied and has extraordinary length leaving a coating of film on the back of the tongue and throat.

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1995 DANIEL BOCQUENET ECHEZEAUX RESERVE GRAND CRU COTE de NUITS- such a great bring and the one who brought it set his bag down to get out glasses from another bag and it tipped over and since he had pulled the cork in advancer and gently replaced it, it spilled out, all but a small sample which I was fortunate enough to taste; In that small portion was really nice spicy fruit with red cherry and black raspberry most evident; it was full bodied and had great mouthfeel albeit for just a small taste; this was a big miss for us to not have the whole deal.

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2015 BOUCHARD GRAND VIN de BEAUNNE GREVES VIGNE de lENFANT JESUS BEAUNNE 1er Cru- in magnum; Im a big fan of this bottling and well remember the 99 version which was served at a charity wine dinner that I co-hosted a few years ago with Archie McLaren for the Central Coast Wine Classic; that wine spurred me to seek out more and this was one of the treasures that I scored; and treasure it is or was, as it was the last bottle standing at the very end of our day and we seemed to be winding down so Im thinking “no problem if it’s not drunk, we’ll just have to save it and Roelanda and I will drink it later in the week”; after a couple of us tasted it, others got the vibe and saw the look and the magnum was gone in minutes; it had it all= spicy, fresh red fruity aromas, red and black cherry with a touch of raspberry on the palate; balance, weight and length to please every sensory receptor it contacted. It could not have been better if drunk out of a chalice. Jesus would’ve been proud.

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Well, we have reached the end of a great time, but wait, some are still holding out there glass for a refill and we’ve unfilled every bottle, one unintentionally; so, I guess it`s time to go to the cellar and pull out something else very special. With a bit of prodding from a friend, i selected this one:

1996 WILLIAMS SELYEM OLIVET LANE VINEYARD RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY PINOT NOIR- 14.9% abv; the color was a medium red with no signs of aging; the fill was mid neck; it had the typical OL briary, wild red and black fruit notes aided by a dollop of spice; on the palate, the fruit was more easily identifiable as red and black cherry/ berry; it’s medium bodied at best and finished with a touch of heat.

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But, that bottle was consumed in short time, so how about one more? I promise. This is the last one. Well, sort of.

1997 WILLIAMS SELYEM ROCHIOLI RIVERBLOCK RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY PINOT NOIR- as expected, this showed beautifully with wondrous aromas of violets, rosemary, blueberry and black cherry; there’s plum and black raspberry too, but it’s the black cherry that really speaks out; this was in perfect balance and one of the best of many bottles of 97` RB I’ve had; it allowed us to finish a very fine day on a very high note.

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After 2 of these gatherings, it is obvious that we have a really good core group who enjoy each others company and loves to share in the bliss of life including great food and wine. We will be doing this again on another Sunday afternoon.

Cheers,
Blake

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What a lineup. No wonder the rooftop was crowded with joy.

(Sees the traumatic climax)

Blake, the Napolean champagne signature as never been more on point…

Had the 2007 when I visited Taittinger in the summer of 2018. I liked it very much. Seemed very different from the 2006. The 2007 seemed very pure with nice acidity on the finish. A very clean tasting wine at the time that was very appealing. It did not have the brioche or complexity of the 2006 when I tasted it but may have developed some over the past two years. Two very appealing wines that IMHO tasted very different from each other.

Note that since I have had the 2006 multiple times but only the 2007 this once (I own some so that this will change over time), so that I am more confident on my assessment of the 2006 than I am of my assessment of the 2007 at this point.

Never had or even seen that Special Club Lassalle Rose. One of the more under the radar producers, I will have to keep my eye out for one of those.

Epic–as usual. I’ve been lucky enough to spend a few minutes on that rooftop—it is a wonderful setting for an event like this.

Hugs, Blake

Mike

Good pickup on the signature Nick. You’re quite right.

My first one too Tom and I made a note to also be on the lookout.

Love when anything can be labeled “epic” my friend. It’s even better when it gets “as usual” tacked on.

Virtual hugs back at ya.

Blake. Thanks for the great notes on some wines I have in my cellar. Is that a photo of the Gaston Chiquet wine you had? That is the label from the or Premier cru Brut I believe. The vintage BdB is only bottled in magnums and has a white label. I have a few put down. The 2004 was extraordinary and I am hoping the 08 will be as well.

Although I have 24 notes for various Gaston Chiquet wines, I have never had the gold label bottling.

David, thanks for the heads up on the correct wine. I edited it our correctly.