Big thanks to @Frank_Murray_III for organizing and hosting the 2012 champagne event. I learned so much, and this tasting will save me a lot of money 
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As a disclaimer to the following notes, I have been in a bit of a funk recently, so my state of mind (and taste) is off, which is likely manifesting itself in lower evaluations. Also, there was a lot of BdB and I am a broken record saying that they are not my favorite. So, take your entire box of salt and pour that over the rest of this post.
I have seen the 2012 champagne vintage labelled as “legendary,” (ETA: link) and I don’t get it. It’s a very good vintage, but “legendary”? I must be drinking the wrong champagne (including those beyond this tasting) 
… If I had to draw some similarity for what’s in the bottle, 2012 reminds me of “almost” 2009. It’s entirely possible that the 2012 champagnes are too young and will develop into something extraordinary in the future, but I don’t have a crystal ball or sufficient experience with champagne evolution post-disgorgement. In any case, I like 2008 way more than 2012; granted those champagnes are more integrated at the moment.
Onto the tasting notes:
- 2012 Dom Pérignon Champagne - France, Champagne
Blind. Sulfur, yeasty nose that points to a grande marque. Sweet lemon, lots of oak, and a sort of marzipan like effect on the finish. Seemed a bit shut down to me at the time, but it should blossom with age. Not opening my bottle for a few (perhaps many) more years. Edited to add: Hopefully it shows better with time and earns its pricepoint... - 2012 Delamotte Champagne Blanc de Blancs Millésimé - France, Champagne
Two of these in the blind line up: #2 & #7.
Did not spot these as the same. Upon revisit I also thought they were still pretty different, though #7 was warmer in temp.
#2 was purchased upon release and stored since then. It came across as very bdb, lemon finish and had a nice minerality. The #7 came across as more yeasty, brioche-y, and somewhat honeyed with yellow apple with some oak on the finish. #7 came across as grande marque more so than #2, which could have gone either way. I preferred #2. Don't serve this too warm. I'm bookmarking this to recommend to my father, who adores BdB and strongly prefers Grande Marques. - NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Édition 168ème - France, Champagne
Blind. It had an odd "green," vegetal, rosemary stem thing going on the nose for me, which vaguely reminded me of a 2017 Nowack we had recently. I did not like the nose and the palate did not redeem itself either. Orange zest, orange pith, raw green pepper, and some odd vanilla-oak thing going on. Bitter on the finish, like pomelo pith. If this description sounds weird, it's because it was and I was struggling with words to describe this and didn't want to taste it all that much. When this was revealed as Krug, I nearly fell of the chair. What in the world??! Maybe it's shut down? I revisited later on and there were more of the orange and vanilla notes, but as a whole, it was disjointed. - 2012 Savart Champagne Expression Nature - France, Champagne
Blind. I was thinking of this as the "sunscreen/piña colada" champagne. 100% PN, no dosage. Disg Jan 2017.
Tropical nose, with some sweet/cooked pineapple. Coconut, pineapple, passion fruit and guava on the palate, some salinity. Completely dry. This brought a vivid memory of my childhood on the beach of Brazil roasting in the sun with SPF 8 sunscreen (times were different). Unique and well done. - 2012 Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Champagne Special Club Grands Terroirs de Chardonnay - France, Champagne
#5 in the blind line-up. Ripe green apple, sweet lemon, with something like powdered ginger on the finish. Creamy, frothy, quite pleasant. Comes across as a bit richer than the 4g/L dosage. At a good spot right now. Nice rendition of BdB (Cramant, Chouilly and Cuis). - 2012 Veuve Fourny & Fils Champagne Premier Cru Cuvée du Clos Notre Dame - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
#6 in line-up
I brought this, so not blind to me. A little while ago, I attended a "Clos champagne tasting" and became curious about clos... despite 8 out of 10 wines in the tasting being unimpressive (or disappointing). I don't understand my own curiosity about them, but so is life. In any case, there are apparently 39 of these walled gardens in champagne. Those that are vinified separately command (or should I say "demand") rather elevated prices.
3g/L dosage, from a 0.3 ha walled garden in Vertus. 100% Chard, 60 yo vines. 100% in oak, non filtered. 9 years miminum on lees and disgorged 4/2022.
So tight. Lemon, turmeric on the nose. Palate of acidic lemon curd, green apple, mid palate of more lemon, something saline, and long finish of lemon zest. Very very tight. It was better after a few hours open and near ambient temperature, but this needs time. I have another bottle to revisit in about 5 years.
On a side note, the current pricing of $200 is laughable.
Edited to add that the bottle is fat and doesn't fit in standard racking. Storing this fat BdB for 5 more years is not delighting me. - 2012 Bérêche et Fils Champagne Premier Cru Le Cran Ludes - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
#8 in blind line-up. Golden, darker than anything up until this point. Color reminds me a bit of marguet. Pastry dough on the nose, lemon meringue on the palate, yellow nectarine and a bit of wood on the palate that comes across like nutmeg. Yum. I liked this, but am wary of the color development compared to the other 2012s today. Perhaps it's time to drink up? - 2012 Pehu Simonet Champagne Grand Cru Fins Lieux No 6 Verzenay Millésime - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
#9 in blind line-up.
Don't have a lot of notes on this. Sweet lemon, tangerine/mandarin, chalk. Not very complex compared to the rest of the line-up and the finish drops off very quickly. - 2012 Larmandier-Bernier Champagne Grand Cru Les Chemins d'Avize - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
#10 in blind line-up. Funky nose. Mushroom, a hint of cider? I also wrote "horse" in my notes for the nose, whatever that means. I got lemon, pear lambic, and sweet lime. The oak is evident with nutmeg and cloves. Long finish and pretty concentrated, but unfortunately I didn't like the waft of cider/lambic and the oak expression. - 2012 Gosset Champagne Brut Grand Millésime - France, Champagne
#11 in the blind line-up
Lots of great palates around the table liked this. I did not, and am clearly in the minority here too :woozy_face:. Granted, it was towards the end of the tasting and my palate was getting fatigued. I thought this was a big house and generic. The dosage stood out and was cloying to me. All I remember is not liking it, so here's a direct transcription of my notes: "Sweet et al. Sweet orange. Sweet lemon. Lemon oil. Creamy sweet lemon curd. No." Apologies for the lackluster notes, as they don't really help describe. - 2012 Veuve Clicquot Champagne Brut Rosé Vintage - France, Champagne
#12 in blind line-up. Was very happy to see a rosé to close out the first "round" of the tasting. I didn't get a ton on the nose besides some yeastiness. On the palate, strawberry and rhubarb, then bitterness takes over. It seemed a bit one dimensional, but perhaps my palate was fatigued. I revisited later and it showed less well at a warmer temp.
There were three more champagnes on which I didn’t write much useful in my notebook, so going by memory:
- 2012 Guy Charlemagne Champagne Grand Cru Mesnillésime Vieilles Vignes Blanc de Blancs
Lemon and grapefruit zest with unripe apricot. Came across as a bit austere, but it was sandwiched between the two rosés, so that may account for my impression. - 2012 Pol Roger Champagne Rosé:
Juicy and opulent at the start, but it then turns to a very bitter and distracting finish. Jekyll and Hyde. Did not like. - 2012 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée
This seemed less open and with more pronounced acidity that the one we had back in January. Not sure whether that’s accurate or palate fatigue, or the rosés altering my impression.
