Sipping Fine Wine

9.3

Charles "Champagne Charlie" Heidsieck was one of the first to recognize the importance of the U.S. as a Champagne market. A blend with 40% reserve wines, fruit and floral bouquet, with orange blossom & yeasty notes. Fine bubbles, nice mousse, showing quality. Outstanding rich flavors of apple, pear and biscuit, well balanced, good structure, creamy. Long finish ending with toasty nutty oak & mineral notes. — 3 days ago

Josh Morgenthau

9.4

The good stuff — 2 months ago

Matt Perlman

9.3

Yep, it was good. Big and rich. Burnished copper color, brioche, apple, bitter grapefruit, white mushroom. — 4 months ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Popped and poured to celebrate a pretty cool personal and professional achievement; enjoyed over a two hour period. This particular bottle has been stored in my cellar since release. The 2004 “La Grande Dame” pours a brilliant yellow color with medium+ viscosity and a persistent mousse of fine bubbles. On the nose, the wine is developing with notes of golden raspberry, Meyer lemon, some apple, some brioche and nuts; just a touch oxidative. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. However, I feel compelled to share that this gave me the overall impression of a sort of liquid lemon-raspberry custard croissant with shaved almonds on top. It was awesome. The finish was long and there is some palpable density in this wine. So much so that I think these easily have another 10-15 years in them. That being said, this was yummy and I wouldn’t hesitate to enjoy now. — a month ago

Ron Siegel

9.3

From a btl that was purchased in 2014. This was fresh, vibrant showing citrus, pear, pastry dough with a creamy texture. Excellent btl — 3 months ago

Jeffrey Woo

9.2

Lemon-gold hue. Aromas of apple, brioche, citrus, cream, peach, pear, and strawberry. Grapefruit and minerals on the palate. Med body and med-plus acidity. Soft, rounded, and elegant. — 4 months ago

Scott E. Becker

9.0

[Tasted on April 6, 2024 at Home with Linda and Joel]

Blend of 55% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier. Mandarin orange, apricot, pear and red fruits, with honey, ginger, vanilla and toast. — a month ago

Matt Waring

9.2

Outstanding PN dominant Champagne giving up tons of green apple and toast, with pleasant richness and tons of bubbles. — 2 months ago

with Christine

Vasanth Balakrishnan

9.2

Fantastic, pinnacle #champagne - incredibly fresh nose, lots of energy with lemon, pear on the nose, touch of brioche plus wet stone. Fine bubbles, definitely felt like this was still too young and would have developed additional complexity given another decade. #cristal — 5 months ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

Lovely. Spent sometime in neutral oak. Apple cider-green & dominate red, bruised pear, overripe pineapple juice, tropical melons, ginger ale, white cream, some overripe white peach, saline, sea fossils/spray, limestone alluvial minerals, bread dough, yeastiness, moist/wet chalkiness, yellow, white flowers, excellent, round, acidity, well; knitted, structured, nicely tensioned, balanced & evenly polished finished that lasts two-minutes. — 5 months ago