Tasting Notes

Egly Ouriet Blanc de Noirs NV. Tasted 11 December 2009
Egly Ouriet is a small family producer located in Ambonnay which is itself located in the Montagne de Reims region of Champagne. Pinot Noir is the predominant grape variety in the Montagne de Reims, hence the Blanc de Noirs.

This wine was golden in colour with a touch of brown and it showed a candied, toffeed aroma that in a way is a trade mark aroma of Egly Ouriet. I suspect this is a result of more oxidative handling of the wine prior to tirage bottling.

The palate was quite intense with the toffeed flavours coming through before the enslaught of acid. The acid was quite dominant on the palate and it was almost a little painful until we matched this champagne with some terrine and cheese which helped to sooth its aggession.

J L Vergnon Blanc de Blancs 1998. Tasted 6 December 2009
J L Vergnon is an independant grower producer in Mesnil-Sur-Oger in the Cotes des Blancs region of Champagne. They produce fine, delicate yet steely champagnes which age exquisitley. This is certainly true for their 1998. This wine was light and delicate with racy acidity when I first tasted it in 2004. My recent tasting in
December 2009 saw a more developed and luxuriously flavoured wine with a slight golden hue. The aroma was quite toasty whilst still showing plenty of youthfulness and the palate had filled out considerably exhibiting a greater level of intensity balanced with a lingering crisp finish.

Pol Roger Chardonnay 1998. Tasted 6 December 2009.
Pol Roger is best known to most champagne drinkers for their blended vintage wine. Less well known is their Chardonnay champagne. Interestingly they don't call it a Blanc de Blancs. Previous tastings of this wine have been excellent as the wine has displayed tremendous finesse and that trade mark Pol Roger creaminess on the palate. Unfortunately this bottle was slightly corked which took the edge off the palate and the wines bouquet. I have no doubt as to the pedigree of this wine and I look forward to tasting future bottles.

Tasting Notes

Recently Karen and I attended a Bollinger dinner at Vue du Monde in Melbourne in the lead up to the Melbourne Cup. Bollinger is a wonderful, old traditional Champagne House still privately owned by the Bollinger family with an excellent Non Vintage and vintage champagne. Please find my tasting notes below.

Bollinger 'Special Cuvee'. Tasted 2nd November 2009
The wine opened with a delightfully fine bead and youthful yellow / green hue.
The nose was yeasty with aromas of freshly baked bread, warm from the oven, very appealling. The palate was soft and creamy with tremendous delicacy and length.

Many champagne houses keep their reserve wines in tank or large barrel but amazingly Bollinger keep half a million magnums filled with their reserve wines in their cellar for blending purposes. It is the combination of these older reserve vintages blended with a predominantly younger vintage that make up the Special Cuvee.

Bollinger La Grande Annee 1999 Tasted 2nd November 2009.
Slightly more yellow in colour than the Special Cuvee the 1999 none the less pocessed the same fine bead. The nose was more complex with aromas of vegimite, toast and almond. The palate was full and very intense though not extracted. The house style of delicacy, and creaminess with wonderfull length of flavour came through.

Tasting Notes

Dom Perignon 2000 Tasted 8/10/09
Yellow, showing some age with a persistant fine bead. The bouquet has almond aromas showing development beyond my expectations and a complex toastiness. The palate is rich and full with with an ageeable firmness, persistance of flavour and crisp acidity.

Louis Roederer Cristal 1996 Tasted 9/10/09
Brilliant yellow with an excellent bead. Lovely toasty, brioche aromas showing some development but none the less flattering considering this is a thirteen year old wine. The palate is balanced, soft and creamy with lively acidity and youthfulness suggesting this wine has time to spare.

Joseph Loriot-Pagel Blanc de Blancs 1997, Jeroboam Tasted 10/10/09
This was by far the most youthful of the three wines which clearly supports the theory that large formats age more slowly. The colour was green to yellow and the bead was lively and delicate. Fresh bread and developed autolysed yeast aromas drifted from the glass whilst the palate showed an abundance of freshness, youthful fruit and crisp acidity.