Marcel  
Grape Puncher
Posts: 875
 | | 11-27-2003 03:45 AM |
| 40% Pinot Meunier, 30% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay. Complex on the nose, with green apple, honey, bread, ginger, pineapple and toast aromas. Nuts, citrus and gingerbread flavors and a good finish. Nice structure and overall enjoyable. 88-89 pts.
It's a reliable champagne and I usually enjoy it, specially the rose. | | |
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Pool Boy
Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine
Posts: 13767
| | 07-23-2004 12:26 PM |
| Not sure if this is the same wine we had at the DC Crü event last Saturday at The Caucus Room. But I figure you all will let me know if I goofed.
Tasted 7/17/04
Nice stems (some unknown germanic sounding name producer)
Just basic notes as we were having too much fun
Bubblier and delicious, some nice citrus-like notes and wonderful. Very lively and fresh.
N/A on points – I am not good at rating Champagne | | | www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com | |
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Fred
Wine Thief
Posts: 2673
| | 12-30-2004 04:12 PM |
| FYI-
Wide World of Wines on Wisconson Ave In DC has Magnums of this for 59.99. They only have one left since I got one. | | | "It's better to have your enemies inside the tent pissing out, then outside the tent pissing in." -- Lyndon Johnson | |
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CellarKeeper
Sarasota, FL
Grape Puncher
Posts: 856
| | 12-31-2004 04:14 AM |
| | Did these bottles have the black or white label? | | | |
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Fred
Wine Thief
Posts: 2673
| | 12-31-2004 03:44 PM |
| | White, why? | | | "It's better to have your enemies inside the tent pissing out, then outside the tent pissing in." -- Lyndon Johnson | |
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kimber
Barrel Filler
Posts: 1254
| | 12-04-2005 09:12 PM |
| Going to drink one of these tonight....but it has a black label. Wonder if it's the same one.
This will be my first Billecart-Salmon sparkler. Want to try the rose but haven't been able to find any yet.... | | | |
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BellaDonna
Barrel Racker
Posts: 1890
| | 12-04-2005 09:19 PM |
| | Premier Cru has pre-arrivals 750s for $50ish and 375s for $30ish. Also, San Francisco Wine Trading Company has both 750s and 375s in stock for a few bucks more per bottle. SFWTC has superb customer service FWIW. | | | |
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Marcel
Grape Puncher
Posts: 875
| | 12-05-2005 03:00 AM |
| Quote:
Going to drink one of these tonight....but it has a black label. Wonder if it's the same one.
They used to have a white label until 2003-2004, but they redesigned it some time ago and now the label is black, so this is probably the same champagne (although the blended vintages might be different). | | | |
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kimber
Barrel Filler
Posts: 1254
| | 12-05-2005 03:22 AM |
| | Thanks, Mars. I really enjoyed this champagne for $40. Will look to try the rose soon. | | | |
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ChangeMe
Barrel Filler
Posts: 1475
| | 12-05-2005 07:00 AM |
| Quote:
Thanks, Mars. I really enjoyed this champagne for $40. Will look to try the rose soon.
Both of the NV Billecart champagnes (brut & rose) are delicious and very good values. After NV Bollinger Brut, I probably drink more NV Billecart Brut than any other wine (I know, shame on me for not posting more notes). The NV Billecart brut is lively and fruity, and very approachable right off the shelf.
By comparison, I think you really need to give the NV Billecart Rose a little time for it to show its true potential. This is an important note to the casual champagne drinker: just because a champagne is non-vintage does not mean it does not age!!! I'd love to hear thoughts from the "champagne royalty" on this site (I made it 30 years and never called anyone a "slut" of any kind, even in jest, and I can't bring myself to start now  ), but I think you can put all NV champagnes in 3 main categories: 1) those that show great, more or less upon release (like NV Billecart Brut); 2) those that initially show really well, but still benefit greatly from some cellar time (like NV Bollinger Brut); and 3) those that reallyneed some cellar time to integrate and shine (like NV Billecart Rose - or the classic of this category, NV Krug - whose acidity can be painful if a bottle is popped too early).
Anyway, Billecart is a class producer all the way. Interested in champagne? For under $100, you can go get a bottle of NV Billecart Brut and a bottle of NV Billecart Rose. Drink the Brut tomorrow. Drink the Rose in a year or two. You will wind up buying more  | | | |
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whiner
Second star to the right, and straight on till morning
Wine Thief
Posts: 2875
| | 12-05-2005 08:46 AM |
| Quote:
Premier Cru has pre-arrivals 750s for $50ish and 375s for $30ish. Also, San Francisco Wine Trading Company has both 750s and 375s in stock for a few bucks more per bottle. SFWTC has superb customer service FWIW.
SFWTC is a true class act all the way. My favorite store in the Bay area.
a | | I can't listen to that much Wagner. I start getting the urge to conquer Poland.
-- Woody Allen | |
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Joseph Bembry
Advanced Sommelier
Posts: 9423
| | 12-05-2005 12:58 PM |
| Good post, raybanz. Does Billecart put disgorgement dates on the bottle? If not, how do you know that a Rose needs to be held for a year? It very well may have had that year sitting on the shelf already. Just something to think about when trying to "age" NV Champagne.
jb | | | |
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Winetex
Austin, Texas
Master of Wine
Posts: 11025
| | 12-05-2005 03:37 PM |
| | I wouldn't worry about holding the Rose for a few years. A friend of mine opened a 3L of Rose that had not been in cool storage the entire time and it was great. The aging definitely helped the wine. | | | |
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ChangeMe
Barrel Filler
Posts: 1475
| | 12-05-2005 07:15 PM |
| Quote:
How do you know that a Rose needs to be held for a year?
jb
Carbon dating!
You are right, of course... there is no way to know the age of NV wine when you buy it. Billecart has convenienty recently changed labels, so that gives a good clue.
I have just had many NV Billecart Rose (and NV Krug) bottles that clearly needed some time to come together. I have yet to have one of either that seemed over the hill, so for my dollar the best experience is still to give them a little cellar time. | | | |
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jaimetown
DC area
Wine Labeler
Posts: 3535
| | 12-05-2005 09:39 PM |
| | Ray your point on the aging of the Krugs and the Billy Roses are spot on. I had a magnum of the Billecart Rose a few years ago that was cellared for a while and it was delicious. | | | |
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Joseph Bembry
Advanced Sommelier
Posts: 9423
| | 12-05-2005 11:11 PM |
| True, Ray. I was just trying to illustrate that NV can sometimes be a crapshoot where you can purchase a wine that is a few years old already. 95% of all NV bubblies are ready to drink and won't really improve much with time.
Obviously, Krug and Billecart are two that defy that statement.
jb | | | |
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BellaDonna
Barrel Racker
Posts: 1890
| | 01-01-2006 04:37 AM |
| | This is my favorite NV non-rose champer. Nice straw color. This is one of those champagnes with both a fruity and biscuity components. Medium body, not too heavy. Went great with sushi. Extremely recommended especially with a price tag of $40/bottle. BD91 | | | |
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Winetex
Austin, Texas
Master of Wine
Posts: 11025
| | 01-01-2006 03:52 PM |
| Inquiring minds want to know where this is available for $40 per bottle. | | | |
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BellaDonna
Barrel Racker
Posts: 1890
| | 01-02-2006 05:35 PM |
| Inquiring minds shall receive:
Wally's Wine in LA 39.99
Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa 35.98
Premier Cru on pre-arrival 31.99
Winetex,
You know this is NOT the Rose, right? | | | |
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Winetex
Austin, Texas
Master of Wine
Posts: 11025
| | 01-02-2006 05:42 PM |
| | Oops, I was reading too fast and thought it was the Rose. | | | |
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