Mystery achievement, don’t breathe down my neck, no. Excellent fill. 95% saturated cork. Labels a bit yellowed. Decanted and tasted after 15 mins, 45 mins and 1.5 hours. Big, chunky sed. Funk in the immediately decanted nose that blew off after a couple of decanter swirls. A bit of aged color with noticeable meniscus in the glass. Spearmint and orange peel in the nose. Cinnamon and spicy clove kicked in the back door to crash the party. Remarkable concentration in the nose and taste throughout the 1.5 hours. This had a fantastic, 40+ second finish with plenty of viable tannins still maintaining decorum. So yeah, the mystery…the shoulder vintage label was missing and vintage nowhere to be found on the cork, foil or front/back labels. Came from a top-notch cellar. Based on the yellowing of the label, cork saturation, fill, color/meniscus, flavors concentration/structure, initially thinking it to be either a 1978 or 1985 offering. Going with 1978 based on the obvious/large meniscus, amount of sediment, marvelous concentration for the performance and yellowing of the labels. Regardless, arguably the best Burg I’ve had in the last dozen months and def the best 1er Cru. Whatever vintage it was, has another decade-easy-rocking this hard. 3.20.24. — a month ago
Cork fell apart for the 2nd time on the same wine Juice was great though — 3 years ago
Washington Wine Month — a month ago
I compared this 2016 BdB to the 2017 Haliotide Late Disgorged BdB to get a feel for styles. Followed over two days with no change.
One of the better Ultramarine wines I’ve had, and definitely pre-funk. I feel like the last few vintages have shown a lot of bottle variation and sometimes a green/herbal profile, mostly in the BdN and BdB (never in the rosé, that’s my favorite wine in the portfolio).
The older vintages always had a distinct cream-soda aromatic to them that I loved, and this has it in spades alongside truffle Honeycomb and spiced apple. Oxidative flair but not an overly oxidative sparkler. Great depth and richness here…almonds, lemon cream, caramel-green apple. Wears the low dosage so well. Broad on the palate (in a good way). I’d be fine drinking this without food. Tasty. — a month ago
Nice with the JJ Cubano — a month ago
Haven’t sipped this in quite awhile. 375ml to refresh my palate memory.
40% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay and 20% Meunier. Varietals fermented separately in stainless steel vats. 5 to 10% of wine is vinified in old Burgundy oak barrels.
Texture is round and elegant. The fruits are; both peach, mango, apricots, slightly oxidative white citrus-lime hovers the edges & pineapple juice. Nougat, marzipan, toasted nuts, brioche, saline, crushed chalk, white spice that presses into the palate, notes of cheese cloth, limestone marl, moist, pulpy, grey volcanic minerals, yellow lilies with spring white flowers, jasmine blooms, round, soft acidy and a well; balanced, structured & tensioned finish that lands squarely on mid minerality and lasts 90 seconds.
Photos; Charles Heidsieck signage, Charles Heidsieck, chalky tasting area in their cellar and Cote de Blanc vineyard. — 2 months ago
Ryan
Cherry, strawberry, caramel and oak. — 19 days ago