Egly-Ouriet, Champagne, Grand Cru, Brut Tradition nv In the nose there is citrus, bruised apples and brown spices as in an apple pie. In keeping with the house style, the acidity is quite profound. This wine is quite tight, very long, very much just a baby at this point. The grapes are sourced from vines [...]

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Charles Heidsieck, Champagne, Brut Reserve nv This wine has developed toastiness, nuttiness and a sense of bread dough. The texture is lovely, creamy yet refreshingly acidic. This new bottling was disgorged in 2008 and given a hefty price increase over the previous batch on the market which sold for just under $30 retail.
The base wine [...]

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Penet-Chardonnet, Champagne, Grand Cru, Grande Reserve, Extra Brut nv There is a light golden color in the glass and the biscuit notes are quite developed in the nose - very complex. Besides the biscuits there are browned apples, cherries and toasted nuts. The mouth is electric with acidity, tasting of granny smiths and cranberries. This [...]

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Laurent-Perrier, Champagne, Demi-Sec nv The nose is sweet and toasty. The wine is moderately concentrated and mildly sweet making for an easy starter beverage at Sunday morning brunch. The grapes behind this wine are 45% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir and 15% Pinot Meunier. About 10-20% reserve wines make up the final blend and the wine [...]

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Egly-Ouriet, Champagne, Grand Cru, Rose, Brut nv Concentrated red fruits mark the nose. The mouth repeats this expression of fruit on a layer of minerality. - very young, very dense and very long - yes. The grapes are sourced from Ambonnay, Bouzy and Verzenay, 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay. Approximately 30% reserve wines were [...]

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Jacquesson, Champagne, Cuvee No.732, Brut The name of Jacquesson’s nv brut changes with each successive base wine, the current release being No. 732. The nose features floral notes, sweet in nature, like jasmine with a sense of candied fruits - very pretty. The mouth is very dense, with fresh and baked fruit flavors. While there [...]

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Tarlant, Champagne, Brut Zero The nose features minerality, toast and citrus fruits. The mouth is bone dry and austere, like biting into the pith of an orange. The grapes are roughly 1/3 each of the players in Champagne, namely Chardonnay and each of the Pinots.  The base wine is mostly from 2005 with the addition [...]

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I had the opportunity to meet with two respected growers from Champagne at the WineWise and Terry Theise tasting today in San Francisco. Both are producers as well, crafting dynamite sparklers, each with their own house style. If forced to make a choice, I would take the Pierre Gimonnet wines to my desert island, as [...]

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Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, Champagne, Demi-Sec nv
There are floral and candy notes to smell while the mouth has a smooth fruitiness accented by the touch of RS. The grapes behind this wine are 55% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier. Elabore a Reims 12% $46.59 at Bottle Barn Veuve Clicquot

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Nicolas Feuillatte, Champagne, Brut nv
There’s a fruity, round expression to this bubbly. The house delivers moderate but fairly priced concentration for Champagne. The grapes are 40% Pinot Noir, 40% Pinot Meunier and 20% Chardonnay, aged 3 years on the lees. Elabore by the cooperative in Chouilly 12% $28.59 at Bottle Barn and $36.99 at Traverso’s Nicolas Feuillatte

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J, Russian River Valley, cuvee 20 nv Clean, fresh, fruit, tasted at the winery in May. This wine has the zip of fresh green apples. The base wine is from 2003 with 25% oak-aged reserves adding to the final blend. Aged for 3 years on the lees from the 2nd ferment and disgorged in 2007. [...]

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La Morandina, Moscato d’Asti DOCG 2007 The ‘07 is just as vibrantly fresh and full of orange blossoms as the previous vintage. There’s lots of residual sugar and the light body and freshness that you expect in Moscato d’Asti. P&B in Castiglione Tinella 5.5% $20.99 at Traverso’s
Charles Heidsieck, Champagne, Brut Reserve This is certainly a [...]

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We’ve looked at different styles of brut sparkling before. This flight illustrates some more contrast in what this word can mean.
Roederer Estate Anderson Valley Estate Bottled Brut nv
This wine is consistently the personification of green apples - lip smacking delicious for the fan of high acid sparkling that pulls no punches. P&B in Philo 12% [...]

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Tonight we taste 8 different bubblies on the pink side, from Spain, north to Burgundy and Champagne and finally back home to California.
Codorniu Cava Pinot Noir Brut nv
Earthy and coarse - a real disappointment. All Pinot Noir fermented in the bottle tasted, as in methode champenoise. Elaborador in Saint Sadurni d’Anoia in the Penedes 12% [...]

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Brut and Natural are words that we use to describe the final dosage or sweetness level of sparkling wine. In France, Natural, Brut Nature or any of the various proprietary names communicating the same, ranges from 0 to 6 g/l. Brut, the next level of increasing sweetness, ranges from 0 to 15 g/l.
Thus there is [...]

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Bollinger Champagne Special Cuvee Brut nv
This wine is typically quite complex with earthy notes that are not always embraced by those who favor more fruit-forward styles of sparkling. While I’m a fan of fruit too, I love the multitude of flavors in this wine. On average the grapes for the cuvee are 60% Pinot Noir, [...]

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