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Champagne &
Sparkling Wine News and Updates |
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Issue 7 Has Been Released!
Issue 7 was
released in July, 2010 with the following highlights: ·
Pehu-Simonet – A Star in Verzenay ·
Philipponnat’s Clos des Goisses 1970 - 2000 ·
The Tasting I Never Thought I Would Do ·
A Candid Conversation with Anselme
Selosse ·
Over 150 Tasting Notes and Much, Much More! Issue 6 Issue 6 was released in May, 2010 and is the first issue
of our new bi-monthly schedule. Packed
with information in a new reader friendly format, key features are: ·
Taittinger’s Comtes
de Champagne Cuvees ·
Charles Heidsieck’s NV
Brut Reserve/Mis en Cave ·
The Top 30 Wines from 1993 ·
A Candid Conversation with Richard Geoffroy of Dom Pérignon ·
Over 150 Tasting Notes Issue 5 Issue 5 was released in early February, 2010. With over 150 pages and 225+ tasting notes
and reviews, this is our biggest issue yet.
Highlights include: ·
Four Decades of Jean Laurent ·
Bereche: 2009 ·
Vilmart's Coeur
de Cuvee ·
Moet's Grand Vintage ·
Cedric Bouchard ·
Pascal Doquet ·
Making ·
Phenolics and the
1996 Vintage ·
A Conversation with Olivier Krug ·
Plus a lot more! Issue 4 Issue 4 was released in early
November, 2009. With over 135 pages and 200+ tasting notes and reviews, this
is an issue you don’t want to miss. Key
highlights are spotlights on: ·
Ruinart’s Dom Ruinart ·
Drappier ·
Henri Giraud ·
Paul Bara ·
Diebolt-Vallois ·
A. Margaine ·
Jean Milan ·
Pierre Gimonnet ·
The latest news from Issue 3 Issue 3 was released on July 14th.
With over 120 pages and 270 tasting notes and reviews, this is an issue you
don’t wan to miss. In addition, please note that I
have discovered that two wines in this issue have their tasting notes
switched. On page 54, the note and
rating for the 2004 Pascal Doquet Vertus is actually the 2004 Pascal Doquet
Le Mesnil
and vice versa. This mix-up may
explain why I “Yellow Box Highlight” the Le Mesnil
yet give it a tasting note saying it
is from Vertus and then rave about the wine listed under the Vertus. The
correct notes and scoring are below and subscribers will be sent an updated
copy with the corrected notes.
1993 Veuve
Clicquot Grande Dame – Quite Surprising For a 1993 Wine
I recently
decided to give myself the treat of a mini Veuve Clicquot Grande Dame
vertical with the vintages of 1990, 1993, and 1996. I’ve had the 1990 and 1996 fairly
regularly, but had not had the 1993 in over three years. As the 1993 vintage tends to lend itself to
open and fairly forward wines that have matured sooner rather than later, I was
expecting a big, spiced laced, fruity wine that wouldn’t have much in
reserve. I couldn’t have been more
wrong. This 1993 was
rather restratined and fairly elegant with lemon, lime, and orange citrus
waves crashing over gentle biscuits.
Rather restrained and nowhere near its peak, this wine charmed the
pants right off me. While it isn’t a
knockout wine, it is one of the better wines from the 1993 vintage and one
that often shows up at a very nice price.
If you have a bottle or two of this, you can continue to cellar it
with no worries. If you have quite a
few bottles, pop one now and enjoy the elegant youthfullness that it is still
showing. Do You Save Your
Over the years,
I have marvelled at the array of Chamapgne capsules that you can find on top
of a bottle. Some are vary basic simply stating Getting back to
being serious, if you are interested in It is full of
information and even gives collectors a chance to buy capsules for their own
collection. I have no interest in this
site, but think it is pretty cool and that it adds an extra dimension to
enjoying When Should You Drink Your Vieilles Vignes Francaises?
In Issue 3, I highlight Bollinger’s extraordinary wine
Vieilles Vignes Francaises and review every vintage since 1970 (missing only
the 1969 which saw a very, very limited release). I won’t go into all the details on what makes
this wine so special or how it came to be (if you don’t know, you have to
read Issue 3 to find that out), but I will say that I believe this is a wine
that is absolutely captivating and amazing at a fairly young age and loses
its uniqueness as it ages. I know there are those who disagree with me and rave about
vintages from the 1970s, particularly the 1970, but I just don’t see it. The 1979 is certainly still drinking very
well, but every other vintage older than 20 years old (1986 and before) has
lost that “special something” that it had in its youth. If you enjoy these wines as they mature
into their 20s and 30s then by all means cellar them, but for those of you
who aren’t intimately familiar with this cuvee and who have bottles from the
late 1980s and early 1990s, I would encourage you to open them. The 1988-1992 vintages of this wine are
really drinking nicely right now and deliver a wonderful experience full of
power and concentration. Waiting any
longer only risks the loss of these characteristics which make Vieilles
Vignes Francaises so special. Taittinger’s Artist Series – Just What Is In Those
Bottles?
Most of us are familiar with Taittinger’s outstanding
Millesime Artist Series bottlings.
These bottles are released every 1-3 declared vintages by Taittiner
and feature a Champagne bottle that is covered in a plastic cladding which is
decorated eith attractive artwork by a famous/upcoming artist that is
selected by the Taittinger family. For
a long time, a discussion has gone on as to whether or not the Artist bottles
are identical to the regular Millesime or not. I’ve long wondered exactly what is in these bottles and
during my last visit with the Taittinger team and family, I asked them if
there were any differences in the wines.
They told me that the 1978 and 1981 Artist bottles were slightly
different from the Millesime, but that since then the wines were the same…
probably… mabye… we think so. Wanting to experiment, I opened a 1985, 1988, and 1990
Artist bottle along with a 1985 and 1990 Millesime. I clearly preferred the Artist series
bottles to the regular Millesime bottlings as the Artist bottles had an extra
freshness and zip factor to them. Were
they different wines? I couldn’t say as
there was a clear similarity, but the Artist bottles were much better. I know that Taittinger has long said the plastic cladding
adds an extra layer of light and heat protection and maybe that accounts for
some of this difference? I honestly
don’t know, but intend to continue investigating. Regardless, the Artist bottles were very
tasty and as a bonus, my wife loved the artwork (it is always good when my
wife likes a |
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