Vanessa

9.0

This wine is medium purple. 👁️

👃🏻 It has a bouquet of rip, almost desiccated, black and red cherry, red plum, blackberry, wild strawberries, rose water, black licorice, fennel, crushed stone, clove.

👄 On the palate it’s dry with medium+ acidity, medium body, medium chalky tannins, and medium+ tannins intensity aroma and flavors consistent with the nose.

Yum and santé!! — a year ago

with Deked1

Vanessa

9.4

Today we began with a visit to Billecart-Salmon, which has been family owned since 1818. They are 7 generations strong, producing between 2 and 2.5 million bottles per year. We received our informative tour from Jérôme Lafouge. 👏

He explained how Billecart-Salmon grows and manages many of the vines used to produce their wines; they also source grapes 🍇 from other growers, but otherwise own the production process from the pressing of the grapes on… the facilities are pristine and processes are executed meticulously.

Each wine is vinified by vineyard plot. A unique feature of Billecart-Salmon is its decision to have a slow, cool fermentation process for all of its wine - both those vinified in barrels and those in stainless steel tanks - a process that takes 6 weeks to complete.

Each winemaking decision is customized based upon the type and condition of the grapes, e.g., some undergo a malolactic fermentation (where tart malic acid is converted to soft, lactic acid) while others may not, some have a first fermentation in oak where as some are stainless steel, etc.

At the end of our tour we had the pleasure to taste a few beautiful wines (pictured here).

Our favorite was the 2002 Vintage Cuvée Nicolas François comprised of 60% Pinot Noir from Mareuil-Sur-Aÿ, Aÿ, Ambonnay, and Verzenay and 40% Chardonnay from Chouilly, Cramant, and Avize.

This wine was clearly developing lovely tertiary aromas. It also had great complexity retaining its primary and secondary notes. It was disgorged January of 2016, resting over a decade on the lees.

The aromas and palate had caramel, toffee, brioche, pie crust, toast, hazelnut, cream, melted butter, honey, ginger, candied lemon peel, quince, fig, and chamomile notes.

What an enjoyable experience and we loved meeting some new friends on the tour from Savannah, Georgia and Canada.

Santé mes amis 🥂🥂🥂 — 3 years ago

with Deked1

Steph

9.0

Fruité et pas trop sucré
Santé — 3 years ago

CookDrinkFeast

9.0

#methodetraditionnelle
This was fantastic with roasted shrimp and steamed Alaskan crab legs. The palate has yeasty notes with some apple in the finish. — 4 years ago

Vanessa

9.2

Here’s a delicious Aloxe-Corton (Village) wine from the Côte de Beaune region in the Côte d’Or of Burgundy. The 2018 Domaine Follin-Arbelet Aloxe-Corton.

👁️ This wine is pale ruby with flecks of garnet.

👃🏻 On the nose, it has medium(+) intensity of plush, fruit notes including ripe strawberry, raspberry, red plum, pomegranate, cherry, hibiscus, anise, licorice, mint, fennel, clove, nutmeg, vanilla, burnt caramel, wet leaves, and forest floor.

👄 On the palate, this wine is dry, with medium(+) acidity, a medium body, medium alcohol, medium tannins that are fine-grained and smooth, medium(+) intensity of flavors consistent with the nose. The finish is medium.

👍🏻 This wine is very good. The refreshing, medium(+) acidity lends balance to the ripe red fruit and sweet baking spice notes, while the robust, well-defined aromas and flavors have good (medium(+)) intensity. The nose and palate offer complexity with characteristics crossing clusters (red fruit, spice, earth, floral) and categories (primary, secondary, and tertiary). With a longer, more persistent finish, this wine would be outstanding.

🕰️ This wine is suitable for further bottle aging; the medium(+) acidity, and intense fruit profile, lends structure to hold this wine as additional complexity develops in the form of tertiary notes such as mushroom and earth. 

Santé 🍷🍷 — a year ago

with Deked1

Vanessa

9.3

Our first visit today was to Champagne Larmandier-Bernier. ✨
@larmandier.bernier

This is a family-owned and managed winery, responsible for growing all of the grapes used to produce their champagne. 🍇

All of their vineyards are located in Premier Cru and Grand Cru villages within the Côte des Blancs. The Côtes des Blancs appellation is known especially for Chardonnay grapes, which tend to have a lighter, more delicate style of wine. Larmandier-Bernier’s blends are made predominantly from Chardonnay with Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier playing supporting roles. 🌸🌸

We had a tour of the cellar and winemaking facilities. Most of Larmandier-Bernier’s wines are vinified in Austrian (delicately toasted) oak vessels of various sizes. 🪵

These vessels allow a little oxygen to interact with the wine, which can enhance richness, development of aromas/ flavors, and complexity. The wines also undergo malolactic fermentation for some of the same reasons, but also to soften the acidity, given Chardonnay is a neutral grape and can have higher acidity in a cool climate like Champagne. 👍👍

Our favorite wine of the tasting was the 2015, non-dosage, Terre de Vertus - it was so unique; a beautiful wine with a lot toasty, brioche, almond, marzipan, and round orchard fruit notes. 👏👏👏

We are grateful for our visit and hope to return soon. Santé 🥂🙏

P.S. If you’d like to see more pics documenting the tour and trip, check me out on Instagram @sips_ensemble !! — 3 years ago

with Deked1

Kevin Løk

8.9

Bubbly rosé from New Mexico. Hell yeah. Love to cross another state off the map. — 4 years ago

with Caroline

Chris A

9.0

An absolutely smooth and well put together bubbly - just wow. Perfect on the nose and smooth brioche from start to finish. Santé! — a year ago

Vanessa

9.3

Happy Global Champagne Day! Of course, we need to do our part 😆

This wine has a pale gold hue. On the nose is baked yellow apple, pear, lemon curd, white blossom, brioche, pie crust, marzipan, and hazelnut.

The palate is creamy with a fine-beaded, persistent mousse. It’s extra dry with medium alcohol and vibrant acidity. Flavors are consistent with the nose.

It offers a prolonged finish.

Santé mes amis 🍾🍾🥂🥂 — 2 years ago

with Deked1

Vanessa

9.2

We visited Champagne Ayala today, located in the grand cru village of Äy, Champagne. 🇫🇷

This champagne house is now part of the Bollinger family 🏠 ; it has a distinct and marked personality, leaning especially towards Chardonnay with a light, elegant, and focused character. 🌸

We had the pleasure of touring the grounds and cave with @carledmundsherman where we learned about the history of Ayala, the subsoils and topography where grapes used to make this wine were grown; we rode an elevator with crates of bottles that had been riddled, and we even caught a glimpse of wines being disgorged, dosaged, and corked in action. 🤩

It was a memorable, educational, and delicious experience. 💕Here is a lineup of wines we tasted - mostly blends of predominantly Chardonnay (with Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier) and a Blanc de Blancs (100% Chardonnay).

All of these wines were lovely, though our favorite was the Vintage 2012 La Perle — ‘The Pearl’ — prestige cuvée, due to its richness, aromatics, and complexity. 👏👏👏🍾🍾🍾

Santé!!🥂🥂🥂🥂 @champagne_ayala — 3 years ago

with Deked1