Don’t we all.
for me, 88 Krug and 96 Salon are “best
ever,” though I don’t have Ray’s breadth or depth of experience.
Vilmart 2009 Cuvée Rubis - medium salmon color, beautiful bouquet of strawberries and some minerality. Very balanced and long. Should last another decade or more, but drinks very well now. One of my favorite rose Champers.
Nothing vintage lately for me, but have recently had Bollinger Brut Special Cuvee, Billecart-Salmon Brut, Laurent-Perrier Brut, Henriot Brut Souverain, Roederer Brut Premier, Taittinger Brut La Francaise, and opened a bottle yesterday of Gardet Champagne Brut Premier Cru to see if I wanted to order more during the Last Bottle marathon sale. (I did; it’s a good QPR and I drink a lot of bubbles during the warmer months.) I have a Pierre Peters Blanc de Blancs Brut Cuvée de Réserve in the fridge for tonight. I like this thread for ideas, as I’m always wanting to try different bubbles.
Ray - It is a good night when your backup to a '64 DP is a "64 DP and you don’t have to open your backup!
We had the white label '95 Heidsieck BdM last night and it does drink a tad older than the newer disgorgement etched bottles, but it is still in its drinking window for my palate. I highly recommend this wine to anyone who is a fan of the '95 vintage.
Anyone know if Heidsieck has any plans for a future vintage of this Champagne? I believe Brad had mentioned that they made a lot of the '95, but I have never seen a more recent vintage.
Jon,
When I last talked to Cyril Brun (winemaker at Charles Heidsieck) there wasn’t any talk of the next vintage. They did make a 96, but most of it was sold off to ANA to serve in first class. There is still a good deal in the cellar, but no clue if it will ever be truly released. They weren’t happy with it as they said it was a bit too acidic and the fruit matured and lost strength earlier than expected. They didn’t make any vintage wines from the 2001-2004 vintages so it could be a wait for the next BdB. I’ll have to ask more specifically next visit.
NV Laurent Thibault Selection Cigue du Cardinal out of magnum. Has had six or seven years of bottle age post-disgorgement. Still fresh but most likely at its apogee. Pinot is in the forefront.
A solid performer at its price point.
2010 Hebrart Special Club - several bottles from this producer at all levels have been very good lately, with the 08 SC at the peak. Yellow fruit and brioche, the acidity is there at the front, but the back rounds out nicely and shows the fruit. Really nice and a solid qpr.
Had both the '95 and '96 Henriot Cuvée des Enchanteleurs this weekend. Both showing expected maturity levels, though there was a moment of concern just upon opening for both, when we thought we detected a note of apple cider spelling oxidation. Happily, that lasted only a couple of minutes. The '96 was firmer and more taught of structure. Both were elegant and lively, with a nice mix of citrus and pastry straight from the oven. We’ve had some issues with the '96 from 750 in the past, but this one was lovely.
Wg had a s-load last night. These were just a few.
Not champagne but my bride and I have been working through a bit of iron horse this last year. I really love their Russian cuvee.
In the last year I’ve enjoyed all these.
Vintage brut
Brut x
Winter cuvee
Russian cuvee
Brut rose
Ocean reserve
All have been excellent.
1 Like
Just a FEW?!
How was the 2002 Pommery Louise? (just ordered a bottle)
Brad,
Thanks for the info. I guess I will have to stop hoping for a future release of the BdM and just keep enjoying the '95. Maybe this explains why I have had some very good bottles of their NV recently.
The weekend included an '02 Piper Cuvee Rare which had nice acidity, brioche and red apple, not the bruised kind like some other '02’s. This has been a sleeper wine in my mind and maybe I should not be surprised as '79 Cuvee Rare is some of the best Champers I have tasted. We also had a mag of '02 Pol Roger Brut Reserve. Others liked this more than I as I felt it was bit too oxidized. My last bottle of '02 PRWC was less than stellar too. Not sure what is going on with that house.
02 Piper Rare has developed very nicely and has come along better than I expected. There have been multiple releases of this wine as with the 95 BdM and the later releases seem to be better than the initial ones. When young, I thought the wine was good, but a little heavy; it has leaned out nicely and developed quite a bit of smoothness, yet with more structure too. I definitely agree with you that it is a bit of a sleeper; its high Pinot Noir content did well with this vintage.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the Rare as there has been talk of breaking it off from Piper and turning it into it own line similar to what Moet did with DP.
As for Pol Roger’s SWC, the wine is normally solid each vintage, but I haven’t had it worth the price or in the top ranks since the 1995. I actually prefer Pol Roger more at the low end than the high. The NV is killer for the price.
Thanks Brad. Great to hear PR NV is drinking well. My wallet thanks you.
The 12 we opened on Saturday were very good (especially second flight forward), but now it’s time to figure out the next set of champagnes we wish to examine
Last night I had the '96 Paillard blanc de blanc. It was served blind and I thought it was Taitt CdC from a much younger vintage. First time ever with this and wow it was delish! Really showed the '96 acid but beautifully balanced with a lip smacking lemony finish.
I will bring a bottle of this to our next dinner. I have not had it in a few years.
The '95 is even better imo.
love me some v.o.
oddly while this is the most recent disgorgement i have tasted, it is surpringly more oxidative than older bottles. but not in a bad way…
