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| David L. Kahn |
Wine Tasting Club |
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Wine Tasting Summary
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| #7 |
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Champagne |
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Nov 10, 2001 |
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| Year |
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Producer, Selection |
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From |
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Variety |
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Price * |
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Score + |
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| NV |
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Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin |
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Reims, France |
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Chardonnay, Pinot Noir |
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$32.00 |
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89 |
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| NV |
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Parxet Cuvee 21 |
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Spain |
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various Spanish |
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$9.00 |
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85 |
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| NV |
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Roederer Estate, Anderson Valley Brut |
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California |
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Chardonnay, Pinot Noir |
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$15.20 |
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85 |
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| 1995 |
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Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, Reserve |
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Reims, France |
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Chardonnay, Pinot Noir |
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$46.40 |
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84 |
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| NV |
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Nicolas Feuillatte, Premier Cru |
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Epernay, France |
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Chardonnay, Pinot Noir |
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$22.00 |
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82 |
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| 1990 |
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Perrier-Jouet, Fleur de Champagne |
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Epernay, France |
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Chardonnay, Pinot Noir |
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$96.00 |
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62 |
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While we usually pour out all of our samples at the start of the tasting, we poured these
Champagnes in pairs to ensure that we had time to taste each one while it was still reasonably
cold and bubbly. The first pair happened to includ the Perrier-Jouet and the Roederer, and
it was clear at the start that there was something wrong with the Perrier-Jouet. It lacked
bubbles, had an obvious 'off' taste and was downright unpleasant. Since the Spanish wine used
different grapes and was so inexpensive, we all thought that the 'off' wine was likely to be the Spanish wine.
As the tasting progressed, all of the other samples were great. There were differences between
them in the character of their bubbles and the specifics of their flavor, but we were happy with them all
and we were prepared to conclude that it wasn't necessary to spend a lot of money for a good
Champagne. At the end of the tasting, I unveiled the 'off' bottle first and was quite surprised
to find that it was the Fleur de Champagne. The Veuve Clicquot NV was our favorite as a group. The
Veuve Clicquot 1995 and the two inexpensive non-French samples were not far behind.
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P.S. We sampled a replacement bottle of the Perrier-Jouet at the start of our Port tasting. While the
new bottle was clearly better than the original, its sparkle and taste didn't live up to its $100
price tag.
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* The Price reflects the club discount for non-sale wines purchased at
Kappy's Liquors
in Sudbury and Wine Cellars of Silene in Waltham. Any purchases at the club price
must be coordinated through me.
+ The Score represents the average rating of the group at this tasting, on
a scale from 50 to 100. We each assign a value of 0-4 for appearance, 0-6 for aroma, 0-6
for flavor and 0-4 for our overall impression resulting in a total score from 0-20. These
are averaged, the result is multiplied by 2.5 and then 50 is added. The resulting 50-100
scale is the same range used by Wine Spectator
though their process may be different.
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