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Tag: Crus

  • We’ll Toast October with Champagne Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé

    It's been twelve years since we featured Champagne Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé. We have a birthday to celebrate in October and decided to splurge and treat ourselves to this old friend of a wine. Perhaps one day we may be able to again raise a glass of wine with friends the way we once did. For now, all we can do is wishfully set out a few extra glasses and set up a virtual toasting session.

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    Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé Champagne also happens to fit our year of terroir. It has been made by the same family since 1818, and two of the grapes in our bottle are from particular family vineyards. Here is what the house is posting in the current blend notes:

    • 40% Chardonnay sourced from the best Crus in the Champagne region
    • 30% Pinot Noir from the Montagne de Reims and the Grande Vallée de la Marne
    • 30% Pinot Meunier from the Vallée de la Marne and the southern slopes of Epernay

    They are proud of the high use of Pinot Meunier, saying that it gives the wine a creaminess and structure if appropriately grown and fermented. We will be looking for this in the glass as we do our toasting.

    Trying wines from different places, made with different grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month!

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    We highly recommend this article on Wine Searcher about this month's wine.

    10 Things Every Wine Lover Should Know About Billecart-Salmon

    Our bottle was delivered to us on sale for $74.99 (generally about $100.) from Gordon's Fine Wines and Liquors.

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    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photos: ©2020 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

  • Cuvée Rosé from Laurent-Perrier Is Our Choice for a 2018 New Year’s Toast

    Some years we do a long search for a special sparkling wine, finding a rare bottle that we will experience for the first time. This year, at our first shopping stop, we ran into an old favorite that brought back great memories of past toasts, so we went with it – a bottle of Cuvée Rosé from Laurent-Perrier!

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    This is a year when we want to think about past wines as we celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Sparkling Resolution we made back in 2007 and have kept ever since. We said New Years was not often enough to toast to the good things we had experienced in the past and what we looked forward to in the future, so we should raise a glass of sparkling wine for the first of every month. For 10 years we have happily kept that resolution and many of those wines have been featured here. 

    By the way, while some of our featured wines are hard to find, this one is widely distributed. If you are thinking of bringing this bubbly to someone special as a New Years gift, see if you can find a bottle in the impressive copper box with a magnetic cover. It will cost $70 – $95 but is definitely worth it!

    Maceration

    We discovered this Cuvée Rosé from Laurent-Perrier years ago at Upstairs on the Square. (Sadly now gone from the great restaurant scene.)  It was on the wine list at a price that was so reasonable that we asked one of our favorite bartenders to check that it was right. It was and we enjoyed this on a number of visits over the years. It will be great to toast 2018 and our memories of the great staff and collection of regulars who shared that bar with us.

    About this wine from the winemaker:

    Grape varietal: Pinot Noir 100%

    Crus: 10 different crus located mainly in the South and North areas of the Montagne de Reims – including the famous Côte de Bouzy – notably from the finest crus of Ambonnay, Bouzy, Louvois and Tours-sur-Marne.

    The grapes from carefully selected plots are sorted and destemmed before vatting. The maceration – lasting from 48h to 72h depending on the harvest – helps the extraction of the colour and the development of the full aromatic richness of the Pinot Noir.

    Ageing: 5 years minimum.

    Flacon

    What the reviewers say about Cuvée Rosé from Laurent-Perrier:

    K&L Wines

    "Made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes from a total of ten 100%-rated grands crus villages, this Champagne gets its glorious pink color and rounded red fruit flavors from a process known as "saigneé," in which the skins of the grapes are left in contact with the juice for three days. Laurent-Perrier's Cuvée Rosé not only makes a delicious apéritif, but is also a good match for a variety of different dishes. (Gary Westby, K&L Champagne Buyer)"

    Wine Enthusiast

    "Orange-pink in color, this dry wine has some good bottle age that has rounded the corners and allowed toast to join the red fruits and orange zest flavors. A complex background of acidity, structure and final tautness makes this wine ready to drink now."

    Related Posts:

    Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post : Join Us as We Toast…

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    Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

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    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photos: Top photo ©2017 Penny Cherubino, Others courtesy of Laurent-Perrier  

  • Cuvée Rosé from Laurent-Perrier Is Our Choice for a 2018 New Year’s Toast

    Some years we do a long search for a special sparkling wine, finding a rare bottle that we will experience for the first time. This year, at our first shopping stop, we ran into an old favorite that brought back great memories of past toasts, so we went with it – a bottle of Cuvée Rosé from Laurent-Perrier!

    P1000821

    This is a year when we want to think about past wines as we celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Sparkling Resolution we made back in 2007 and have kept ever since. We said New Years was not often enough to toast to the good things we had experienced in the past and what we looked forward to in the future, so we should raise a glass of sparkling wine for the first of every month. For 10 years we have happily kept that resolution and many of those wines have been featured here. 

    By the way, while some of our featured wines are hard to find, this one is widely distributed. If you are thinking of bringing this bubbly to someone special as a New Years gift, see if you can find a bottle in the impressive copper box with a magnetic cover. It will cost $70 – $95 but is definitely worth it!

    Maceration

    We discovered this Cuvée Rosé from Laurent-Perrier years ago at Upstairs on the Square. (Sadly now gone from the great restaurant scene.)  It was on the wine list at a price that was so reasonable that we asked one of our favorite bartenders to check that it was right. It was and we enjoyed this on a number of visits over the years. It will be great to toast 2018 and our memories of the great staff and collection of regulars who shared that bar with us.

    About this wine from the winemaker:

    Grape varietal: Pinot Noir 100%

    Crus: 10 different crus located mainly in the South and North areas of the Montagne de Reims – including the famous Côte de Bouzy – notably from the finest crus of Ambonnay, Bouzy, Louvois and Tours-sur-Marne.

    The grapes from carefully selected plots are sorted and destemmed before vatting. The maceration – lasting from 48h to 72h depending on the harvest – helps the extraction of the colour and the development of the full aromatic richness of the Pinot Noir.

    Ageing: 5 years minimum.

    Flacon

    What the reviewers say about Cuvée Rosé from Laurent-Perrier:

    K&L Wines

    "Made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes from a total of ten 100%-rated grands crus villages, this Champagne gets its glorious pink color and rounded red fruit flavors from a process known as "saigneé," in which the skins of the grapes are left in contact with the juice for three days. Laurent-Perrier's Cuvée Rosé not only makes a delicious apéritif, but is also a good match for a variety of different dishes. (Gary Westby, K&L Champagne Buyer)"

    Wine Enthusiast

    "Orange-pink in color, this dry wine has some good bottle age that has rounded the corners and allowed toast to join the red fruits and orange zest flavors. A complex background of acidity, structure and final tautness makes this wine ready to drink now."

    Related Posts:

    Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post : Join Us as We Toast…

    A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

    Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

    UpStairs On The Square Still A Well Rounded Favorite

    What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photos: Top photo ©2017 Penny Cherubino, Others courtesy of Laurent-Perrier