Tasting note 14,000 by Richard Juhlin !

1,4000+ champagnes, how many is that really? It has taken Richard Juhlin over 30 years to get to this figure.

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

It is undeniably difficult to grasp how much 14,000 champagnes is. I have tasted about 150,000 champagne bottles, so the vast majority are duplicates. 14,000 seems quite silly in that context.

Why do I try the same champagnes so often, one might ask. The reason, of course, is that the tastings I hold or visit usually consist of famous gems that you long to reacquaint yourself with or that are simply what people get their hands on. Even when I started my long champagne journey in 1986, however, I always made sure to try new varieties rather than try safe familiar cards if I had the opportunity out of pure curiosity. That curiosity has not gone away and I love to enter a new champagne universe as often as possible.

Right now, the range of new interesting varieties is also greater than ever thanks to the grower revolution with ecology, oak barrels and vineyard champagnes at the forefront. Therefore, it felt right to let one of my oldest grower acquaintances be proud of the anniversary champagne. Rudolph Peters’ father and I met back in 1988 and since that day my heart beats a little extra for champagnes from both Pierre Peters and Le Mesnil. This particular rosé creation may not be so typical, but a wonderful experience next to the church on Gotland I visited and was fascinated by as a 5-year-old, Vamlingbo Church on Gotland.

mv Fleur de Miraval ‘Exclusivement Rosé’

‘The wine with 4.5 grams dosage consists of 75% Chardonnay from 30-year-old vines in vineyards in Avize, Cramant, Le Mesnil and Oger and 25% Pinot Noir from soft Vertus. Fleur de Miraval is made with the Saignée method to get as elegant an aromatic as possible. The base year for the cuvée is 2016 and the reserve wine is a so-called perpetual blend that contains vintages back to 2007. The color is strikingly light and yellowish. The scent is beautiful and serious. The whole wine appears to be totally different from Peter’s rather faint rosé. Here, geraniums, roses and peonies are combined with blood oranges, dried spices, licorice, black olives and lightly burnt notes from the older reserve wines. A skilled craft in a style similar to Vilmart’s lovely Rubis Rosé.’

87(89)p

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• Tasting note no 8,500 | 1998 Krug ‘Millésime’ 1998 (nov13)
• Tasting note no 9,000 | 2002 Pol Roger ’Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill’ (nov’14)
• Tasting note no 10,000 | 2009 Louis Roederer ’Cristal’ (oct’17) 
• Tasting note no 11,000 | 2010 Bollinger – Vieilles Vignes Françaises (sep’19) 
• Tasting note no 12,000 | 1995 Moët et Chandon ‘Grand Vintage Collection’ (aug’20)
• Tasting note no 13,000 | 2012 Jacquesson ‘Dizy Terres Rouges’
• Tasting note no 14,000 | mv Fleur de Miraval ’Exclusivement Rosé – ER12 [base’18] (aug’22)

Tasting note 13,000 !

Chronicle – Champagne no 12,000 by Richard Juhlin !