2006 Pierre Mouncuit Blancs de Blancs Brut Millesime - from Kevin Shin’s sale. From magnum. Nice toasty bread, salty sea air and ripe apple on the nose. Good mix of sweet apple fruit, honey and salty acidity on the palate. In this format, think this is a good spot, particularly if you like your champagne on the younger, crisper side.
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NV Segura Viudas Cava Brut Rosado
Salmon to orange, fast legs. Plenty of bubbles. First red fruit aromas: strawberry, cranberry, raspberry, cherry. Defined aromas of biscuit; a bit of coconut, yeast. On the palate, red fruits continue to dominate, biscuit lingers. Light body, bright & juicy texture. Short finish, medium plus acidity. Pleasant, fresh, and friendly. Impression: very nice Cava Rose’. Often <$10 locally; a good value.
Enjoy New Year’s Eve!
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Another Trader Joe’s challenge. Buy this wine for $8 and I’ll donate $10 to this charity. Basically, you’re getting paid to drink a nerello mascalese rosè from the slopes of My Etna in Sicily that kicks butt.
Nothing to lose and everything to gain.
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NV Zonin Rosato Sparkling Brut - Italy (12/31/2020)
Medium light pink. Initially the nose is tight but there’s stone fruit. Palate is nectarine and unripe peach with medium plus acidity. Lemon rind and big mineral/chalk on the finish. Very little residual sugar Jeez this over delivers and puts prosecco to shame.
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NYE bottle 2:
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2002 Jean Laurent Champagne Blanc de Blancs Millésimé - France, Champagne (12/31/2020)
Disgorged September 2020, 5 g/l dosage. Jean Laurent keeps a number of good vintage bottles in their cellars for late disgorgement special release, available by special order. I was turned on to this by the importer (a certain Wineberserkers poster) and chose a number of late disgorged bottles to try. Light golden color. Very little mousse. Nose of brioche and candied lemon. First sip shows a slight oxidative nature followed by really ripe orchard fruit and acid leaning towards the orange peel end of the spectrum.
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Jean Vesselle Brut Reserve Champagne
80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay.
I never drink Champagne, not for moral, political, or cultural reasons, but because I am too busy drinking other stuff. My retail said this was a killer deal on Grower Champagne for $39. My wife wanted a bottle, so here we are.
I opened it and she declared it delicious. I upped it to friggin’ delicious. We went back and forth on that about 50 times and then the bottle was empty. My wife declared that she still wants to spend the rest of her life with me, and that makes this the best bottle of Champagne I’ve ever had. And it really was friggin’ delicious Champagne.
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Best sparkling wine I’ve ever had.
Gosset Celebris Brut Vintage 1995.
I had one of those birthdays that ended in Zero. My husband gave me this as a gift. We rarely have Champagne, much less vintage. This was before my wine geek and tasting note days. But I remember many, many, very tiny bubbles, aromas yeasty and biscuity. We paired it with fresh fruit (a gift basket from a friend, again for the birthday). That was just a great combination.
I still have the bottle. Too many good memories to trash it.
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2006 Taittinger CDC
Nice balance, but seemed more on the cream and brioche side of the spectrum. Candy apple, orange peel, stone. Medium acidity, still great energy. Fine, abundant mousse. Very fine bubbles for NYE
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TN: 2008 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne
Can the comtes take the 2008 crown? Well, this will be an incomplete comparison until I decide to open the 08 Salon (spoiler alert: not tonight) but this doesn’t quite surpass the monumental 08 Cristal.
That said, this is spectacular and has immense potential.
Lemon zest with freshly toasted brioche on the nose.
Linearity is perhaps the best descriptor with crisp acidity and minerality. Very precise, with a somewhat muted finish. I get the sense that we’re still looking at this wine through a sheet curtain and only glimpsing its full potential. Glad to have a few cases put away.
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1990 Pommery Champagne Cuvée Louise Brut - France, Champagne (12/31/2020)
It has lost most of its effervescence but for a little tingle on the tongue, but is still enjoyable. Reminiscent of a well-aged white Burgundy with lemon, hazelnut, and a little butterscotch and salinity and with plenty of fresh acidity, it paired very well with a fried lobster tail. While more fizz would have been nice, I can’t say I’m disappointed. (90 pts.)
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Pat,
Chris, Sam and I wish you a happy 40th birthday.
You’ve been a great friend.
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We had a couple of “Sparkling Wines Not Named Champagne” this evening. Not to toast in the New Year (too late for us) but to celebrate the last evening of 2020. Shared these with another couple.
2013 Roederer Estate L’Ermitage 2013 (USA)
Expectations. Soft, graceful, seemingly slightly sweet, but probably fruity. Kind of a WOW wine for me. What a surprise. Delightful. I could enjoy this often.
2019 Caves São João Espumannte Bruto Rosé (Portugal)
Had a tough act to follow, but showed itself after a few sips. Dry, subtly spicy, slightly more aggressive bubbles, but very enjoyable.
P.S. We will toast in the New Year with our coffee in bed tomorrow morning.
Cheers Nate, and thanks for contributing to this worthwhile cause.
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I normally love their Oeil de Perdrix…an almost rose, although the last batch I tried really needs some more time in the bottle. I’m not sure if they are releasing it earlier, but it seemed quite primary.
My birthday treat with some spicy fried chicken yesterday. Save a glass for tonight.
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NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Edition 168eme - France, Champagne (12/30/2020)
Opened 6 hours before consumption. This is tight out of the gate. But also fridge cold. It’s mostly tight citrus with pastry notes. 10-15 minutes in the glass and it starts taking off. Ginger notes drift in with some flinty wood. A touch mineral but still with the lemon. The palate picks up from tart apple with some marzipan and buttercream. Lifting and rolling, lengthy. Focused laser beam at the finish. Consistent over two nights. Beautiful wine that needs more time to unfold in my mind. If anything just don’t serve it very cold.
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Fascinating. That’s a locale I wouldn’t expect them to source a sparkling wine from. I just went yesterday so probably won’t go again until next week. If I remember I’ll go for it.
I’m adding a note from the past to (hopefully) add a little depth to what I’m sharing. Please note, sometimes I don’t follow my own advice. 
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2012 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (12/31/2020)
We opened this tonight with some Sushi to celebrate the end of this year…and in the hopes that things can & will change for the better in 2021. This bottle went down all too fast. There was a lovely clarity & balance to this that called for us to drink it all too fast. I’m not certain that the 4 bottles we have remaining will be enough to last.
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2012 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (7/31/2020)
This is just plain lovely…the cork was a real task to get out of the bottle. Scents of green apple, lemon, quince, and candied ginger. The palate starts lean and then expands on the mid-palate before pulling everything together in the finish. Outstanding…it will be nice to check in on this over time. Checking in again in 2022.
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Domaine Belluard “Perles du Mont Blanc” NV (this year’s release)
Originally thought this was incredibly peppery, then realized it was just the sopressata we were eating with it. Once I got a chance to taste it alone it was a very nicely balanced sparkler. what stands out is more what its not than what it is: not overly yeasty, not overly sweet, not bracingly acidic. its a nice sparkling wine, and its a good value (although not as good as it was last year because all the Belluard wines had a decent price jump at my local shop) but its not a back the truck up value.
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Sipping on the Krug MV at lunch with gougeres. Not a bad way to ring in the new year. This particular bottle is from prior to their codes, so I don’t know the base vintage or disgorgement date. It took some time to unwind, and it was initially too cold. Now that it has had time to open up it’s deep, nutty, spicy and has good length. That being said, it’s not a great bottle of Krug. Just a good bottle of Krug.
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Happy New Year! Marc Herbrart Selection Brut Premier Cru NV. Lemon curd on the nose, tart crisp granny and yellow apple on the palate with some crisp pear, lanolin, slight wool and lifted acidity in the ending palate. Good now or for some time.
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2014 Marie Courtin Champagne Efflorescence Extra Brut - France, Champagne (1/1/2021)
5th bottle this year, a wine that is also on my best of the year list for 2020, and what we opened for NYE last night. Finishing it today. This is the December 2018 disgorgement, which may be my first bottle from this disgorgement (and it would seem there may be 4 disgorgements from the vintage, based on other users’ notes). Aromatics of toasted wood, pear, cranberry and some sea air. Terrific flavorful palate of orange, cranberry, pear, brioche and river rock. Finishes with a good tang, yet retrains the depth of red berry flavor that I really enjoy about this wine. This bottle seems more vinous to me, more youthful. Delicious.
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Nate, thank you for the generosity in taking this final week of the Challenge. I’m happy to add a story, and relieve you of another $5.
I’ll keep my thought centered on this wine. Back in May 2018, I visited Marie Courtin and met Dominique Moreau, the owner/winemaker who makes this wine in the village of Polisot, located in the Cotes de Bar. The village is closer to Chablis than it is to Epernay, for what it’s worth. On that visit, I met Dominique, and was able to taste the range, as well as have the good fortune of watching them disgorge that day. I got to see the entire process, which was a terrific learning experience. But, as importantly, I got to meet Dominique, and develop a relationship with her. Earlier this year, we were able to do a Zoom with her, which we hosted here on Wine Berserkers. She took the the leap and did the event with us in English, which at times was hard for her, as French is her native language. She did great, and we ended up having her take us through the history, the wines, and some show and tell with vine cuttings she had made that day of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Arbanne, which are all farmed biodynamically on the 6 acre slope she uses for her wines. Since that Zoom, I have continued to drink and buy her wines, and she is fast becoming the #1 Champagne producer in my cellar. The wines are clean, pure, without dosage and yet I find them flavorful, with terrific texture and depth. This hobby for me is about relationships, about meeting the people behind the wines, and learning, supporting and growing with their craft each vintage. My heart is squarely in Champagne, and with some good fortune, I can get back there in 2021 and catch up with Dominique, and some of the other friends I have made since 2018.
Happy to new year, Nate.
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a couple of nye notes…
started with a nv brut rosé from gaston chiquet. disgorged in nov 2019, quite a strong mousse indicative of a young wine. fruit driven nose of red raspberry and red apple and perhaps a touch of toast. fairly simple and direct on the palate with a bit less acidity than expected, maybe the result of the dosage. well made and goes down easy; tasty enough, but not much more.
next up was a 2014 base of les rocheforts from etienne calsac. disgorged january 2017 with 3g/l dosage. this is from a single vineyard 1er cru parcel of ~30 year old chardonnay vines in bisseuil with southeastern exposure. wow what a nose; carmelized pineapple, some herbs and a bit of wood thrown in for good measure. very refined bubbles, with nice weight on the palate and none of the bruised apple flavor you get from some of other new school growers pursing a vinous style. lemon, yuzu, kumquat; this is a melange of citrus. far more dense (bracingly dry too) than the previous wine and extraordinarily mineral on the long, penetrating finish. definitely will strip some enamel from your teeth. a gem, with plenty of time to develop.
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