From this year's incarnation of a rather uncouth annual Champagne affair co-hosted with my neighbor.
WD is back indeed.
NV Savart Bulle de Rose
Beautiful appearance, a translucent intense pink-fuschia. Quite tasty, this slid down easy but was not particularly memorable, thought we served it too cold for a fair assessment.
2014 Vouette et Sorbee "Blanc d'Argile" Extra Brut
Too young with puckery green-ish acidity and underripe fruit, nowhere near ready to drink and hard to assess. Seemed like a whiff although I didn't spend much time with it.
NV Jose Dhondt Grand Reserve Blanc de Blancs
This was frankly insipid.
2009 Chartogne-Taillet "Les Barres"
Intense, strongly oxidative with bruised apple and browned butter notes yet somehow quite seductive. Although I wonder if more than a glass would become tiring. This has nowhere near the completeness of the 2006 or 2007 but is not as bad as I feared based on other notes. I sure missed the exotic kumquat fruit and gentle bitter pith notes from those vintages though.
2012 Chartogne-Taillet "Les Barres"
This seems to have good typicity for this vineyard and shows promise but very compressed and fairly tart currently. Not a good time to open these; needs 2-3 years at least.
2011 Vouette et Sorbee "Fidele"
Surprisingly nice for the year (and compared to previous bottles) with characteristic metallic minerality of this cuvee if less of the broad spicy pinot noir fruit of better vintages. Enjoyed this.
2012 Vouette et Sorbee "Fidele"
Initially a touch musty but this cleared up with time. Overall quite tasty and definitely cleaner than previous bottles I've opened that have shown significant brett. This also showed less austerity and a bit more flesh than I've found previously. One of my top wines on the night, to my surprise.
2008 Guy Charlemagne Mesnillesime Blanc de Blancs Brut
Promising with tiny bubbles and classic doughy Mesnil flavors but wow this is almost embryonic, still very tightly wound with tart, lemony acidity. This needs LOTS of time, like 3-4 years minimum but should be quite nice when mature.
2006 Gimonnet Millesime de Collection Vielles Vignes Blanc de Blancs Brut
Magnum. Big, round and slightly sweet, disappointingly simple compared to 750s of the Special Club in this vintage which show more development and better integration of dosage currently. I want to believe that this is just due to the format, indeed this reminds me of how the 750s showed two years ago. So hopefully this just needs time.
NV Egly-Ouriet Vieillissement Prolonge Grand Cru Extra Brut
May 2016 disgorgement, a current release. Already fantastic and clearly the wine of the night, although this is a bit compressed and will still improve significantly with more time in bottle. Every release is different but for me the sweet spot seems to be around 4-5 years post-disgorgement.
NV Pierre Mineral Blanc de Blancs Brut Le Mesnil "Vieille en Fut"
It was late and my palate was shot, but this was rather interesting if somewhat marked by its elevage. I quite liked it as a wine, there was a nice dry richness and some mineral. Although I was quite surprised to see Mesnil on the label as it didn't really speak to me of the Cote de Blancs much less Le Mesnil.
2013 Benoit Dehu Cuvee de La Rue des Noyers Extra Brut
Opened at the very end of the night, this was a wakeup call to our frazzled palates. This had super-fine bubbles and a beautiful tan color, and was bright with fresh acidity yet backed by a nice browned butter richness. Beautiful well-balanced wine with an interesting mineral signature, and was my #2 on the night.
WD is back indeed.
NV Savart Bulle de Rose
Beautiful appearance, a translucent intense pink-fuschia. Quite tasty, this slid down easy but was not particularly memorable, thought we served it too cold for a fair assessment.
2014 Vouette et Sorbee "Blanc d'Argile" Extra Brut
Too young with puckery green-ish acidity and underripe fruit, nowhere near ready to drink and hard to assess. Seemed like a whiff although I didn't spend much time with it.
NV Jose Dhondt Grand Reserve Blanc de Blancs
This was frankly insipid.
2009 Chartogne-Taillet "Les Barres"
Intense, strongly oxidative with bruised apple and browned butter notes yet somehow quite seductive. Although I wonder if more than a glass would become tiring. This has nowhere near the completeness of the 2006 or 2007 but is not as bad as I feared based on other notes. I sure missed the exotic kumquat fruit and gentle bitter pith notes from those vintages though.
2012 Chartogne-Taillet "Les Barres"
This seems to have good typicity for this vineyard and shows promise but very compressed and fairly tart currently. Not a good time to open these; needs 2-3 years at least.
2011 Vouette et Sorbee "Fidele"
Surprisingly nice for the year (and compared to previous bottles) with characteristic metallic minerality of this cuvee if less of the broad spicy pinot noir fruit of better vintages. Enjoyed this.
2012 Vouette et Sorbee "Fidele"
Initially a touch musty but this cleared up with time. Overall quite tasty and definitely cleaner than previous bottles I've opened that have shown significant brett. This also showed less austerity and a bit more flesh than I've found previously. One of my top wines on the night, to my surprise.
2008 Guy Charlemagne Mesnillesime Blanc de Blancs Brut
Promising with tiny bubbles and classic doughy Mesnil flavors but wow this is almost embryonic, still very tightly wound with tart, lemony acidity. This needs LOTS of time, like 3-4 years minimum but should be quite nice when mature.
2006 Gimonnet Millesime de Collection Vielles Vignes Blanc de Blancs Brut
Magnum. Big, round and slightly sweet, disappointingly simple compared to 750s of the Special Club in this vintage which show more development and better integration of dosage currently. I want to believe that this is just due to the format, indeed this reminds me of how the 750s showed two years ago. So hopefully this just needs time.
NV Egly-Ouriet Vieillissement Prolonge Grand Cru Extra Brut
May 2016 disgorgement, a current release. Already fantastic and clearly the wine of the night, although this is a bit compressed and will still improve significantly with more time in bottle. Every release is different but for me the sweet spot seems to be around 4-5 years post-disgorgement.
NV Pierre Mineral Blanc de Blancs Brut Le Mesnil "Vieille en Fut"
It was late and my palate was shot, but this was rather interesting if somewhat marked by its elevage. I quite liked it as a wine, there was a nice dry richness and some mineral. Although I was quite surprised to see Mesnil on the label as it didn't really speak to me of the Cote de Blancs much less Le Mesnil.
2013 Benoit Dehu Cuvee de La Rue des Noyers Extra Brut
Opened at the very end of the night, this was a wakeup call to our frazzled palates. This had super-fine bubbles and a beautiful tan color, and was bright with fresh acidity yet backed by a nice browned butter richness. Beautiful well-balanced wine with an interesting mineral signature, and was my #2 on the night.
