Freddy R. Troya

9.0

Champagne Bollinger Special Cuvée Brut NV – Champagne AOC, France 🇫🇷

Overview
One of Champagne’s enduring benchmarks, Special Cuvée combines approximately 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, and 15% Meunier, with a significant portion of reserve wines contributing depth and consistency. Rich, layered, and unmistakably Bollinger, it delivers remarkable complexity at a price point that remains accessible compared to many prestige bottlings.

Aromas & Flavors
Golden apple, ripe pear, citrus zest, baked brioche, roasted nuts, and subtle spice unfold in layers. Notes of fresh bread dough and orchard fruit intertwine with hints of honey and toast.

Mouthfeel
Vibrant and energetic with a creamy mousse and impressive depth. A delicate kiss of yeast adds texture and contrast, while the wine’s concentration and freshness remain beautifully balanced through the finish.

Food Pairings
Lobster, seared scallops, roast chicken, truffle dishes, aged Comté, oysters, or simply enjoyed as a celebratory aperitif.

Verdict
A richly textured and multi-layered Champagne that continues to justify its reputation as one of the region’s benchmarks. Complex, expressive, and consistently rewarding, it offers a level of sophistication that punches well above its category.

Did You Know?
Unlike many large Champagne houses, Bollinger ferments a portion of its wines in old oak barrels and maintains an extensive reserve wine program, helping create the signature richness and depth that define Special Cuvée.

🍷 Personal Pick
Few non-vintage Champagnes deliver this combination of richness, complexity, and value. The layered fruit, subtle autolytic character, and vibrant texture make Special Cuvée one of my favorite benchmark Champagnes and a bottle I never hesitate to revisit. — 21 days ago

Delectable Wine

Follow to learn about our favorite wines & people.

9.0

This captivating Pecorino shows a bouquet of candied ginger with dusty florals, wild herbs, incense and crushed green apple. Silky and rich, yet balanced by stimulating acids and mineral-tinged orchard fruits, it tapers off spicy with a hint of sour melon that keeps the palate wanting more. $22.00 (Eric Guido, Vinous, April 2021) — 5 years ago

Delectable Wine

Follow to learn about our favorite wines & people.

9.3

The 2017 Pinot Bianco Vorberg Riserva is subtly sweet and perfumed in the glass, as a note of peaches-in-cream fades to yellow apple, raw almond, lemony citrus, stone dust and white flowers. It’s soothing on the palate with its silky textures, yet contrasting tension builds through gentle acids and minerals, creating a ripe yet also savory and almost-salty expression. The finish is long, resonating on ripe orchard fruits with inner florals and a hint of lime zest. (Eric Guido, Vinous, November 2020) — 6 years ago

Vanessa

9.0

Traditional method sparkling wine from Tokaj, delicious complement to the spicy tuna poké with avocado, seaweed salad, and edamame. Medium yellow hue, with flavors and aromas of orchard fruit, such as ripe pear, yellow apple, white flowers, biscuit, and a medium body, medium acidity, medium alcohol. Aromatic. Dry on the palate. Vintage 2015. ABV 13%. — 6 years ago

with Deked1

Eric Guido

9.4

The 2009 Donnhoff Hermannshohle is rich and ample in the glass, showing sweet peaches and pear, with hints of kiwi, honeysuckle, and white smoke.  It races across the palate with precision and poise, delivering mineral-tinged orchard fruits, perfectly balancing weighty textures and ripeness with an acid-mineral thrust. The finish is long and floral, complemented by lingering flavors of lime and green apple with cheek puckering tension. Wow! — 6 years ago

Dr. Owen Bargreen

9.2

Fresh, lively and full of life, the 2017 ‘Arthur’ Chardonnay is another fantastic effort from this storied Oregon estate. On the nose this takes on gooseberry and fresh herbs that mingle with baked apple and shades of Challah bread on this distinctive nose. The palate is both bright and plush, showing a soft texture and delivering copious orchard fruit flavors that dance with shades of cinnamon infused sourdough bread. A delight to savor in its youth, enjoy this over the next five plus years. Drink 2019-2025- 92 — 7 years ago

Jenn Birchwhat

9.1

Really enjoyed this one, liked the slight berry taste to it. — 8 years ago

Freddy R. Troya

9.2

Trader Joe’s — Reserve Lot #258 Pinot Gris 2025 — Willamette Valley, Oregon. United States 🇺🇸

Overview
A lively and expressive 100% Pinot Gris from Willamette Valley, crafted in a fresh, approachable style that overdelivers at its price point. Compared to the previous vintage, the 2025 shows a more savory edge and greater vibrancy right from the first pour.

Aromas & Flavors
Lemon zest, ripe pear, green apple, and subtle orchard fruit layered with a lightly savory touch and clean citrus lift.

Mouthfeel
Light to medium-bodied with bright, energetic acidity. The wine feels more alive and immediately expressive, with a crisp, refreshing texture and a clean, polished finish.

Food Pairings
Light seafood, grilled chicken, salads, picnic fare, or simply on its own as an easy, everyday sipper.

Verdict
A standout value that hits the mark effortlessly. Fresh, vibrant, and well-balanced, this vintage elevates the experience with added liveliness and savory nuance.

Did You Know?
Pinot Gris from cooler climates like Willamette Valley often shows a balance of fresh acidity and subtle savory tones, especially in vintages where ripening conditions preserve both fruit and structure.

🍷 Personal Pick
This vintage really hit the spot, more alive, more savory, and incredibly satisfying from the first sip. At this price, it’s hard to beat.
— 3 months ago

Dawn E.

9.6

Splurge Sunday evening! I truly was going to wait until WE vintage chart signaled ready to drink.
Second bottle of this and it is exceedingly more developed and yummy! NO regrets!
This is full of rich flavor...apple butter, pears, brioche, apple orchard, vanilla pudding, jasmine
and graphite! 😁🍅🥐🍐 — 5 years ago

Chris

9.2

Lovely Riesling from Alsace with apple and other fruits from the orchard, crisp and dry. Beautiful day here. — 6 years ago

Scott E. Becker

9.0

[Tasted on October 10, 2020 at Home during the Virtual Nashville Wine Auction]

Estate fruit from Annahala (77%) and Apple Barn (23%) vineyards in Anderson Valley. Cool and coastally-influenced vineyards. Barrel aged for 10 months in 41% new French oak. Sweet black cherry, black raspberry and strawberry fruit, with graphite, violets, and mineral and smoky notes.
— 6 years ago

Delectable Wine

Follow to learn about our favorite wines & people.

9.0

Deep yellow. Nose has straightforward aromas of honey and orchard fruit. But this is very precise on the palate, a core of snaking acidity amid the apple and pear notes, and a long finish that’s a balance of fruit and minerality. Blended from 10 to 50 year old vines. (Jason Wilson, Vinous, July 2020)
— 6 years ago

Adriana Fabbro

9.1

Felt like a justifiable extravagance during quarantine. Surprisingly aggressive mousse: bubbles were audible and hit the back of my tongue like pop rocks. Austere but pretty, like an early spring day, when it’s sunny but still too cool to ditch the winter coat and when some trees are blossoming but most are still bare. Aromatics: brioche, orchard fruit & blossoms (underripe apple, pear), early spring wild flowers, a touch of something tropical (passion fruit?). Flavors: baked apple, buttery notes quickly give way to alpine snow melt and reverberating, enamel-stripping acidity. A peculiar, but perfect date for Easter brunch. — 6 years ago

Gregory Fulchiero

9.1

On par with the very best Albariño I’ve ever had. Ripe orchard blossoms and green apple fruit and peach purée on a sourdough cracker. This is special. — 7 years ago

Jay Kline

9.2

A small portion of Pinot Noir (which makes up approximately 80% of the blend) still wine is added for color; the balance is Chardonnay. Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of an hour. The Grand Rosé pours a pretty pink color with a persistent mousse. On the nose, the wine is developing with notes of raspberry, red apple, a mix of orchard citrus fruit, marzipan, a hint of brioche and lovely minerals. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium+ and round. Very easy to like. Drink now. Disgorged February of 2025. — 4 months ago

Devin Brown

8.9

The description: A wonderful bouquet of whites spices, a core of fresh pear and apple, wild white flowers and a white sand mineral quality. Youthful, complex and enticing. Satin-cream textures lead to a core of white fleshed orchard fruit flavours, some spice and mineral and acontrasting acid line. Refreshing, balanced, even and lengthy. Well made and ready to drink from 2022 through 2026.
The opinion: I agree and think we are drinking it at exactly the right time! — 2 years ago

Vanessa

9.0

Popping a bottle of Paul Bara to celebrate a number of things, not least of which is a four-month suspension of the tariffs previously imposed on most French, Spanish, and German wine imports to the United States 🍾 🥂

Let’s hope this pause signals a forthcoming, permanent solution and favorable path forward.

This beautiful bottle of bubbles from Bouzy, Champagne, offers notes of citrus and orchard fruits such as lemon pith, tart apple, and pear, also white blossom, marcona almond, brioche, biscuit, bread dough, sourdough, and wet slate. It is nicely balanced and complex.

Cheers, friends! — 5 years ago

with Deked1

Blake Walker

9.2

A step up from the L’Overture, the L’Accomplie has a bit more depth, orchard fruit flavor (Lemon, bruised apple). 20% Chardonnay, 80% Pinot Noir. — 6 years ago

Eric Guido

9.1

The 2017 Pierre Boisson Blanc is wonderfully fresh, yet enriched by notes of hazelnut and dried peaches, as a mix of smoky minerals and floral tones add further depths.  On the palate, an intense display of sizzling acids, minerals and citrus-tinged green apple cascade across the senses while tugging at the cheeks. The finish is medium in length and remarkably fresh, resonating of tart orchard fruits and mouth watering acidity. — 6 years ago

Dr. Owen Bargreen

9.5

The 'Cuvée 1911' is an absolutely thrilling bottle of Champagne from winemaker Jean-François Clouet. Composed of 100% Pinot Noir, this wine was sourced from Clouet’s ten best lieux-dits in the Grand Cru villages of Bouzy and Ambonnay. This Cuvée is a blend of vintages, primarialy consisting of the 2008 vintage, with ’07, ’09, ’10 vintages rounding out the blend. The wine spent more than 6 years aging on its lees before its disgorgement in November, 2017. This non-vintage Champagne is simply remarkable, as it displays great intensity on the nose, with aromatics of Pazazz apple, toast, florals and kumquat all instantly drawing you in. Even more captivating is its combination of weight, tension and gorgeous textural compisition. Wonderful flavors of orchard fruits and citrus continue to impress as they come together with a beautiful salinity character which persists through the pretty finish. This is an absolutely striking Champagne, which will continue to evolve gracefully for decades. Drink 2019-2035- 95 — 7 years ago