We had some friends over last night for dinner - we cooked and they very kindly brought some amazing wines (thank you!). Knowing my love of bubbles, they brought a very special bottle of champagne as our aperitif - Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Elisabeth Salmon, a 2000 vintage rose made from a 50/50 split of pinot noir and chardonnay. It was a really wonderful champagne with a pretty, peachy-blush colour, a huge aroma of fruity-ripe strawberries and a long, almost spicy finish. It had lots of teeny, tiny bubbles, too, the perfect start to the evening!
We also served a bottle of my Maison Lenique 2004 with dessert of peach and blackberry crumble with home-made vanilla gelato. While everyone found it very drinkable, the consensus remains that it's not as good as the Billecart-Salmon champagnes. It's hard to beat them...
Monday, 30 August 2010
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Date Night - Aug 10
We decided to have some champagne last night since it was date night, but with two cold bottles in the fridge, it was a tough choice. Since my husband said he would only drink the Maison Lenique 2005 with me since he considers it to be mine (he gave it to me as a gift), we decided to open that. It was wonderful - rich and fruity, and so bubbly that I got drenched when I opened it. It was so more-ish that when we finished the bottle, it just didn't seem like enough.
We're so greedy that we opened the other cold bottle of Billecart-Salmon brut reserve. We didn't finish it, just one glass each, which really hit the spot. It was interesting to compare the two champagnes this closely. The Billecart-Salmon was lighter and fresher than the Maison Lenique, but more complex and with a much longer finish. They both have spectacular bubbles, which is why they're always on my list of favourites!!
We're so greedy that we opened the other cold bottle of Billecart-Salmon brut reserve. We didn't finish it, just one glass each, which really hit the spot. It was interesting to compare the two champagnes this closely. The Billecart-Salmon was lighter and fresher than the Maison Lenique, but more complex and with a much longer finish. They both have spectacular bubbles, which is why they're always on my list of favourites!!
Monday, 2 August 2010
Not a Lazy Sunday
Yesterday, my husband started the daunting task of repairing/re-building our wooden sash windows. I admire him for this - it's a big job that requires power tools, something I wouldn't be able to do.
It seemed appropriate that we have some bubbly to celebrate his first window completed, so we opened a bottle of G. Tribaut Cuvee de Reserve that we got from the Champagne Warehouse. It's an even blend of chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier and was an excellent accompaniment to the Cuban-marinated pork chops that we had for dinner. The best part - there were so many bubbles in the champagne that it was difficult to tell what it tasted like on the first few sips because all you got in your mouth was the burst of air from the bubbles popping!! But the flavour is wonderfully complex and rich, with just a hint of sweetness on the finish. My husband commented that he thought the champagne would have had a higher percentage of pinot noir in it, because it had that sort of flavour.
We both agreed that this champagne is a 'do-over', one that we would gladly drink again.
It seemed appropriate that we have some bubbly to celebrate his first window completed, so we opened a bottle of G. Tribaut Cuvee de Reserve that we got from the Champagne Warehouse. It's an even blend of chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier and was an excellent accompaniment to the Cuban-marinated pork chops that we had for dinner. The best part - there were so many bubbles in the champagne that it was difficult to tell what it tasted like on the first few sips because all you got in your mouth was the burst of air from the bubbles popping!! But the flavour is wonderfully complex and rich, with just a hint of sweetness on the finish. My husband commented that he thought the champagne would have had a higher percentage of pinot noir in it, because it had that sort of flavour.
We both agreed that this champagne is a 'do-over', one that we would gladly drink again.
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