Pinot Noir

Monfort Le General Dallemagne Extra Brut 2015 Review

I have to admit, my experience with Trentodoc sparkling wines has been fairly limited. My first time I think I ever had one was on my WSET Diploma D4 exam, and since then, well, that was it. Truly, it was a region of sparkling wines that I knew very little about!

So when I had the opportunity to try some sample bottles provided courtesy of Trentodoc, I was quite excited to learn more about their traditional method wines from the region.

Up first? Monfort's Le General Dallemagne Extra Brut from 2015. With 60 months of lees and a few more years of time in bottle on top, this was one stellar bottle!

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Arista Winery Perli Vineyard Pinot Noir 2019 Review – A Gem

It should be no surprise that Arista was one of our favorite wineries in Sonoma from our last visit, and since then we have been building a cellar of their stellar Pinot Noirs as club members.

One of our favorite vineyard plots, Perli Vineyards, was one of our favorites and we have a modest collection that is sleeping for some age.

We decided to pull a bottle of this gem from our cellar from the 2019 vintage to check how it was doing at approximately four years old, and this one, naturally, still had a lot of youth in it while just starting to show signs of age!

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Champagne Vilmart & Cie Grand Cellar Review – Nicely Balanced

We always love taking reader suggestions when it comes to delicious wine, and Champagne Vilmart & Cie Grand Cellar was one such bottle.

This beautiful Champagne was nicely balanced and had a decent hit of lees character while starting to show some tertiary development. Although the price for this one was a bit higher than what we'd prefer (particularly in the USA), it was a great one to try all the same.

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La Crema Sonoma Coast 2021 Review – A Solid Entry Wine

La Crema is one of those brands we see seemingly everywhere. From wine shop to wine shop, bar menu to bar menu, La Crema is one of those brands it is hard to get away from in the USA.

So, naturally, it sparked our interest, and we wanted to find out if their California Pinot Noir was worth our attention.

For its price, well, this certainly was an interesting one!

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Moet & Chandon Rose Imperial NV Review – Subtle and Bubbly

Whenever we drink Champagne, we often go for the more common blanc de blanc or blanc de noir bottles over rose and other styles. But when we found Moet & Chandon Rose Imperial NV at a duty free store at an approachable price point, we knew we had to give it a try.

If you are looking for a sparkling wine with some intense red fruits and, admittedly, more mellow lees character, this one may need to be on your radar!

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Veuve Clicquot Champagne Review – Delicious at a Price

Whenever we travel, especially to regions that are not known for wine production, we often pick up a bottle or two of sparkling wine at duty free to enjoy somewhere beautiful.

Whenever our duty free shopping happens in Europe, odds are good we are picking up a bottle of Veuve Clicquot Champagne to enjoy if only because it is at a vastly lower price point than we are able to find at home.

For a bottle that you are paying for the name recognition as much as you are what is inside, a lower price point is always welcomed!

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Dumenil Reserve 22 Review – A Well Balanced Champagne

We are big fans of Champagne Dumenil, and in the past have tried gems like their Dumenil 1999 and Dumenil Les Pecherines Cuvee which we adore.

Another bottle from this producer we finally got the chance to enjoy is their Reserve NV wine, Dumenil Reserve 22 edition, and while perhaps not as intense as the previous two bottles (which are on the higher end of their portfolio), it is still a gem for those looking for a bottle at a slightly lower price point!

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Domaine Curtet Autrement Rouge 2018 Review – Gamay Blend

We're never ones to say no to an easy drinking Gamay, and when we can find this grape in a blend we almost always have to give it a try.

Domaine Curtet's Autrement Rouge gave us just that with a mix of Gamay, Pinot Noir, and Mondeuse Noir giving all of the hallmarks of a classic Beaujolais but originating from Savoie!

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Bollinger Special Cuvee Champagne Review – Simply Perfect

We always love trying Champagne house's premium production lines as they are always worth savoring and talking about. Bollinger's Special Cuvee NV Champagne is no different.

What makes Bollinger's Special Cuvee unique is that this wine is not a vintage Champagne. It has all the characteristics of being an intense, vintage bottle of bubbly but is instead made up of reserve wines that have been aging anywhere from five to 15 years made with grapes from grand and premier cru sites from all over Champagne.

So what you end up is an incredibly intense, powerful wine that can be enjoyed again, and again, and again- assuming you can find a bottle for sale, at least.

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Lamoreaux Landing Pinot Noir 2014 Review – Showing Some Age

One of the perks of having a wine cellar is that sometimes we do not really know what we have in stock. We keep an inventory of our bottles, of course, but sometimes a few slip through the cracks and we forget about them for years.

Our Lamoreaux Landing Pinot Noir 2014 was one such bottle. We pulled it out not only to find that we had one at all, but also that it was pushing almost nine years old.

As we didn't expect this bottle to age too much longer, we decided to open it up and see how it was faring, and we were pleasantly surprised by what we found!

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