Reviews

Adrien Renoir Champagne Grand Cru Solera Les Années

Ginger, honey, sherry, apricot, red apple flesh, red pear skin, chalk, wood spice, cherry water, and bramble. A serious and somewhat brooding presentation of flavor, lifted by a chalky minerality…

Larmandier-Bernier Champagne Premier Cru Terre de Vertus

A solid Champagne built on yeast, lemon, and limestone flavors that are beautifully balanced, offering refreshing verve as well as volume. Not as complex nor deep as L-B's top offerings (eg: Levant…

Pertois-Lebrun Champagne Grand Cru Derrière le Mont Aigu N°13

As before, golden pear, grilled lemon, olive oil, cardamom, and wood offer a pleasantly oxidative profile that is lifted by notes of limestone and ginger. Decent breadth and volume; medium intensity.…

Adrien Renoir Champagne Grand Cru Les Epinettes

Apricot, honey, white and red raspberry, rhubarb, travertine, golden raisin, saline, sea foam, bark, and pluot flavors are both invitingly accessible and racy. Within the youthful drive, there is…

Adrien Renoir Champagne Grand Cru Les Montants

Chiseled, racy, and crystalline, with speedy and spun up flavors of fresh lemon juice, chalk, sea salt and foam, yuzu, lime pith, lemon zest and pith, and white travertine. Finishes with lemon…

Ultramarine Blanc de Blancs Heintz Vineyard Sonoma Coast

Lemon, melon, dough, pear, and yuzu, with that tinge of Hefeweizen yeast that often accompanies young Heintz BdB Ultramarines. Full and a bit fruity, but stays in proper line through the rounded…

Huré Frères Champagne Mémoire Extra Brut

2021 base. This new release shows much more comparative crystalline structure to its 2020 and 2019 siblings. There are the signature oxidative and wood elements, but with streaks of limestone and…

Bérêche et Fils Champagne Premier Cru Les Beaux Regards

These are settling into a beautiful rhythm of deep grilled lemon, poached pear, sea salt, olive oil, yuzu, and limestone flavors. Succulent and full, with micro-oxidative elements that add depth and…

Emmanuel Brochet Champagne Premier Cru Extra Brut Le Mont Benoit

Pours a beautiful golden/bronze color. Initially tight in delivery, with a linear shot of Mirabelle plum, ginger, and chalk. Bitter on the finish, with a bite that signals the need for more time in…

Champagne Suenen Champagne Grand Cru "Les Robarts" Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut Millésime

Though it shares a similar profile to the 2013, this 2012 is a more sumptuous specimen, with ripe yellow pear, olive oil, yuzu, grilled lemon, lemon curd, coriander, orange rind, yellow apple, and…

Benanti Etna Rosso

Light red cherry and orange pith, with a touch of smoke. Thin and basic, but fresh and snappy. A Red Solo cup on the beach with a bag of BBQ chips type of wine.

Josef Rosch Klüsserather Bruderschaft Riesling feinherb

Lychee, peach, yellow pear, yellow apple, and some lime. Finishes slightly sweet. Medium-minus in weight and speed. Lacks acidity and verve.

Chavost Champagne Blanc D'Assemblage Brut Nature

White melon, crunchy unripe white pear, and chalk, with a whisper of a peach note that adds interest. Finishes with the dominant white fruit elements. Very dry on the back end. As a standalone, it's…

Krug Champagne Vintage Brut

An exquisite and pristine bottle, with a solid marriage of breadth and focus. The nose offers honey and green/white melon, while the palate is gifted with yellow and green pear, yellow apple, white…

Danjou-Banessy Clot des Escounils

Unripe pear, lemon water, and white fruit. Thin mid-palate. Some smoke on the finish adds interest. Dry. Lacks personality. Better with food.

Huré Frères Pinot Meunier Champagne 4 éléments

Crystalline and exacting in presentation, with a focused and pure delivery. No Meunier rusticity here; more of a honed profile. Though far from angular or sterile, this 4 Elements Meunier also offers…

Ultramarine Sparkling Rosé Heintz Vineyard

Grapefruit, orange spray, crunchy watermelon, unripe strawberry, and red cherry. Finishes taut, with a white melon rind note that ratchets up the linearity of the delivery. A more exacting execution…

Charles Dufour & Françoise Martinot Champagne Bistrøtage B.20 Extra Brut

I wanted to revisit this again and really take my time with it. The flavors are the same as my previous note a couple weeks ago (bristly ginger and crunchy red apple notes dominate). Paying…

Bérêche et Fils Champagne Premier Cru Les Beaux Regards

A smoother ride than last year's bottle from the same batch, this is coming into a nice window; no blocky edges here, as was the case previously. Lemon and yuzu flavors are complimented by olive oil…

Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Edition 171eme

Stellar bottle. Best 171 I've had so far. Incredibly crystalline and exacting, and yet also gorgeously gourmand in volume and flavor. Limestone, prickly pear, chalk, lime pith, and white melon rind…

Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Another stab at this wine, and it delivers better than the previous bottle a couple months back. Cool black flavors, with a profile based on restraint and poise, but still offering lovely black…

Myriad Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Element Zero

This is a super beast of a wine, with walls of intensity and structure. Napa power users will be stoked to have these in their cellars, but best to don your trusty riot gear and remain 100 yards from…

Bollinger Champagne R.D. Extra Brut

This was indeed a beautiful showing, but a more subtle and somewhat quieter delivery of flavor from this particular sample. Similar to my bottle back in January (from the same lot), if perhaps…

Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut

From Magnum.

Salima et Alain Cordeuil Champagne Altitude 350m Bio

Less compelling than the previous bottle I had recently, with every flavor dialed down and quieter, making for a more pedestrian delivery. Yellow fruit. Less tension than before. 90-92 on this…