Pierre Peters Champagne Le Mesnil-sur-Oger Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs Cuve de Rserve (Champagne) This is the NV bottling that would have been in stores in 1998, so its getting long in the tooth for an NV, even one that was as good as this has long been. Alas, it appears to have reached the end of its useful life, and is now on the downslopethough it should be said that this bottle tastes considerably older than one tasted last year, more than would be accounted for by the time thats passed. Theres that antiqued bread character, bronze-ish and autumnal, common to older Champagnes, and the way this facet it tiring paired with a new, elbowy sharpness to the acidity is the clearest sign of the fade. Still plenty characterful,, but drink up. (7/09)
Pierre Peters 1998 Champagne Le Mesnil-sur-Oger Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs (Champagne) Vibrant, in the prime of its young adulthood, with a throbbing core of life and energy. Ultra-ripe (but not sweet) heirloom apple, lemony yeast, and the last lingering crusts of a flaky pain levain theres something more fundamental here than the standard brioche with firm acidity, fine-grained electric bubbles, and a long, precise finish. Yowzers. (7/09)
Renardat-Fache Bugey Cerdon (Ain) Purple nurple in liquid form. Craves salty pork, craves crisp vegetables, craves a humid afternoon, craves a parched desert, desires everything, desires nothing at all. The caveat? Its getting expensive; the fun was less burdened at $15 or less than it is, now, but pushing into the mid-twenties its not entirely untrammeled. (7/09)
Renardat-Fache Bugey Cerdon (Ain) See the previous note, but with more strawberry dust and Pink Lady apple skin. (7/09)
Pierre Peters 1998 Champagne Le Mesnil-sur-Oger Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs (Champagne) Vibrant, in the prime of its young adulthood, with a throbbing core of life and energy. Ultra-ripe (but not sweet) heirloom apple, lemony yeast, and the last lingering crusts of a flaky pain levain theres something more fundamental here than the standard brioche with firm acidity, fine-grained electric bubbles, and a long, precise finish. Yowzers. (7/09)
Renardat-Fache Bugey Cerdon (Ain) Purple nurple in liquid form. Craves salty pork, craves crisp vegetables, craves a humid afternoon, craves a parched desert, desires everything, desires nothing at all. The caveat? Its getting expensive; the fun was less burdened at $15 or less than it is, now, but pushing into the mid-twenties its not entirely untrammeled. (7/09)
Renardat-Fache Bugey Cerdon (Ain) See the previous note, but with more strawberry dust and Pink Lady apple skin. (7/09)