From our neighborhood sparkling wine party, all wines purchased by me. No notes taken at the time, just remembered observations:
2007 Domaine Taittinger/Carneros, California: big fruit but balanced. Wouldn't mistake it for French but it's solid, especially at $20.
NV Rose d'Orfeuilles, Touraine, France: pinot noir and pinot d'aunis (sp?) give this it's bright rose color. Fruity and dry with a very persistent bubble. Excellent value bubble for $15 retail.
2007 Masquerade Elephant, Washington: the classic champagne blend of pinot noir and chardonnay, with some pinot menieur too that I think the winemaker found in Oregon. The most skillfull and credible Washington sparkler I've had, full of yeasty raw bread dough notes and in the not-exactly-bone-dry mold of say Moet White Star, but I understand that at retail it's not moving very fast (the winery is in Bellingham) at $35.
2009 Antech Emotion Cremant di Limoux, France: Pale pink, fuller-bodied in the mouth than you expect from the color, flavorful and dry with pin-prick bubbles and pleasing mousse. Exudes class. Outstanding at $15 retail. Will order a case for my cellar.
NV Bonnaire Grand Cru Blanc de Blanc France: Lean and tight, almost backward. Drinkable now but cellar time will flesh it out.
NV Vilmart et Cie Premier Cru, France: Finally in this glass I have everything I want in a great glass of champagne. A Thierry Thiese import, and killer for the $30 I paid, tastes like a lot more. Glad I bought an extra half dozen for my cellar.
And from the Dorks tasting, at which I did take notes, and in which there were no losers:
NV Chartogne-Taillet, France: Sunny yellow, mouth-filling, clean and minerally, wonderful. A 60/40 blend of chardonnay to pinot noir. Disgorged 07. Retails $40ish. Great QPR.
NV Louis Barthelemy Amethyste: didn't take much notes on this, just "more pinotish". Not bad at all, but rank wise it was dead last for the night and that was a universal opinion.
NV Rene Geoffrey 'Volupte' Premier Cru: I brought this. No mousse to speak of, great nose, baked red apples and bread dough, precise bubbles, very dry yet rich, oxidative in the desirable, traditional way. Outstanding. WOTN for most. Happy to have another half dozen in the cellar.
2002 Marcel Moineaux Grand Cru: Similar to the Rene but brighter with a concentrated fruity sweetness on the finish and a compelling note of unsweetened cocoa on the nose. Excellent. A Becky Wasserman import with an oddly feminine label, as if it were packaged for weddings and anniversaries.
NV Ruinart Brut Rose: I've owned this bottle for nine years, so though NV the wine inside is presumably a minimum of 13 years old, and it shows good aged complexity with a smokey, funky nose and caramelized rose petals on the palate. WOTN for two.
2002 Jose Dhondt Blanc de Blanc: Traditional with exemplary richness and concentration. Flavors just go on and on. Ourstanding, and Second place, almost co-First Place for those of us who voted for the Rene.
And then just for yucks I pulled out a cold, red bubbly: NV Rymill from Australia, a Cab/Mer/CF/Shiraz. I've had this for about ten years. The cabernet element really stands out as does some woody oak, and though it's somewhat softened by age there's still some primary fruit here still in development, and overall the wine would be more interesting five or more years from now.