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Larmandier-Bernier Champagne Rosé de Saignée Premier Cru Extra Brut 2013

Larmandier-Bernier Champagne Rosé de Saignée Premier Cru Extra Brut 2013

The Larmandier-Bernier Champagne Rosé de Saignée Premier Cru Extra Brut NV is self-possessed, elegant, and resplendent in tart pie cherries, rose petals, earth, and spice. Pinot Noir is the dominant profile in the blend. A vigorous mousse subsides to reveal lovely balance, finely tuned acidity that amplifies red berries, chalk, anise, white tea. Pierre Larmandier […]

Lanson Champagne Extra Age Brut Rosé NV

Lanson Champagne Extra Age Brut Rosé NV

Lanson Champagne Extra Age Brut Rosé sports a coppery visage, an undefined color at the midpoint between pale apricot and salmon. A blend of the 2002, 2004, and 2005 vintages, with ten years en tirage, this stunning brut rosé has considerable power amplified by a bolt of enamel-etching acidity. Vivid layers of stone fruit, orange […]

Mailly Champagne Grand Cru Brut Millesimé 2008

Mailly Champagne Grand Cru Brut Millesimé 2008

According to the producer, 2008 was their best vintage in 15 years, the explanation given is that the acidity and level of dosage are perfectly matched. Indeed, the Mailly Grand Cru Brut Millesimé is both vivid and creamy at the core. With pear and stone fruit; apricot and white peach overlaying a linear spine of […]

Jean Vesselle Bouzy Champagne Cuvée Friandise Demi-Sec Rosé NV

Jean Vesselle Bouzy Champagne Cuvée Friandise Demi-Sec Rosé NV

A lively conversation ensued around the Jean Vesselle Bouzy Champagne Cuvée Friandise Demi-Sec Rosé, a debate centered not on this wine’s formidable 32 g/l dosage, but rather it’s dark crimson color, which Delphine Vesselle insists is pink. Wafting aromas of cherry clafoutis, raspberry purée, rose petals and a faint smoky edge. The attack is more […]

Mailly Champagne Grand Cru L’Intemporelle Brut 2009

Mailly Champagne Grand Cru L'Intemporelle Brut 2009

he color of sun-bleached straw, Mailly Grand Cru L’Intemporelle Brut 2009 offers up a garland of creamy bubbles and lilting notes of white peach, buttered scone, white flowers and smoky minerality. There is slightly more weight on the palate than one might anticipate given the nose, a plunge through discreet layers of pear and stone […]

J. de Telmont Brut Champagne O.R. 1735 2002

J. de Telmont Brut Champagne O.R. 1735 2002

One of the more intriguing Champagnes I had the pleasure of tasting while in Champagne is J de Telmont’s 2002 Brut Champagne O.R. 1735. A delicate mousse preceded by lemon curd that unfolds to something more distinctive, like Meyer lemon and a very pretty top note of white flowers, chervil and chalk. Telmont uses natural […]

Veuve Clicquot Champagne La Grande Dame Brut 2006

Veuve Clicquot Champagne La Grande Dame Brut 2006

Named after the venerable Widow Clicquot herself, La Grande Dame Brut 2006 is a blend of 53% Chardonnay and 47% Pinot Noir. The nose is expressive—bioche dipped in honey, baked apple and a whisp of smoke hanging above richer aromas. The attack is deep and vinous, and there is a lovely creaminess at the center. […]

Veuve A. Devaux Champagne Sténopé 2008

Veuve A. Devaux Champagne Sténopé 2008

Champagne Sténopé 2008 sports telltale braille on it’s packaging, a giveaway that Michel Chapoutier has a hand in this particular bottling as well as Champagne Devaux. According to the winery, they never “discloses the blend,” that said, it’s the color of sun-bleached straw, with earthy overtones lending a serious edge to notes of lemon pith […]

Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut Millésimé 2002

Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut Millésimé 2002

As stately as I expected it to be (can one really expect anything less of a wine as legendary as Cristal in one of Champagne’s most celebrated vintages?) glinting pale gold, the color of a freshly-minted coin. The 2002 Champagne Cristal Brut Millésimé is imbued with soaring notes of pear and smoke, brioche and chalk. […]

Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Vintage Brut 2006

Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Vintage Brut 2006

As smoldering as one of Hitchcock’s blondes, off screen the 2006 Piper-Heidsieck offers up fabulous, smoky aromas of slightly charred baguette crust, toasted almonds, golden apple and a lingering, pleasant citrus top note. On the palate, power but elegance too, with surging acidity upfront that gradually subsides to a softer-than-expected landing. More secondary and tertiary […]

CHRISTINE HAVENS
McMinnville, OR

christine@christine-havens.com