Reviews

Jacques Selosse Substance

The Solera methodology employed here really makes for a truly unique and special profile, one in which I can't rightly say I've ever experienced with Champagne. The complexity is just flat-out crazy,…

Egly-Ouriet Champagne Grand Cru Brut Millésimé

Initially, there are strong oxidative and nutty notes emanating from this Egly, but with air, it actually becomes more compacted and focused, with requisite cut and acidic tension to balance out the…

Egly-Ouriet Champagne Grand Cru VP

On the initial pull of the cork, the flavors play coy for the first hour or so of consumption. Red and yellow apple flesh, grilled lemon, and wet granite notes take their time leisurely disembarking…

Claude Cazals Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Clos Cazals

Yellow citrus spray, white melon rind, white flowers, chalk, and tarragon notes are executed in a controlled intensity that sparkles with focused energy and liveliness. In its current state, the…

Jacques Selosse Initial

At Restaurant After Seven, Backstage Hotel, Zermatt, Switzerland.

Egly-Ouriet Champagne Grand Cru VP

At Restaurant Alpine Gourmet Prato Borni, Zermatt, Switzerland.

Robert Moncuit Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut Les Chetillons

Comes off as a young pup, but still accessible enough that pleasure can be had now with a bit of air. There's a dash of copper and preserved lemons on the back end that taunt you into thinkng it is…

Claude Cazals Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Clos Cazals

Exquisitely balanced, with a judicious flavor equilibrium between the lemon and chalk/salt notes that are harmoniously carried on a fine bead of effervescence, the 2012 Clos Cazals is a winner. With…

Savart Champagne Grand Cru Haute Couture Le Mesnil

Harmony, precision, and the beginnings of an enveloping flavor profile that certainly stand to offer immediate pleasure as well as reward for the future. Bright and fresh, but with a serious side…

Pierre Moncuit Champagne Grand Cru Millésime Extra-Brut

A sudsy Lhasa Apso in an alkaline and acetone bath at a Petco doggie spa in Detroit.

Nicolas Maillart Champagne Grand Cru Jolivettes

A more needly showing than the previous bottle just a few months ago, with any complexity or breadth held at bay by the sharp and edgy stone/chalk and twiggy? elements firing off behind the foxhole…

Nicolas Maillart Champagne Grand Cru Jolivettes

After digging into my recent arrivals of Maillart Champagne, I decided to try the 2017 Jolivettes, 2017 Mont Martin, and 2014 Chaillots Gillis. Punchline: Anyone who is holding these bottles should…

Pierre Paillard Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Les Mottelettes

Initially the flaw here was more difficult to detect, with an herbal note that seemed to add interest on the first pull of the cork. The nose was completely muted. With air, an alkaline note emerged…

Doyard Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut

What a difference a vintage makes. The 2012 was beautifully creamy and silky, while this 2013 is electrifying and superbly nervy. Like biting into a fresh green apple coated with sea salt and lemon…

Robert Moncuit Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut Les Chetillons

Quite elegant and sophisticated, with a silky-smooth texture that glides across the palate effortlessly, the 2013 Les Chetillons carries a magnificence in posture and stride that is at first…

Pierre Moncuit Champagne Grand Cru Millésime Extra-Brut

For a big house style without the big house price, this 2008 Pierre Moncuit is a contender for one of the better QPRs out there. Lemon rind, ripe yellow pear skin, sea foam, limestone, almond skin,…

Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons

A Champagne I continue to fall in love with, The Chetillons has so much energy and juicy liveliness, it's hard not to take the whole glass down in one gulp. Compared to the 2008 sampled a few months…

Billecart-Salmon Champagne Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs

Slightly steely on entry, with a cut that rushes straight to the finish. The effervescence doubles this effect, with the white and high-register fruit and rock notes racing along the palate with a…

Larmandier-Bernier Champagne Grand Cru Les Chemins d'Avize

Red apple, dried apricot, preserved lemon rind, hazelnut, and olive oil flavors make for a big house blend profile that doesn't necessarily steer one to a BdB composition. Blind, I would have sworn…

Pierre Paillard Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Les Mottelettes

As accessible and user-friendly as the 2014, this vintage of Mottelettes is nearly an identical twin, with ripe and juicy yellow citrus, almond slivers, chalk, and yellow pear skin. Round and full…

Doyard Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut

Skillfully balanced and easily accessible, the front end creaminess and texture fool you into thinking this is going to be all dough and no go, but the speed kicks in midway through its smooth…

Paul Dethune Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Millésimé

A lemony, lemony, lemony Chardonnay Champagne with medium perlage. There's no question this is a BdB. In fact, this was quite a wine-y Chardonnay-y flavor delivery, like a readymade village Meursault…

Larmandier-Bernier Champagne Grand Cru Vieille Vigne du Levant Extra Brut

Flawed. A bitter 9V battery note bore down on the steely stone and lemon notes desperately trying to claw through. The would-be flavors became caught in the crossfire of the astringent oxidation that…

Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons

Well isn't this a nice surprise. From magnum, the 2008 Chetillons is fully in charge of its spritz and lively demeanor, with high-fiving flavors confidently (and powerfully) parading across the…

Billecart-Salmon Champagne Grand Cru Louis Salmon Brut Blanc de Blancs

A medium delivery of flavor all the way around. Pleasant and surely gulpable, this gave a little engine that could delivery but got lost in the shuffle due to its seeming lack of identifiable…