This is a lovely Champagne and a nice way to celebrate with friends and start an evening. Pale yellow gold in color. It has a nice mousse with lots of tiny bubbles. On the nose, there is lemons and seltzer water. On the palate, this has lemon candy. nice acidity. Slightly sweet on the finish. Some depth. This is a recent release. It is very food friendly and also drinks well on its own.
This is the luxury cuvee of Moet & Chandon. It might be the most well known of all of the luxury cuvees. The amazing thing is that they make 5 million bottles of this wine every time they produce it. Of course, it is not produced in every vintage. They have made a 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009 and now this 2008. So, it is made almost every year. The 2008 is special though. it is probably the best vintage since 1996. It is expensive, but for a top notch luxury Champagne it is reasonable. If you do open a bottle, pay attention. Don't just open to start a night and let the f
This is one of those wines that is allowed to call itself Champagne as it is grandfathered in for the use of the name. Of course, champagne is a region in France but this is from California. This is one of the most popular sparkling wines sold in the US. Ceartainly marketing and price have a lot to do with that, but it is a solid wine and, especially if being used for Mimosas or other mixed drinks, it is a reasonable alternative. Light golden in color. The nose is steely with lemon/lime notes. A nice head of medium sized bubbles. On the palate, this drinks easy. Clean, just a hint o
Dosage is 8 grams per liter. Silvery light gold in color. A nice amount of smaller bubbles. The nose has seltzer and gun powder. On the palate, this is lively. Plenty of a (red) apples with a tart sourness that is very nice. A reasonably long finish. This is an affordable Champagne that is very user friendly. It will work well on its own and with just about any foods but especially salty foods. This should be consumed within the first few years of release. There was no disgorgement date on this bottle so purchase from stores with good turnover.
Yowza. This is certainly a step up from the 2000 P2 and the regular 2002 version of this wine. The P2 signifies that is saw about another 8 years of bottle ageing (under cork) before its final dosage. The dosage is also less sugar than the regular version. Just a stunning and youthful wine. Light golden in color. The nose is great. It has this quality not too unlike homemade pie dough. Not yeasty but doughy. Also some tart lemons and minerals. On the palate, this has a lemon candy quality with minerals underneath. Tart lemons on the finish. This is persistent and lengthy and see
This is a reasonably priced Sparkling Rosé from California (prior versions carried a Napa designation). It is non-vintage. Off the top, it is nice that it is the same price as the white version. It makes no sense that so many sparkling wines charge a premium for a Rosé. The packaging is quite nice. It is a blend of 65 percent Chardonnay and 35 percent Pinot Noir. The wine is light golden in color. Not that color is critical, but everyone tasting this commented that it had, maybe, just the slightest shade of pink. Maybe not. I called it light gold. Nevertheless, it has a nice mousse
Franciacorta's are serious sparkling wines from Italy. They are not to be confused with Prosecco's or some of the other lighter sparkling wines that are very popular these days. The best Franciacorta's hold their own against sparkling wines made anywhere in the world. Light golden in color. There are a log of tiny bubbles. The nose has toast, lemon and slight lanolin. On the palate, this is slightly crisp. Full bodied. Nice, persistent lemon/lime notes. Good finish. This drinks well on its own and will work with all but the meatiest of dishes. It should probably be consumed in th
This is 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir. It was disgorged on October, 2017. Light golden in color, clear and bright. The nose has minerals, slight lemons and a bit of spice/oak. On the palate, this has good acidity. It has a lemon hard candy quality to it, that I find enjoyable. Lots of energy. Long finish. This should drink well for the next five to seven years. It will pair well with most foods.
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 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
