Browse Tag

champagne grand cru

Beta Verzenay

[label]Jean Lallement Champagne Verzenay “Grand Cru” Brut “Cuvée Réserve” (Champagne) – Crushed strawberry and rather bodacious red cherry, leaves, and thyme. Smells fruit-sweet. Sizeable. Rolling watermelon rock candy on the finish, and then the tactile sensation of frozen metal to which one has unwisely stuck their tongue. I can’t quite figure this one out. (12/08)

Holiday Jouy

[label]Aubry Champagne à Jouy-les-Reims “Grand Cru” Brut Rosé (Champagne) – Tart cranberry somewhat overwhelms a core that leans more towards red and black cherry; this is a wine that leads with its acidity, and never takes its foot off the sour pedal. And is that hollyberry? Sharp and linear. Not really my thing; it’s more like an intermezzo that it is a beverage, though I suppose with the right accompaniment it could sing. Maybe an edgy berry dessert? (12/08)

Feeling Bouzy

[bottle]Bara Champagne Bouzy “Grand Cru” Brut “Grand” Rosé (Champagne) – From 375 ml. Piercing x-rays of raspberry, crisp apple, and essence of mountain wildflower over a gravel bed. Complex and yearning, but painfully youthful; even if this won’t age (which I think it will), it needs some time to settle into itself. (8/08)

Who wants to be a Mesnil-aire?

[press]Pierre Peters Champagne Le Mesnil-sur-Oger “Grand Cru” Brut Blanc de Blancs “Cuvée de Réserve” (L 0931) (Champagne) – This is the version that was available in early 1998, and is thus a ten-year old NV Champagne. And this bottle hasn’t been stored in pristine conditions. That said, it’s holding well, perhaps just a year or two past its best stage for nut fans, with weight and minerality underneath the toasted almonds. My personal preference is to drink chardonnay-based sparklers early, and save the aging for those made from more red grapes, but there are always delicious exceptions. (8/08)

Lenoble rot

Lenoble 1998 Champagne “Grand Cru” Blanc de Blancs (Champagne) – Lemon and massive appleness. Bright and sharp, though perhaps a bit obvious. (2/07)

H. Billiot & Fils 1998 Champagne Brut “Millésime” “Grand Cru” à Ambonnay (Champagne) – Valencia orange and Thai basil. The fruit’s on the sweeter side, and the wine is both big and slightly obvious (in this, it probably suffers from being served after a Larmandier-Bernier). But the finish is long and crisp, and I suspect this is a good deal better than I’m giving it credit for. (10/07)

Delos, I love you, won’t you tell me your name?

[bottle]Pierre Moncuit Champagne à Le Mesnil sur Oger “Grand Cru” Brut Blanc de Blancs “Cuvée Pierre Moncuit-Delos” (Champagne) – Brilliant bubbly with fine poise, creamy texture, and complexity to spare. Brioche and hazelnut are in the mix, as well as preserved lemon, old wood shavings, and a delicate aroma of faded yellow flowers. Just beautiful. (8/07)

  • 1
  • 2