Millésimé Brut Champagne Blend

From mag. Golden… soft apricot and settled corn. Delicate and rich and delicious with a steeliness and freshness too.

Nice minerality. Quite high toned acid. Pretty fruit if a bit shrill. From mag

Lime gold in color. Great acidity. Citrus and a warm toasty note. Very good balance

Wow. Butterscotch and crushed hazelnuts.

This came from a special release called La Collection Crayeres Mis En Caves, where Charles Heidsieck released old non vintage champagnes dating back to 1990 and all the way through 2001, alongside a somewhat late disgorged release of their 2000 vintage (this bottle). I opened a bottle of the 2001 MEC (which is a base vintage of 2000) a few weeks ago and it was corked. Thankfully I got a spectacular experience with this 2000!

I was able to enjoy this next to a ‘96 Krug, 15 Henri Giraud and a few other great champagnes. Richly colored in the glass, almost gold like. Distinct aromatics of pencil shavings/sawmill dust, toffee, espresso, and lemon scone. Lots of depth and richness on the palate as expected, but it’s amazingly fresh. Nougat, more lemon pastry notes and plenty of creamy mousse at the finish. In fact, there were a lot of similarities to the ‘96 Krug, but less ginger and slightly less finesse driven. Absolutely delightful!

Strawberries and cream... texture for days.

Waiting until the game is over felt daunting.

Vanessa had this a year ago

2012 vintage. Full-bodied with chalk, stewed apple, cherry, honeycomb, poached pear, yellow flowers. Long finish and vinous. Storm is starting to roll in, wishing a good-bye and good riddance to 2021!

Nice