Last night our supposedly Bordeaux group did our annual sushi and Champagne dinner at Mishima. A nice lineup:
Flight 1
2005 Pierre Peters Chetillons I thought this was great - young but already showing complexity. A-
2004 Bollinger Grand Annee In comparison to the Peters I thought this slightly ponderous, but a nice f uller styled Champagne,B+/B
Flight 2 NV Marie Courtin Concordance (disgorged 1/13) Sans soufre. Very fresh, bright, alive, B+/A-
2002 Moet and Chandon Dom Perignon I loved this last year, but this bottle was a sulphur bomb. Very full under neath, but sulphur dominated. Maybe the comparison to the Courtin made it m ore apparent, but this still was sulfury an hour later. B-
Flight 3
1996 Dom Ruinart Brut This was good, but maybe a slight disappointment on my expectations of ‘9
6 tete de cuvees. Liked more on second pour . B+
1998 Dom Ruinart Brut Well balanced, nice length. B+
2002 Dom Ruinart Brut Selfopening bottle, but Jay reacted and saved. Some sulphur, though not lik e the Dom. Not as appealing as most wines this night, but suspect it will i mprove. B
Flight 4
1999 Taittinger Comtes des Champagne Pretty classic showing for a full bodied BdB, balanced and long. A-
1999 Philipponnat Clos des Goisses Edged the Comtes for my WOTN, long, complete, best Champagne I’ve had thi s year. A-/A
Nice wines with a fun group
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a pa rty where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivi ty, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.