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Champagne

Champagne is a small, beautiful wine growing region northeast of Paris whose famous name is misused a million times a day. As wine enthusiasts and all French people are well aware, only sparkling wines produced in Champagne from grapes grown in Champagne can be called Champagne. Sparkling wines produced anywhere else, including in other parts of France, must be called something besides Champagne. Champagne producers are justifiably protective of their wines and the prestige associated with true Champagne. Though the region was growing grapes and making wines in ancient times, it began specializing in sparkling wine in the 17th century, when a Benedictine monk named Dom Pierre Pérignon formulated a set guidelines to improve the quality of the local sparkling wines. Despite legends to the contrary, Dom Pérignon did not “invent” sparkling wine, but his rules about aggressive pruning, small yields and multiple pressings of the grapes were widely adopted, and by the 18th and 19th centuries Champagne had become the wine of choice in fashionable courts and palaces throughout Europe. Today there are 75,000 acres of vineyards in Champagne growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. Champagne’s official appellation system classifies villages as Grand Cru or Premier Cru, though there are also many excellent Champagnes that simply carry the regional appellation. Along with well-known international Champagne houses there are numerous so-called “producer Champagnes,” meaning wines made by families who, usually for several or more generations, have worked their own vineyards and produced Champagne only from their own grapes.

1988 Moet et Chandon Dom Perignon Rose

Light capsule condition issue; light label condition issue

ST  97   
WS  90   

1988 Moet et Chandon Dom Perignon Rose

Heavy capsule condition issue

ST  97   
WS  90   

1988 Moet et Chandon Dom Perignon Rose

Light capsule condition issue; label condition issue

ST  97   
WS  90   

1988 Moet et Chandon Dom Perignon Rose

Capsule condition issue; label condition issue

ST  97   
WS  90   

1988 Moet et Chandon Dom Perignon Rose

Light capsule condition issue

ST  97   
WS  90   

1982 Moet et Chandon Dom Perignon Rose

1-bottle Lot, Wood Case

Light label condition issue; Light case condition issue

RP  95   
WS  92   

1982 Moet et Chandon Dom Perignon Rose

1-bottle Lot, Wood Case

Capsule condition issue; light label condition issue; Case condition issue

RP  95   
WS  92   

1982 Moet et Chandon Dom Perignon Rose

1-bottle Lot, Wood Case

Light label condition issue; Light case condition issue

RP  95   
WS  92   

2004 Moet et Chandon Dom Perignon Rose

1-bottle Lot, Cardboard Case

Light case condition issue

WA  90   

2002 Krug Brut

Light capsule condition issue

JS  100   
WA  97   
WS  96   
VN  94   
JR  18   

2002 Krug Brut

JS  100   
WA  97   
WS  96   
VN  94   
JR  18   

2004 Krug Brut

316034

WA  97   
VN  97+    
JS  97   
JR  18.5+    

2004 Krug Clos du Mesnil

1.5ltr

317029

VN  98+    
JS  98   
WS  97   
JR  17.5+    

N.V. Krug Grande Cuvee Brut 165eme Edition

416036

VN  96   
WA  95   
WS  95   
JR  18.5   

N.V. Krug Grande Cuvee Brut 165eme Edition

1-bottle Lot, Cardboard Case

416036

VN  96   
WA  95   
WS  95   
JR  18.5   

1975 Louis Roederer Brut Rosé

1.5ltr

Light capsule condition issue; label condition issue

1989 Louis Roederer Cristal

JR  19   
WS  92   
MB  ****   

2002 Louis Roederer Cristal

Light capsule condition issue; light label condition issue

JS  98   
WE  98   
WA  96   
VN  96   
JD  96   
WS  92   
JR  17.5   

2004 Louis Roederer Cristal

WA  97   
JR  19   
VN  94   
WS  93   

2008 Louis Roederer Cristal

Light label condition issue

JS  100   
WE  100   
JD  100   
VN  98+    
JR  19.5   
WA  97+    
WS  97   
BH  95   
CT  95.3   

2008 Louis Roederer Cristal

JS  100   
WE  100   
JD  100   
VN  98+    
JR  19.5   
WA  97+    
WS  97   
BH  95   
CT  95.3   

2013 Salon Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs

VN  99   
WA  97   
WS  95   

1986 Taittinger Artist Collection

1-bottle Lot, Cardboard Case

RP  94   
WS  92   

1990 Taittinger Artist Collection

1-bottle Lot, Cardboard Case

2007 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs

Light label condition issue

JS  98   
WA  95   
WS  93