Vranken Champagne Tete de Cuvée Tradition Grande Reserve

Really enjoyed this champagne. Well balanced. Paired well with oysters, poke bowl and dessert.

Apero with the kids.

Opened this magnum as an aperitif for OTBN 2017. No pop from cork, dark straw color. Not much on the nose. Held on to this too long. Not unpleasant, but tired and certainly did not evoke a sense of celebration.

These were amazing. Creamy yummy elegant! I wish I had more.

Brought on the way to dinner at Peking Duck House - Midtown. Thought there was no corkage, but apparently that's only at the Chinatown outpost. The Midtown restaurant got a liquor license since we were last there; hence $15 corkage (not that bad) but our waiter talked to the manager and knocked it down to $10 on the bill I had never had champagne with Chinese food (spring roll app and peking duck and sesame scallops entrees tonight) but this …

To fingerfood / starter on Christmas Eve. Good, but maybee a little to simple.

From one of my guests "I'm really liking this. Yummo!" It really was a good choice for our party. 1.5l

Champagnedagen 2012 (Grand Hotel, Stockholm) : 84-85 p.

Light straw color with a medium body. Crisp apple and yeasty. Small bubbles with decent effervescence. Straight forward simple.

Sampled 9/5/11 Wonderful surprise. Slightly golden color. Soft hints of green apple, lemon peel, honey with wonderful acidity balance and strong bead.

Light golden color. Medium bubbles. Apple aromas with light yeast and oak. Medium-light bodied apple palate, again with a little bit of oak. Medium length finish. Good overall – inoffensive but very middle-of-the-road. Tasting notes from 375ml bottle.

Really smokey and yeasty nose. On the palate notes of apple, bread, lemons and chalky minerality all interplay. Very good acidity.

G.

1994 vintage

Decent for the price ($25) but nothing more. Reminds me of a slightly more leesy version of Piper NV. Mid weight, average mousse, medium finish. Flavors marked by biscuit, pannetone, and pear. Not quite in the league of Charles Heidsieck or Bollinger in terms of the palate weight and yeastiness, but definitely a more "oxidative" style than many of your basic NV bruts in its price range. Given the source (Wine Warehouse in NYC), there is a distinct possibility that …

In a word, biscuity. That's the dominant characteristic, anyway. It starts out a bit strident and tart, but it mellows so much and so quickly that, by the end of the night, it's pillowy soft and generous, like a cuddly teddy bear. It's amiable, showing broad pear and rich bread notes. It's got a small, precise bead. So it's all around good fun, if not the most memorable thing in the world.

Fine Tete de Cuvee. Rich and larger in scale, with crisp notes of brioche and some vanilla. Not terribly complex, but smooth and finie bubbles in the mouth and hitting all the right spots.

Yeasty, bready nose with a bit of moss. Some light citric notes, but mostly yeast and other similar properties. A little light on the palate, but the bubbles were nice and fine, and there was some creaminess, although i'd prefer a little more. This was a gift, so I'm not sure of the cost, but certainly a well-made wine.

Medium body with lots of yeast notes and balanced acidity. Good fruit. May be a hint of sweetness.

Appley fruit, honey and a bit inarticulated yeast notes. Dry and fruity with a decent moussé and crispy acidity. Grapefruity and slightly bitter towards the medium lenght finish. Nothing extraordinary but perfectly drinkable.

Dry and citrusy on the nose, with no yeast or toast. Fine mousse produces a caressing moutfeel, full of tangy citrus flavors. Very, very light on its feet, this wine displays consistent fruit throughout the palate and into the finish, but lacks the extra nuance of the yeasty flavors you often find in chardonnay champagnes. Certainly good, but based on the enthusiastic recommendation at Spec's, I was expecting a little more. Should have left this on the shelf and picked …

K&L Champagne Tent Event (53 current releases tasted) (K&L Wines, Redwood City, California) : Bright light yellow color; autolytic, oak, apple nose; autolytic, oak, apple palate; medium finish

Tasting Group Dinner - Miscellaneous (La Belle Vie Lounge, Minneapolis) : This was a bit on the sweet side, but pleasantly crisp and full of red apple fruit, with a toasty clean finish.

Served chilled on ice. Clean crisp fruit, lean without any nuttiness and a touch of dry citrus. Good.

Half Bottle NV Champagne Tasting; 1/31/2009-2/1/2009 (Kirstin and Shane's) : My second favorite of the flight. THe nose was full of overripe apples and even a little barnyard-y (just barely, though). The palate was very similar to the Devaux, full, rich, and toasty, but the finish vanished surprisingly quickly. ALl in all, I really enjoyed this wine, and if the finish had been longer, it would have tied for WOTN.

Dry and slightly fruity. Not too bad

Popped and poured. Light yellow-gold hue. Nice biscuit aromas immediately out of bottle, along with refined notions of apple, stoney minerals, and yeast. An undercurrent of earth and mushroom adds a touch of complexity to the fruit. Medium body. The acid is immediately noticeable on the palate and cuts through the fruit while accenting the minerality through the finish. Perfect bubbly for food. All-in-all, this is a good wine.

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Vranken Champagne Tete de Cuvée Tradition Grande Reserve

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