Bollinger Special Cuvée NV
Cattier NV
Louis Roederer Brut Premier NV
Cattier Millesimé 1998

It was Sergio's birthday and for some reason the Tasca was cleared empty by midnight. I was there because we had been tasting Cavas, reds, and a couple of amazing Priorats. Finally I ended up with the staff guys drinking a bottle of superb cava: Privat Opus Evolutium. Then Jose had to leave too and I thought the night was over.

Suddenly it became CHAMPAGNE evening. It was already past twelve and therefore no longer Sergio's birthday, but nobody cared, of course: sommeliers are not expected to toast with every diner, I suppose. I made a point of using the Spiegelau Authentis Champagne stems, not the flutes. I'm convinced the difference is remarkable in the case of the Bollinger, for example.

Bollinger Special Cuvée NV
Just as impressive as it always performs. Apple skin, pear, and light biscuity nose. Good bubble, with exquisite balance in the palate. Perfect sparkler for any ocassion. It's traditionally classified as fuller-bodied, but as my reference champagne I just LOVE it like that. 92

Cattier NV
Being 30% cheaper and ranked as light-bodied, I really wanted to like this one. Was I lucky, I liked it more than the regular Taittinger. Crisp acidity provides some zest and better structure than the Taittinger. Against the Bollinger it tastes just as good but with that body difference. Bollinger tastes riper, that's all. 90

Louis Roederer Brut Premier NV
Ouch, a minor disappointment. This is the quintessential fullbodied type and I found it just a little over the top. The rotten apple skin ripeness is almost sweet and I missed the Bollinger finesse. 89

Cattier Millesimé 1998
Superb bottle of champagne. Hard to rate against the Bollinger: just as great ripeness without excess, perfectly balanced by bright acidity, delicious, and significantly cheaper than Bolli. 91

Yes, fout types (Sergio, Lisandro, Pedro and Gastro) began a party at 00:15 and left the Tasca at 4:35 after 4 bottles of Champagne... y que cumplas muchos más

This sounds like my kind of evening!

Yep, a full 12 hour session, closing with 4h for 4 bottles among 4 dudes!

I missed this one.

Had very different experience with the Louis NV. Yes, there were apples but the sweetness not over-powering. I've had 3 or 4 in the last year and they've all been total babes - probably my favourite NV (never tried Krug).

Haven't had the Bolly for years but it was always a delight and agree about the finesse. Maybe runnning one after the other did the Louis no favours.

Ouch, I'm a long way behind in my homework again.
I've recently retried Roederer twice in three weeks from halfbottles and in both ocassions it was a good deal fresher and less evolved, so I must conclude this bottle was ill-stored to some extent. Right now it's clearly hitting 90-91 in my book, and the 375ml is no proper size for champagne...