Le Mesnil Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs NV Champagne
100% Chardonnay all from Grand Cru vineyards within Mesnil-Sur-Oger. This cooperative of growers produces wine from some of the best Chardonnay terroir in all of Champagne. Pale gold with a fine bead. Highly aromatic with a strong bread dough character that gains support from notes of apple, lime, roasted almonds and a hint of caramel. The medium/full body palate offers up a very dry expression of pears and toast that is nicely balanced by the richness of the texture. Delicious and a steal at the price (around $15 less than Veuve and the other big house NV Bruts and significantly higher quality, in our opinion).
Excellent
$55 at BCLDB
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Grower Champagne
The Grower Champagne movement is picking up steam, and for consumers, this is a very good thing. The Champagne region of France produces annually over 350 million bottles of delicious bubbly and this production can be divided between two groups: the big “Houses” with the familiar names like Moet & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Pol Roger, Taittinger et al. and the “Growers”, a group whose members have flown largely under the radar…until recently.
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The pedigree does not get much higher than Biserno, the latest creation of Marchese Lodovico Antinori. Lodovico formerly owned the elite of the Super-Tuscan wineries: Tenuta dell Ornellaia, makers of Ornellaia and Masseto. In 2002 he sold his interest to his partners the Mondavi-Frescobaldi Group. For the Biserno venture he has partnered with his brother, Marchese Piero Antinori, president of Marchesi Antinori, the winery that arguably created the Super-Tuscan brand with his ground-breaking Tignanello. So it was with considerable excitement that I happily accepted George Wong’s generous invitation to taste these wines at a small, gentlemen-only dinner party at George’s beautiful home.
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2002 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon
One of the greatest wines we have tasted. Big and brawny, but in exquisite balance. The nose is beautiful collection of red and black fruits that take you back they are so seductive. You need to pause before going back to the glass to get the fresh cedar notes that lie underneath. On the palate, blueberry, cassis and a slight woodsy note come together in a full body that is the classic joining of power and elegance. I frequently find myself without much good to say about wines this big. But this managed to stay light on its feet while it delivered up a terrific intensity of flavor. The finish went on for close to a minute. Exceptional! This wine, though 12 years after the vintage, came across as a youngster, and another decade and probably more surely exists in front of this amazing wine. If further complexity develops over the years, it could become perfect.
Extraordinary
*Current release available at Marquis Wines (www.marquis-wines.com) $275
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Maison Bleue Tasting Room (Walla Walla, WA)
The first thing you notice when you walk in to Maison Bleue’s downtown Walla Walla tasting room is how spacious it is. Not that it is big, or empty, but spacious. The ceilings must be 15 feet tall. It is the height over head that really contributes to that feeling of spaciousness. The décor adds to that feeling; furnishings are simple, tasteful and sparse. The walls are bare, but for two chalk boards to inform you about the wine, and painted a dark cobalt blue which adds to the feeling of space and class. They climb to a beautiful white plaster brocade ceiling.
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Le Mesnil Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs NV Champagne 
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