Bruno Paillard Champagne Première Cuvée Brut
Another standout producer from last week’s tasting in Chicago held by the Champagne Bureau, Bruno Paillard is a new discovery for me, and I find myself wondering how it is I’ve never tasted it before. Stated on their website, “putting together a wine is very like for a painter carefully choosing the origin of colours” as […]
Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne Brut Cuvée Palmes d’Or 2002
Another fabulous sparkler tasted at the Champagne Bureau’s event in Chicago, the 2002 Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Palmes D’Or is exceptional. Captivating smoky-bordering-on-earthy aromas and flavors are woven throughout, endowing this serious Champagne with a perceptible center of gravity. Mineral verve pierces through intense, fleshy layers of wet dough, bruised pear and and walnut skins. I […]
Champagne Drappier Brut Grande Sendrée 2006
The Drappier Brut Grande Sendrée is a refined blend of 55% Pinot Noir and 45% Chardonnay. The house prides itself on minimal use of sulfur and low dosage—the 2006 is voluptuous with layers of dust, walnut shells, and mahogany wood that serve to hem in fleshy, ripe orchard fruits and citrus notes. On the palate, […]
Henri Giraud Champagne Hommage à François Hémart Grand Cru Brut NV
Henri Giraud Champagne Hommage à François Hémart Grand Cru Brut” width=”200″ height=”200″ /></a>I’m a fan of Henri Giraud, perhaps more so after meeting Claude Giraud at the International Pinot Noir Festival last year. The winery has embarked on serious research with respect to revitalizing the Argonne Forest and at the same time, re-establishing a local […]
Bollinger Champagne Brut Rosé NV
Bollinger’s NV Brut Rosé is unfettered elegance, with a shimmering salmon robe and ultra-fine mousse, the nose displays freshly macerated strawberries and raspberries, rose petals and spice. It’s all neatly corseted modest toast, with creaminess at the mid-palate lending depth and weight, softening an otherwise be a bony spine. There is minerality here too, but […]
Pierre Moncuit Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Nicole Moncuit Vieille Vigne 2004
Rich and wonderfully full in body and texture, the Pierre Moncuit Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru 2004 opens with generous notes of dried honey, pear tart and nutmeg. On the palate, it’s supple and creamy, delineated by a coursing vein of chalky minerality and bright, mouthwatering acidity. Rich notes of buttercream and toffee are […]
Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons 2007
Classic Les Chetillons, the 2007 Pierre Peters Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs offers pungent, enveloping aromatics of buttered toast, blanched almond, and bruised yellow apple. Beautifully delineated and focused on the palate with sumptuous creaminess at the core. Wet dough is couched in chalky, mineral texture along with sel gris, dried lemon […]
Tarlant Champagne Cuvée Louis Brut Prestige NV
Tarlant’s Cuvée Louis Brut Prestige is a blend of four vintages, 85% from 1999 and the balance from 1998-1996. From the famed chalky “Les Crayons” vineyard, it is an elegant blend of 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir. Beautifully, concentrated aromatics of brioche, dried apple, tangerine, white flowers and spice. Fantastic purity, depth and focus, […]
Lilbert-Fils Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Grand Cru Cramant 2004
This lovely 2004 Grand Cru Grower Champagne from Lilbert-Fils. The site is only 3.5 hectares, so, on the petite side, though that is certainly not the case in terms of what this bubbly delivers. Wonderful nose that reminds me of fresh, toasted raisin bread slathered in butter along with citrusy, minerally notes. Piercing acidity on […]
Clos Cazals Champagne Grand Cru Blanc De Blancs Extra Brut 2002
From the sublime 2002 vintage, the Clos Cazals Grand Cru Blanc De Blancs Extra Brut is fabulous. Suffuse, enveloping notes of apple tartin, toasted hazelnuts, molasses, and creme sherry allude to a wine of serious character. And indeed, it’s taught as a drawn bow, with the sort of tension that is only eased in a […]