Base Camp Brewing Company
Bérêche & Fils
Reflet d'Antan Brut Champagne Blend
On a side note, I tried to visit Bérêche last November but they were in the process of upgrading the winery and were not accepting visitors until later in 2026. Oh well…hopefully on my next visit to Champagne.
@Paul K : My buddy opened that late in to the evening. I remember getting an offer and being astounded at the price. I love everything Charles Heidsieck, so to no surprise, I loved it. All the beauty of an aged champagne but in a relatively fresh profile. Not too dissimilar to old Krug Grand Cuvée bottles I’ve had. If you love aged bubbles and healthy amounts of reserve wine, it’s wonderful (that price hurts though!)
Bérêche & Fils
Brut Réserve Champagne Blend
Along with Egly-Ouriet, simply the best entry-level grower champ on the market (IMO). This is 70% base vintage, and 30% reserve wines. Blend is 33/33/33% Pinot/Chard/Meunière. 30+ months on lees… damn delicious. Disgorgement: June 2023 / Dosage: 6 gr/l — a year ago
Jacques Selosse
Brut Rosé Champagne Blend
2019 Disgorgement is in the zone with its ultra complex aromatic profile and chiseled palate with riveting energy and a seamlessly balanced expression of layered red berry fruit and chalky minerality. VO base with a touch of still Pinot from Francis Egly. Always a treat ❤️ — 5 years ago
Charles Heidsieck
Brut Réserve Champagne Blend
Opulent and complex. Green apple, peach, a bit pipe apple, brioche, fresh bread dough, chalk, sea shells, and hint of toasted nuts. Savory and crisp at the same time. Splendid acidity. Super energetic mousse, though lacking a bit refinement.
Base wine is 2011, disgorged 2018. This and the Bollinger Special Cuvée are two of my favorite NV Champaign from larger houses. With 40% reserved wine averaged 10 year old, the CH Brut Reserve no doubt is a better value. — 6 years ago
Tobin James
French Camp Paso Robles Zinfandel 2021
Great nose & a clean finish. Not out of TJ wines, not in a negative way, but just different. — 3 months ago
Pierre Paillard
Les Parcelles Bouzy Grand Cru Champagne Blend
A cuvée I have not opened in quite awhile. Found some 375ml’s and since it was one of the few 375ml Extra Brut’s available, easy to grab a few. Enjoy this cuvée from Bouzy.
The is 80% Pinot Noir & 20% Chardonnay. Disgorged 1/23 @ 1g, making it technically a Nature on the champagne sweetness scale. Base yr 2019. For its quality, still nicely priced with ever increasing champagne pricing.
The nose reveals; ripe & macerated yellow & white stone fruits-apricots, peach, vanillin, notes of honey. Marmalade fruits, melange of white citrus’s, lime zest, very ripe pineapple, orange/tangerine blend, raspberry tones, cream, almonds with skins, brioche, baguette crust, yeasty bread dough, toast with a little butter, saline, sea shells, limestone, chalk, yellow lilies and withering white spring flowers.
The mousse is pleasant, creamy, theirs a ripe richness in the fruits. Macerated yellow & white stone fruits-apricots, peach, mango, vanillin, notes of honey. Marmalade fruits, melange of white citrus’s-Meyer lemon lead, lime zest, very ripe pineapple, orange/tangerine blend, raspberry tones, cream, soft, chewy, warm, caramel, almonds with skins, brioche, baguette crust, yeasty bread dough, toast with a little butter, white spice, dry twig, saline, powdered sea fossils, limestone/chalk powder, grey volcanic minerals, used oak tones with withering yellow lilies and withering white spring florals. Lively, crisp, rainfall acidity and a well; knitted, balanced, toned, elegant finish with smart and not overly polished finish that lasts 90 seconds and lands on an even blend of stone fruits, citruses and volcanic minerals.
Photos of; the champagne house of Pierre Paillard and owner/winemaker-Quentin Paillard. — 4 months ago
Kitá Wines
Camp 4 Vineyard Syrah 2015
Matt said 8.9. NYC strip club — 5 years ago
Hobo Wine Company
Camp Cabernet Franc 2019
Blind Tasting Reds 2/13/21, wine 3. Dark red/garnet, vegetal and herby aromas dominate, medium high acid and tannins. — 5 years ago
Jacques Selosse
Initial Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Champagne Chardonnay
Philipponnat
Royale Réserve Brut Champagne Blend
Solid cuvée. Their entry level.
A bit sweet at 8g but Extra Brut in 375’s a little harder to come by. 65% Pinot Noir, 32% Chardonnay and 3% Pinot Meunier. Base vintage 2020. Disgorged June 2024.
The mouth entry glides with rich, ripe; green apple, pineapple, white stone fruit, cherries, lemon pulp to meringue, lime zest, kiwi, tropical melons. Vanilla, caramel, cream, some yeast notes, toast, slivered almonds, crisp volcanic minerals with limestone, white spice that plunges into the palate with some heat, dry herb notes, chalk in bits & powder, saline, sea fossils, yellow flowers, white spring flower bouquet, crisp acidity with nice balance and a 90 second finish that long sets on spice & minerals.
In all my many travels to world wine regions during or just post harvest, the Clos De Goisses Pinot Noir fruit was absolutely the best…everything else, a fairly distance second. I ate 2-3 clusters.
Photos of: my visit to Philipponnat, 10/23. The Clos Des Goisses vineyard that strangely grows over their facility, the view of the Cote de Blancs from the Clos Des Goisses vineyard & entrance to their cellar. — 4 months ago
Krug
Grande Cuvée Brut Champagne Blend
90s base grand cuvee — 3 years ago
Hobo Wine Company
Camp Sonoma County Chardonnay
Mom likes. — 7 years ago
Kitá Wines
Camp 4 Vineyard Spe'y Grenache Blend 2013
Each of the three sisters plays a role and behaves in the backseat of this family vacation. As long as you don’t forget about the dog tied to the bumper, this fruit forward medley will tantalize. — 7 years ago
Shay A
My last bottle of six purchased back in 2022. I visited the winery in 2023 and was able to taste this from barrel…that was also when they informed me that this cuvée would no longer be made in 750, only en mag. Unsurprisingly, the price (more than) doubled and I was pushed out of the market. Such a bummer because not only is this an outstanding champagne, it is (IMO) the closest you can get to Selosse.
Equal parts Chardonnay, Pinot noir, Pinot meunier; Disgorged December 2019; base 2015 vintage; 6g/l dosage. Opened alongside a Charles Heidsieck “Champagne Charlie”.
Drawn from a perpetual reserve dating back to the mid ‘80s, everything about this cuvée is lees-y, rich, powerful and haunting (in the best way). Aromatically, there is a whiff of fino sherry that exists nowhere else in Champagne aside from the Selosse lineup. More akin to Selosse’s Initial, the sherry aromatic is there to enhance (not dominate) and is mostly a thin vein throughout the wine. There is truffle honey, spiced pear, caramel dipped apple all in a balanced profile that is both aged and fresh at the same time. Honey and orange roasted cashews too at the finish where a kiss of tangy sherry reappears. Immaculate. I desperately wish these were still available in 750s. — 25 days ago