TN: Jeebus at USC with Bob Semon (Apr 26, 2013)

In the early days, TdV was my favourite LB, by a mile. Changed my taste in Champagne forever. Then things got fairly ripe (05-06 grapes I guess), and I sort of lost interest altogether. Last summer I was tasting the whole range of current releases with John Gilman and was very happy to find things much more zippy and transparent once again, except that I no longer singled out TdV as my stylistic favourite, and was rather fond of the BdB instead.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:

The aromatics of pinot blanc are odd, too: prompting the question: Is any pinot blanc good?
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Well, I lovez me some Pinot Blanc, so I might be biased. As you may recall, I recently even had a good CA PB from Navarro, mirabile dictu. Under normal circumstances, I prefer PB to PG, hands down: lighter and more aromatic. The best examples usually have a floral nose, a very strong mineral streak and white peach-y type fruit. What's not to love about that?

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Nice. Long list. Bob's a good guy, nice to see him up there with the New Yawkas.
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It was nice to have him.
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The true standout hero of the evening, among the many, was Kirk for arranging such an extraordinary event.

All together now. (channeling Toni Basil)

Oh Kirk.

You're so fine.

You're so fine you blow my mind.

Hey Kirk.

Hey Kirk.

As opposed to the La Bolorée, to be precise.

(But then, what do I know from Champagne?)
 
originally posted by Bob Semon:
(Blush)
originally posted by SFJoe:
It was nice to have him.
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The true standout hero of the evening, among the many, was Kirk for arranging such an extraordinary event.

All together now. (channeling Toni Basil)

Oh Kirk.

You're so fine.

You're so fine you blow my mind.

Hey Kirk.

Hey Kirk.

As opposed to the La Bolorée, to be precise.

(But then, what do I know from Champagne?)
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Yes, it was very nice to have you in our midst, and you are too kind, but as to the Bolorée, I can only refer you to the very wise Dr. Lipton, not to mention Jay and Jeff's impressions. (I won't bore the bored with my impressions of it, as I am notoriously biased about this particular wine.)
 
I did like both of the Champagnes, each in its own style. My champagne handicap is that I find dissolved CO2 to be annoyingly bitter.i can overlook that, though.

The Muscadets and the Tourangeaux Chenin were all remarkable. both of
the Chinon were quite to my taste, and the Rioja deserves a special mention.

You all treated me so well! I need to do this more often.
 
Someone far wiser once introduced me to Boxler's Pinot Blancs. I now import them happily. The basic is very good, but the "B" is where there is interest for the unconverted.

I can understand the "orb-y" reference for Bouchard but Vilmart's dosage programme is not particularly aggressive. Rich fruit and oak, sure, but also no malolactic. L-B TdV is very, very fine after about 24-36 hours in a decanter (which would also solve Bob's problem). Bouchard's wines, not so much, although they're fun after 6 hours or so. Similarly for many of the best methode champenoise wines; I wouldn't recommend a similar regimen for methode ancestrale wines, which tend to go apeshit.
 
Nice event.

Yeah, I like L-B Vertus...but the '08 is incredibly young to me...almost harsh upon opening...definitely decant. In certain vintages, I love this wine...

For different reasons, I also like Cedric Bouchard...the wines are hedonistic in many ways...riper...some can be hot....almost round (all 4 of those characteristics are negatives to me) but I find that the wines are pretty interesting in un-ripe vintages. I've liked the '07s better than the 08s I've had so far.

Over-priced and hyped? Yes.

Sharon: I'm curious..10 growers you like better than L-B...Who? I certainly have several...maybe 5-7...but 10 may be stretching it.

-mark
 
I'm closer to 20.

Ten, offhand:

Selosse
Egly-Ouriet
Prévost
Lassaigne
Tarlant
Laherte
Benoît Lahaye
Marie-Noëlle Ledru
Vouette et Sorbée
Chartogne-Taillet

And one could also add David Léclapart, Pascal Doquet, Gaston Chiquet, Pierre Peters, Marie Courtin, Lilbert Fils, Diebolt-Vallois, Gatinois, Veuve Fourny....

However, this latest showing of TdV has me reconsidering. And I have always liked (with .sasha) the Blanc de Blancs. And '04 VV de Cramant was just da bomb.

But there is a lot of good champagne out there, praise the Noodle.
 
originally posted by Mark Davis:
I like L-B Vertus...but the '08 is incredibly young to me...almost harsh upon opening...definitely decant.
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That was what I was expecting (and hoping for). But zut, it didn't show young or harsh. It was actually drinking beautifully.

The whole joke was that I thought it would be painful in a polar opposite way to the Bouchard. To my surprise (as a warmonger) and pleasure (as a wine drinker) it turned out to be a very nice wine.
 
Rahsaan, I can't follow this thread properly, perhaps one had to be there :-). In what context did you bring up Gatinois, exactly? thx
 
Another slutty and sweet champagne. But like I said, I don't drink lots of champagne and by definition am biased away from things that swing too far in that direction. Yet calling the La Boloree a freakish outlier didn't quite strike me as right.
 
I've been trying to find notes but can't. However it's not important, I'll retract any Gatinois Slander and defer to those with more experience. I do still maintain that you are being extreme in your views, but now that I understand that you don't like any wines with residual sugar, I suppose that places things in context.
 
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