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Always nice to revisit this wine.  This time it was in a tasting with other sparkling wines and tasted blind.  It started out quite tight and took some time to open up.  It continued to open up all night long.  it was the groups wine of the night though not mine.  Light golden in color.  The nose has a lemon/citrus quality to it along with minerals and slight ginger.  On the palate, the citrus carries thru with nice minerality.  Good acidity.  This is just starting to enter its peak period and  should be good for another decade or more before slowly starting to fade.  With the (better) 2008

This is 100% Chardonnay from a vineyard originally planted in 1951.  Les Avats means "All Good" in old French.  Silvery gold in color.  The nose has minerals and lemons with slight yeast notes.  On the palate, this is slightly sweet.  Not a lot of effervescence.  It seems slightly oxidized.  I don't know if that is the house style or an issue with this bottle.  Either way, it is not to a level of being a problem.  The lemon/citrus carries thru to the palate.  Nice finish.  This probably should be consumed in the next five years if this bottle is representative.  It will go with most foods. 

This ubiquitous Champagne seems to be everywhere and sometimes, that means it can be easy to look past it (for wine geeks anyway).  It is quite good.  This is actually a special bottling to celebrate their 150th anniversary of their founding in 1869.  It is a blend of equal parts Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier (30% to 40%) and the rest Chardonnay.  Golden in color with a bit of copper.  The nose is nice with toast, apple and slight ginger.  On the palate, this has nice full carbonation.  Good acidity.  Slight tannins.  Pears and apples.  Long finish.  This is drinking well now and should cont

This is a 50/50 blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.  It is 50% from 2013, and 50% from 2014 and 2015.  It was disgorged on 12/2017.  Silvery gold in color.  The nose is interesting with toast, pear, slight dried floral notes but also this interesting chocolate quality.  It took some time to open on the palate and continued to improve all evening.  Notes of pears with good acidity.  A slightly oily texture.  A bit clipped initially on the finish, that worked itself out with air.  This needs some time to develop.  It certainly should improve with a couple of years of good cellaring.  Then, it

Golden in color, slightly copper.  On the nose this has a bit of toast, slight ginger, and a bit of straw/yeast.  On the palate, there is some citrus.  Some strawberries.  Just a touch of residual sugar.  This seems to be showing some age and probably should be consumed in the next couple of years.  It will work well with medium or lighter foods, especially sea foods.  

Great label with lots of info.  The base wine for this NV wine is 2013.  it is 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay.  This bottle was disgorged on 04/2018.  It is also a really good wine.  Medium gold in color.  The nose has apples, honey, and slight ginger and minerals.  On the palate, this has a nice backbone of acidity.  Tart apple fruit.  Lots of depth and complexity.  Long finish.  This is drinking well now and should for at least the next five to seven years.  It will work with just about any food.  

Served to a group blind.  I thought it was a bit oxidized (just slightly) which is worrisome.  The group guess was California although I leaned to a more modern, bigger Chablis.  Light golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose has some lemons with oak/spice but a streak of apple cider.  Not fresh apples thought perhaps that was there too.  On the palate, apples with some cider notes.  Slightly oily texture (which is why I thought Burgundy).  Some viscosity.  Slightly flabby.  It was likely the oak and the lack of acid that led the group into thinking it was from California.  OK finish. 

This wine (or at least this bottle) seems to be a bit better than a prior bottle which is saying a lot.  It mostly the difficult 2011 vintage but includes almost two hundred different wines going back to the 1995 vintage.   Forty-two percent of the cuvée is made up of Reserve wines.  The final blend is 47 % Pinot Noir, 36% Chardonnay and 17% Pinot Meunier.

This is a relatively newer producer in the Rhone whose wines should be on your radar.  Inky purple in color.  The nose has black raspberries, white pepper, roasted herbs and a slight violet note.  On the palate, this is full bodied.  Delicious.  Black raspberry fruit over smoke and nice minerality.  Long finish.  This will go great with roasts and casserole but also Indian and more robust Thai food.  It still will continue to improve for the next five to seven years and should be good for ten to fifteen, at least, after that.  

This is one of the better houses making sweet dessert wines in Barsac.  This one was no exception. Light copper/orange in color.  Perhaps a bit darker than expected but not an issue.  On the nose, there is tropical fruit, slight each and a slight kindling smoke note.  On the palate, this is rich.  Plenty of Botrytis but good acidity to offset the sweetness.  Honey and tropical fruit on the palate.  Clean.  Long finish.  This is great on its own or with a more savory dessert (no chocolate).  It should easily last another fifteen to twenty years.