This cuvée has wonderful fruit aromas of pears, baked apples and citrus peel enhanced with hints of caramel, spice. The wine is unusually round for its age, very mouth-filling and with a long creamy finish. Lovely served with double or triple cream cheeses, it also matches especially well with fish, shellfish, poultry and most Asian dishes.
Appealing aromas of Gala apple, toasted almond and vanilla lead to focused, creamy Asian pear and spice flavors that finish with a vibrant crispness. Drink now through 2012.
Boldly flavored, but with a crisp, delicate body and a soft pink color. Notes of strawberry, graham cracker and spice linger on the fresh finish.
The generous, bursting fruitful character of the 2005 vintage is immediately present in the aromas of this Mirabelle Brut Rosé bottling. Fresh strawberry and raspberry blend with the essences of watermelon candy, berry gum drops, and red licorice. The palate is rich and expansive with bright, youthful cherry and cranberry flavors mellowed by the baked caramel and toasted vanilla notes developed over the course of the wine’s life in the bottle.
A rosé with serious intentions, this has a delicate pink hue and floral strawberry and spicy yeast roll aromas. The flavors show good focus, offering raspberry, Gala apple, ginger and fig flavors. Drink now through 2012.
A big, full-bodied bubbly, featuring graphite, toast, lemon and nut aromas and flavors. Balanced, with an assertive finish. Will improve with a few months of cellaring.
First, Brut Yellow Label looks beautiful: golden-yellow, with a foaming necklace of tiny bubbles. Next it is so pleasing to the nose: initially reminiscent of white fruits and raisins, then of vanilla and later of brioche. Note the fine balance between the fruity aromas coming from the grape varieties and the toasty aromas following the ageing in the bottle. The first sip delivers all the freshness and forcefulness so typical of Yellow Label with asymphony of fruit tastes following on. Here is a true member of the powerful Brut family, well structured, admirably vinous. The lingering aromas echo and re-echo, with each fruit or spice note distinct.
He wanted to build boats that no-one had built before. She wanted to conquer Europe with her Champagne wines. Barbe Nicole Ponsardin and Pietro Riva were separated in history by just a few short years; two people with the same credo: Collectors’ pieces of innate sophistication, elegance and glamour- La Grande Dame encapsulates the Veuve Cliquot style, while Riva’s vintage Runabouts gleam with the magic of major boating events.
There's plenty of finesse in this sleek Champagne, along with an airy texture and loads of grip. Graphite, lemon, toast and mineral aromas and flavors prevail, and this takes on a chalky edge on the lingering aftertaste.
The contrast of depth and brightness, or intensity and weightlessness creates a sense of harmonic resonance in this wine. All the aromatics are potent, from the scent of rising bread dough to the red skin of an apple, all the corresponding flavors rich yet refreshing. The firmness of the acidity seems to add briskness to the mousse, leaving a clean, chiseled impression of the chalk soils in which this grew. Once in a while, there is a young beauty who will age into a more profound older beauty; La Grande Dame is part of that rare breed.
On the palate, the fresh first impression is followed by a fruity harmonious sensation. In line with the style of the Veuve Clicquot House, the wine is perfectly balanced and combines elegance and personality.The wine works its magic - this delectable champagne is beautifully ample and full of charm. It is a delicious wine in early bloom, a Rosé with character, wonderful as an aperitif to be shared as a twosome or with dear friends.
Roederer’s 2002 Cristal is still in its infant, fresh stage. Subtle notes of pears, flowers, spices, mint, minerals and oak are woven into a cashmere-like frame of extraordinary grace and elegance. This beautifully-sculpted Champagne possesses notable clarity but with the additional depth of fruit that is characteristic of this vintage.
This is an exceptional wine, as is the vintage. The fruits - grapefruit, crisp red apple - balance with a fine yeasty character. There is a great depth of flavor, the fruits going in a pure line of freshness. The one problem is that it is much too young, the result of the deamnd from the market for the next vintage. Age this wine for at least four years.
A memorable, full-bodied brut with assertive, complex flavors and a lingering finish. Aromas of fresh bread and toasted walnut are backed up by crisp, full-bore fruit flavors.
Full-bodied and intensely flavored, this exhibits mature characteristics of candied fruit, coffee and vanilla pastry, along with fresh lemon and ginger accents. Seamless harmony and texture, with a long, long finish.
A big, beefy rosé. Very Pinot Noir-like, with leaf, cherry and earth notes matched to a firm, muscular structure. Has warmth and personality, with a lingering finish.
Dark pink. Vibrant red berry and blood orange aromas are deepened by subtle anise and floral qualities. Raspberry and bitter cherry flavors are further brightened by refreshingly bitter citrus zest and minerals. Clean and gripping on the long, spicy finish. This is made entirely from grand cru vineyards.
This elegant gift box is packaged in a white with gold and copper laced anemone flowers. When opened, the inner vibrant green background holds two hand painted flutes with an encased bottle of Fleur de Champagne 2000. The first vintage of the new millennium, deep in symbolism, is a wine that marries a distinctive mouthfeel with the vinosity of an exceptional blend produced from 65 hectares of pure grand cru vineyards. Deep yellow in color, the cuvee has a nose that opens with floral, fruit aromas such as magnolia or perhaps a hint of crystallized lemon. These notes arise from the Chardonnay influence from the grands crus of Cramant and Avize, typical of the Perrier-Jouet style. Notes of cooked-fruit of the grand cru Pinots Noirs from the northern Montagne de Reims.
Subtle and creamy, with peach and apple flavors shaded by grapefruit and yeast accents. This is compact, despite being ripe, and finishes firm and crisp.
On the nose floral, fruit with subtle predominance of white fruits: pear, apple, almonds and hazelnuts. On the palate it consist of a very fresh opening, smooth, pleasant and balanced.
The color is brilliant, golden straw yellow. The bubbles are fine. The mousse is both discreet and persistent. The nose, very expressive and open, is both fruity and bready. It exudes aromas of peach, white flowers (may blossom, acacia) and vanilla pod. On the palate, this lively fresh wine is at once in harmony. This is a delicate wine with flavors of fresh fruit and honey. In all a wine blessed with a well-developed aromatic potential. It is aged for three to four years in the cellars where it achieves perfect maturity.
Shows elegance and finesse, but also an understated power, as the initial richness gives way to the firm structure, setting the stage for biscuit, honey and ginger notes. Fine length.
A rich Champagne, beautifully elegant, touched by yellow fruits, apples and just the right amount of weight. There are final hints of toast, spice and creamy coconut milk, giving a Champagne that is as much about wine as about bubbles.
Sleek and fruit-forward, with appealing lemon-lime and anise aromas that lead to crisp yet creamy pear, green apple and spice flavors.
A powerful, majestic Champagne. Deep and compelling, with aromas of whole-grain toast, coconut and dried citrus that draw you in. Lean and racy on the palate, with a creaminess that's yet to be integrated. A classic '96, with ripe, exotic aromas and a steely structure. Still a baby, with the long, resonant finish confirming its potential. Best from 2009 through 2040.
WINE #10Released this year, Krug's 1996 is one of the last '96 vintage Champagnes to reach the market, and it is the last vintage to draw on the experience of three generations of the Krug family (including now-director Olivier Krug) during the base wine's blending. The growing season saw generally warm and sunny days and unusually cool nights, resulting in wines with great ripeness but also high acidity. Grapes were sourced from the vineyards of 17 different villages. It was disgorged in late November 2006.
Light gold. Remarkably perfumed nose projects an exotic bouquet of deep, leesy yellow fruit, minerals, honeycomb, smoked meat and flowers, with Asian spices building expanding in the glass. Almost painfully concentrated, offering a surreal parade of orchard and pit fruits, smoked meat, toasted brioche and marrow braced by intensely salty, stunningly incisive minerality. Imagine a Frankenstein's monster of Chablis Le Clos and Clos Ste. Hune-but one with perfect balance, of course-and you get an idea of what I found in my bottle. The energetic, stony character builds exponentially on the finish, which didn't seem to, well, finish. The best analogy I can come up with for the intensity, focus and clarity of this Champagne is liquefied barbed wire. Utterly hallucinatory and one of the most amazing wines I've ever been fortunate enough to drink. At the risk of sounding completely out of touch with reality, this is a value.
A complex, refined Champagne, with vanilla, coconut, lemon and mineral aromas and flavors. Fresh and elegant, yet deep and persistent, evoking whole-grain toast. This dovetails nicely on the lingering finish.
Billecart-Salmon is one of my favorite Champagne houses, and their non-vintage Rose is a consistent winner. A delicate pink color is accompanied by gorgeous sweet cherry, strawberry, and mineral-like scents, assertive medium-bodied flavors, a delicate, crisp personality, and surprising depth as well as persistence. A beautiful berry character in the finish adds to this impeccable rose’s captivating style.
Medium-bodied, intense and sinewy, this has a racy structure propelling its strawberry, black currant and mineral flavors. Lovely balance and harmony, with a lingering, chalky aftertaste.
A bone-dry but delicious wine, with red fruits and a beautiful onion-skin color that just hints at rosé. Lovely acidity completes the serious and highly enjoyable wine.
This is creamy, enticing and bursting with honey, vanilla, hints of coffee and candied berry flavors, all matched to a rich texture and firm structure. Fine length and harmony, with time to give. Drink now through 2010.
A beautiful Champagne, from the complex floral-, coffee- and brioche-scented nose to the graphite, vanilla and citrus flavors. Light-weight and intense, with a lively structure and a long, lingering finish.
The 2000 Brut Dom Perignon is a gorgeous, seductive wine that floats on the palate with remarkable grace. Toasty aromas meld into freshly cut flowers, apricots and pears, with sweet notes of mint and licorice that linger on the long finish. This perfumed, inviting Dom Perignon is elegance personified, and in this vintage the wine fully merits its lofty reputation.
Starts out round and plush, then the structure takes over. Light peach and berry flavors prevail as this plays out on the lingering finish. Give it a little time to integrate, but this should develop well.
This is a classic Dom Pérignon vintage. It's big and fruity initially, a mouthful of ripeness. Then the texture and structure of this dense wine come through. It’s as much wine as Champagne, rich, the apple and fresh pear flavors vying with yeasty and a tense crispness.
Roederer Estate Brut, the first California sparkling wine produced by Champagne Louis Roederer, builds upon a 200-year tradition of fine winemaking that has made Roederer Champagne among the most sought-after in the world. The Roederer Estate Brut is crisp and elegant with complex pear, spice and hazelnut flavors. It is fresh and lightly fruity with great finesse and depth of flavor.
A rich version, loaded with spicy cinnamon notes. Bold apple aromas, with a whiff of yeast, lead to complex, layered pear, crème brûlée and baked apple flavors that linger.
A touch or a few old grape varieties is blended with Prosecco grapes to create a superbly dry, slightly fruity wine with a hint of acidic crispness.
