WTN: Epic Champagne night

[Jenise]

So the Dorks met at an art gallery for fresh shucked oysters, then we moved to a restaurant owned by a Dork where a chef newly moved here from San Francisco and about to open his own place cooked dinner for us. Somewhere around 30-35 bottles were opened, about half of them vintage. They were flying around so fast I hardly had time to take pictures let alone notes, and I know I missed quite a few.

With oysters, and a lot of these were more than one bottle of the same thing, we had:

RH Coutier (missed this one, understand it was fab)
Bruno Paillard NV blanc
Lombard PC Extra Brut
Moutard Vignes Chiennes Chardonnay Brut Nature
Veuve Ambal Crement de Bourgogne Grand Cuvee Brut
Aubry brut
Digby NV Brut (England!)
Moutard Cotes des Bar

Essentially, I walked in and had the Bruno Paillard first thing, which is so fabulous that only the Moutards seemed close to the same league.

At the restaurant, wherein some of these may have been vintage and I didn't note it:

Lefarge-Pugeot Les Meuniers de Clemence Ex Brut
Veuve Ambal Crement de Bourgogne Grand Cuvee Brut (sweet fruit, but a fun opener)
Egly-Ouriet Les Vignes de Vrigny Pinot Meunier (toasty red apple, great depth and balance)
Francois Bedel Entre cidet terre brut (no descriptions, but I gave it an A+)
Bruno Paillard NV Rose (cashmere and rose petals)
Copinet Blanc de Noirs Brut
2004 Krug (my bottle, 2nd great bottle I've had in two weeks)
2002 Piper-Hiedsieck Rare (Warren's, better than Coop's a few weeks ago, more tension)
2012 Salmon Rose de Saignee 100% PM (my bottle, very spicy, best PM of the night)
2004 Boizel Grant Vintage
2011 Benoit Lahaye BC Millesime
1995 Dom (exceptional, classic, youthful)
2008 Veuve Cliquot Grande Dame (lemon chiffon pie, yellow flowers)
2011 Le Cadeau Blanc de Noir (no notes)
2004 Montagne (earthy nose)
2013 Moutard Vielles Vignes (lemon, persimmon and spice, 100% arbane grape--new one to me!)
2008 Copinet Brut Monsieur Leonard (citrus, almond, pear, toffee)
2008 Henriot (wow, everything you'd want, most 'open' vint 08 I've had)

Worst wine of the night: the Digby. Simple flavors, simple textures. Second or third time I've had one of these, and I'm amazed that they get around. I've had excellent English methode champenoises--but Digby isn't one of them.

[David M. Bueker]

Sounds like a great night.

I have only had Bruno Paillard a couple of times, and it has never left an impression. Will have to revisit.

[Jenise]

I'm surprised it wouldn't have left an impression. For $40ish, it's hard to beat. Everyone else at this gig was of a similar mind.

Well I'm jealous. Glad you got to have this experience!

I visited Bruno Paillard and the wines left a good impression. Not just during the visit but back at home as well.

Jenise, where can I get the liver expansion you seem to have had? I'm not sure how you coped enough to remember anything.

[Jenise]

Holy bubbles, Batman. I just realized something, re the La Cadeau above? That's an Oregon sparkling wine. I'm blown away. Geeks talk a lot about wines that could pass for real Champagne, but few when put to the test really do. Well, this one DID. And it did it among among vintage bottles of all those marquee Champagne names. Spot-on flavor, complexity and texture. Very very impressive.