By: AJ McClellan
There is wine and then there is Champagne! Of all the Champagnes out there I hold two to a loftier standard. Sure, I have had great bottles from many other Champagne houses but Krug and Salon I not only hope to have a great bottle every time I pop the cork, I expect it.
We had Vianney Gravereaux in from the Salon house to taste us on a wonderful lineup of not only Salon but their Delamotte wines as well.
NV Delamotte Brute – We had this as the walk-in wine. The bottle is very appropriate for its price point. Fresh citrus fruit with subtle minerality and a long finish. A great every day Champagne.
2002 Delamotte Blanc de Blanc – I was very impressed with this wine! The Blanc de Blanc was stunning and I am actually grabbing a few for my collection. Beautiful minerality backed by a crisp acidity and long notes of lemon and peach pith. This wine is stunning now but I would love to taste it over the next 5 years.
NV Delamotte Rose – To be honest I was slightly disappointed in this wine. It was a good bottle of wine but judging from the rest of the tasting I feel that it could have been so much better. Very nice red fruits and a moderate acidity, it was slightly flabby around the edges and lacking in deep complexity.
2002 Salon – This is going to be a great bottle when it grows up! Right now it is just a baby, very tight in the bottle and no amount of decanting or air will help it reach its full potential. Tropical fruit shines through but the acidity is so tight that its hard to find anything else in the wine right now.
1999 Salon – The 99 Salon is surprisingly open for business. Ripe pineapple and green apple with white peach and crushed slate.
1988 Salon – This must have been the wine of the night! The 88 Salon was simply gorgeous. This wine is just now starting to come out of its shell and explode with spun honey, white flowers, crumbled limestone, and hints of vanilla. A stunning bottle of Champagne!
Of course after the tasting a slew of great wines were opened! The wines are too numerous to count but here is a quick pick of some of the goodies…
