Vinhos Barbeito (Rare Wine Company Historic Series)

Boston Special Reserve Bual Madeira

9.2

Delicious. Coffee, toffee, very nice acidity, quite sweet (it says semi dry). Mandarines. A perfect dessert wine. Would be a ridiculous great match with Tiramisu! — 16 days ago

Vin, Tom and 1 other liked this

Mas de Boislauzon

Tintot Special Cuvée Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhone Blend

Bob Chlopak

9.3

With winemaker. Lovely, complex and very smooth finish. — a month ago

Bollinger

Special Cuvée Brut Champagne Blend

9.5

Wow! Great bottle of champagne, not too dry. Retirement bottle from Lauren! — a month ago

Opus One

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Rob DeShane

9.5

2014: spectacular at a decade. Could nose this all day. A special wine starting to develop those tertiary notes reminding one of Bordeaux. What a treat! — 2 months ago

Marc Hébrart

Special Club Brut 1er Cru Champagne Blend 2018

Vanessa

9.3

This is the 2018 Marc Hébrart Brut ‘Special Club’ – a beautiful bottle of vintage bubbles hailing from a collection of premier and grand cru sites in the Marne and Montagne de Reims regions of Champagne, France.

When you see “Special Club” on the label of a bottle with this distinctive shape, you’re dealing with essentially a prestige cuvée of a grower-producer who’s a member of the “Club Trésors.”

Marc Hébrart joined the Club Trésors in 1985, which is an association of quality-minded grower-producers. Grower-producers operate differently than the big champagne houses (e.g., Veuve-Clicquot) in that they are smaller-scale vignerons who own the entire production process from the vineyard to the winery and cellar.

They have helped raise awareness and appreciation of artisanal champagne wines that speak to a sense of place and personality, unobscured by extensive, widespread blending.

To achieve the status of “Special Club” a wine must undergo a rigorous application process and meet minimum quality metrics culminating with in two blind tasting panels – the first tasting evaluates the base wine after the first fermentation; the second and final tasting occurs after a minimum of three years aging sur lie.

From our studies we’ve learned the 2018 vintage bore above-average fruit; the warm and dry summer paved the way for a riper expression in an otherwise marginal climate. This wine is made with 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay.

The bouquet has a medium (+) intensity of yellow and green apple, lemon zest, white peach, gardenia, almond biscotti, nougat, pastry, biscuit, and toast notes. The palate is creamy with vibrant acidity, adding lift, a fine-beaded, persistent mousse and long, elegant finish.

— 24 days ago

with Deked1

Deked1, Vin and 16 others liked this

Vanessa

@David T Isn’t that interesting considering it has more than doubled in membership since then and seems to be a successful venture. Do you why the other founders left?

David T

In no way did I mean to lessen SC bottling’s if it was interpreted that way. There are producer ego driven personalities intermixing here and that accounts for the fair amount of change. I believe there are still 29 SC producers.

Vanessa

@David T Oh I was truly just curious! It is an interesting fact. 😆 🥂 Thank you for sharing it.