Etienne Calsac, L'Echappee Belle Brut

Nice (but discrete) lemon scent, sunny weight, lovely BdB.

Wheat colored, very active bead. Some herbs and bursting with citrus. Medium to light weight, chalky, orange peel, excellent acidity, and low dosage. Lively, refreshing, excellent. Glad we tried this from a list.

-- popped and poured -- -- tasted non-blind over a couple hours -- -- disgorgement: May 2022 -- -- 100% Chardonnay -- -- dosage: 2 g/L -- NOSE: green, bitter apple; some wet concrete mineral tones BODY: slow, medium-fine bubbled bead; TASTE: started out quite tart, but softened with air and warming temp.; quite dry; medium-light Granny Smith apple; not complex, but still enjoyable if you like the style; not autolytic; not vinous; not toasty/bready; rather, very much in the …

On PnP for New Year Day’s Countdown, muted on the nose, slight hint of apple. On palate, very dry, razor sharp, apple, lemon, yeasty. Short bitter finish. Unimpressed. With some time in the glass, it got rounder. Brioche on the nose. On palate, honey, richer, apple, custard.

[Restaurant purchase] At restaurant Terroir, Utrecht NL. No detailed notes. Birthday dinner. Lovely BdB with pear, red apple, brioche, lemon. Medium+ acidity, medium+ finish Degorgement April 2025

Such a lovely champagne. First time trying this producer. No formal notes. But a big fan! need more!

2021 base I believe. Apple, pear, lemon confit, and crushed rocks on the nose. A bit of toast. Slightly herbaceous. Medium bodied with borderline high acidity. Not the most intense nor the longest, but nice with food. Bone dry. Well made, textbook grower champagne.

Dave E Wine Dinner - Oct 2025 (Q by Peter Chang) : Brioche, lemon, saline, a hint of sweet onion or mignonette, light nuttiness. Bright and easy.

2024 disgorgement. medium gold colored with light mousse and reticent fine bead. nose showing brioche, almond, cream, lemon, apple. medium bodied, good integrated acidity. palate mirrors the nose with pastry dough, almond cream, and more lemon and apple flavors. smooth and easy. good and should develop but am not sure this will be a long term wine. would reapproach before 2030 at the latest.

Fun wine, getting quite tertiary with nutty, savory, and saline notes. Bead has mellowed out quite a bit. Quite nice, but seems advanced for a base 2017 Champagne.

Fresh green & red apples and bready. A little soap or lavender. Soft bead. Juicy and fruity. Lots of apples and bread. A bit spicy. Very fresh w some bread and ginger on the palate. Finish is ok. Bready. Very good for an entry level champagne. Nose - 5/6, Palate - 5/6, Finish - 4.5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1/2 = 15.5/20.

Rhones (Balvenera) : March 2024 disgorgement. I really liked the 2021 disgorgement when I had it recently, but this bottle was nowhere near the same quality. Steely and chalky mineral nose, but it's rather flat on the palate - gentle citrus and pear fruit, but it feels fairly hollow and lacks cut, energy, or midpalate depth.

Base 2016 with 15% 2015. Disgorged oct -18, tasted Sep 2025. Oxidised style with light apricot, roasted lime and light toast. Fresh and crisp acidity with a med+ tail. Chalk and flint!

Base 2014 with 15% reserve from 2013, disgorged April 2017 and tasted Sep 2025. Nutty apricot, ripe green apples, butterscotch, faint brine and crackers. Way more developed than the -16 and a bit more complex tail with crisp chalk.

Loved the chalky, mineral essence and really dug the moneyed richness as well.

Given to me as a gift from a co-worker. Very yellow/gold in color, bubbles dissipate quickly, fresh citrus with a chalky mineral taste with a slight quinine finish. Very linear and well made and gets better with more air.

Gil visits the Châteauneuf (Châteauneuf-du-Salil, Albany) : A new producer for me, slightly leaner than I typically like my Champagnes to be, but still very nice. Tart and racy, lots of fresh pear and citrus fruit beneath lightly floral and chalky/stony mineral flavours. The autolytic flavour elements here are really dialed back. The palate presence is very light and refreshing, lifted by bright effervescence and lively acids, and the whole package is lovely to drink. (2019 base wine, July 2021 …

Pear and lactic nose. Fresh and precise, white flowers finish. Well balanced.

Les Rocheforts is one of those Champagnes that makes you stop mid-sentence. It’s all Chardonnay, so think clean, bright, and crisp - but not the kind that slices your gums open. There’s just enough dosage to smooth out the sharp edges of that natural zingy acidity. Flavour-wise, it’s a mix of lemon zest, green apple, and this creamy, biscuity roundness. The balance is ridiculous - fresh and zippy, but still feels generous. Killer with lobster: the wine’s brightness cuts through …

Superb bubbles, the nose hinting at almond cookie and ginger, the palate shows a crispy quality, a round mousse, displaying dried apple, blossum and dried ginger, excellent in how it carries itself with confidence and pedigree, crisp with length, a BdB set at a high standard, totally food-friendly as well

Off the list at Prevelle. Nice nose - some round bread along w some chalky minerals with some orchard fruit. Excellent for an entry level Champagne and went well with the wide range of flavors we encountered w the tasting menu.

A very pure expression of chalkiness in champagne. Pleasant floral notes that aren't overwhelming, a bit of yeast and cream but not that much. Linear chalk all the way through

블드블 치고 되게 둥글다 이쁜 산도와 미네랄리티, 낮은 도사주임에도 과실 단맛이 강조 다른 라인이 기대되는 바틀

Excellent Champagne. A bit darker and richer than the entry-level Champagne, but still with loads of energy. Big fan of what these wines.

(Disgorged in '24) A touch of natural wine character, with crisp acidity and vibrant tropical fruit. The palate shows some level of complexity and balance. Well made.

Textbook BdB in a fresh, fruity style but with good underlying bread / brioche and chalk notes as well. The balance is spot on here for my palate, some sweetness, some toast, some acidity, everything coming together very nicely. Not the most complex wine but showing beautiful harmony. Grwat value. 17.5/20

Aroma is of freshly pressed apple and chalk. The minerality shows it's hand early. The green apple continues on the palate with some toast notes and even lime. Again really good, but never reached the next level of complexity.

balance; fruity; bubble is tiny and vivid; scent of tofu?!

Deg. Nov. 2024 比较明显的青苹果和一些野苹果组合起来的复合苹果味，略带酸柚，中后段多了一份溏心苹果和冰糖雪梨味，自内而外出现一些类似油柑的酸感，在嗅觉的行进中，各种果似被打成果泥，和些许酵母带来的奶昔融合在一起。外周一些锐利的矿物感和贝壳勾勒轮廓。口感相对饱满，酸度高但柔和，适饮性好，中间有一定主干，结构感不是特别强，相对甜软的风格。果味的组合显得颇为微妙，虽然层叠而颇为厚实的果味，质地清透，主要是新鲜的苹果泥，自内而外散发出白油桃和熟白桃、芒果之类的热带果和一点杏子干，微甜，和油柑、酸橘和黄樱桃组成一种微妙的酸调，收尾的酸带些许绿茶带来的收敛以及些许矿物感。91-92/100

Great freshness

'22 base, 3g/l, 8/24 disgorgement. A bit yeasty and yellow-fruited. Very nice.

Eccellente bottiglia. Fresca e un tocco di nocciola.

Extra Brut, with emphasis on the 'extra' - this is a tart, bracing, naturalish Champagne. Green apple, lemon zest and a hint of spice, it's grippy and exciting but also - unfortunately - not at all delicious. Earned Mrs A's disapproval, too. In a restaurant BTG so unsure of the dates, but wouldn't surprise me if it were 2021 base.

Rating: 4,2/5,0.

Charleston sparkling wine fest wine 7... i liked this better on day 1, lost some of its mousse. light and bright yellow, very chard on the nose with citrus oil and mineralls... even some green herbal savory notes... some natural yeast aromas. moderate autolysis, no oak. on the palate it was focused, firm, and dry. it didn't feel malo to me but somebody said it was 100% malo. really nice champagne, entry level style, with a lot of zip and …

Temporary Living and not the best drinking; 1/30/2025-6/15/2025 : Drank this at altitude on a ski vacation and did not enjoy as much as my previous bottle—could be 100% me and not the bottle! But this is a more acidic, austere style, mineral and lemony citrus which I do normally love, but in this situation a little to acidic and probably needed food (and sea level drinking!)

Disgorged 5/22. Pale gold. Nose of cool white flowers, chalk, Parmesan, ginger, white grapefruit, apple core. On the palate, dry and austere at first with a slow bloom of stony tart apple and citrus in settled balance. Exuberant mousse with bristling acidity and scintillating spine. Long finish of grapefruit, loads of chalky limestone, and bruised apple. Tremendous detail and energy, with more to come.

The wine looks yellow gold colored. It smells like lemon, apple, mineral, stoniness and almond. The body is light/medium. The wine finishes medium. The wine has high acidity.

D 6/24. PNP. Color is light straw. Mousse is med fine. Nose is simple and linear, and this follows on the palate. There is no fat here, just pure chiseled white fruit with tight tight focus. I am not sure that this house is my style, but if it is this seems like time will be needed to make this enjoyable. Reminds me a lot f the savart wines and would prefer this with something to eat not alone.

Rating: 4,1/5,0.

A private dinner (Restaurant Cue, Amsterdam, NL) : Made from 100% Chardonnay, spontaneous fermentation, full malo, disgorged April 2024, dosage 4 gr/l. Savoury, intense, dry but rich, huge minerally energy, hewn from the rock, piercing acidity, grippy bitters.

Quick note. Very drinkable now, with some upside. More refined and balance than the 2022 L'Echappee Belle.

2021 vintage

Good juice for the value, a bit one dimensional. I’m not sure it’s worth the step up price wise from the hard to beat QPR L'échappée Belle, but will confirm that NYE. Played nicely with the caviar.

Ditto prior note. Really precise. Lovely.

Opens with spices, vanilla, hints of creme brûlée followed by gentle apple notes. Second day, very impressive gentle and easy to drink bubbles with some creamy nutty caramel note. Feels fairly dense yet medium intensity of flavors. Which I dont regard as flaw here since it helps with freshness and ease of drinking. Acidity is fairly low here I can say but some nice slightly chalky, lime imprint stays on the tongue. The caramel note sometimes evokes memories of Ruinart …

Riktigt trevlig, bas 20

May 22 disgorgement. Enjoyable bottle of bdb, not super complex but for the money this is solid value.

Also vinous, round, big bones here , good tart. Enjoyable

A quiet Champagne, with petrol, pure grapefruit, fizz, and a bit of astringency.

Absolutely killer with 3-4 years of bottle age. Really wish that I had bought more of this when the prices were a bit more reasonable. Lovely fruit, but would have guessed a pinot heavy blend. Extremely balanced.

Are you sure?

Etienne Calsac, L'Echappee Belle Brut

Vintages

No vintages

Community Reviews