3 for 4

N.V. Ulysse Collin Champagne Extra Brut Blanc de Noirs
2006 vintage fruit, and not much to say here beyond previous comments. Pure, fresh Pinot fruit over a mineral base with yeasty and biscuit accents; precise, layered and incredibly refreshing, resembling a red wine more than a standard Champagne.

2008 Cecile Tremblay Echezeaux du Dessus
Yikes - what happened here? Hope this isn't a representative bottle; completely dominated by its oak and hard to go through more than a few sips.

1996 Château Haut-Bailly
Flat out wow. Starts out with an incredible perfume combining fresh dark fruited flavours with developing cedar, pencil lead, savoury earth and cigar smoke elements, and at a point in its development where it tastes exactly like it smells, conveying its flavours with a sense of remarkable finesse and polish. The tannin here is remarkably fine; noticeable on the back end but not obtrusive and the structure, fruit and balance here suggest this has a fantastic future ahead.

1995 Château Palmer
Very enjoyable, if somewhat outclassed by the Haut-Bailly poured alongside. A little reticent at first, but the aromatics open out with some time in the glass as a lovely perfume of violets, cedar and pencil lead develops around a core of rich dark fruited flavours. The flavours are still quite primary but it's not as tannic as I'd expected considering the vintage, quite polished texturally and lovely to sit down with over a couple of hours.

I had the Palmer on my birthday and thought it had a lot of years left. It's drinking well now, although showing more power than finesse.

Glad to hear Palmer is emerging, it was really closed last time I tried a few years ago.
Surprised about the Tremblay, never thought he used so much new wood.

Surprised about the Tremblay, never thought he used so much new wood.

'he'?

I was thinking the same thing, Rahsaan, but I was going to ignore it. But since, you brought it up, I can allow myself to nitpick too.

The Tremblay was a shocker - the one other bottle I've had from her (the Vosne 1er "Rouge du Dessus", which I believe is a parcel adjacent to her holdings in Echezeaux) was phenomenally good. This one wasn't drinkable. Really disappointing, moreso considering the prices for her wines are already quite exorbitant.

Tremblay used to include some 1er cru juice in her Vosne-Romanee village wine, so the 2006 was the only wine of her I ever bought. I have it when new guys on the block charge as much (or more) as the domaines with a proven track record. Although I thought her 2006's were quite good.