I haven't had much time to blog, but don't want to forget what I drank in August. A few things that were ok but not worth repeating:
Finca Flichman Extra Brut, a rose from Argentina that I purchased in the US, an 80/20 Chardonnay/malbec blend. It didn't have enough bubbles for me, and while my husband knew that it wasn't made from traditional champagne grapes, he couldn't place the malbec. Different, but not 'wow'.
Comte de Lamotte brut, purchased at Majestic, a chardonnay, pinot noir, pinot meunier blend that my husband spotted at a sub £20 price. It was again perfectly ok, but not enough bubbles.
Nicolas Feuillatte 2005, a 100% chardonnay. This had crisp citrus flavours, but almost no fizz whatsoever, very disappointing if you love bubbles the way I do.
Ruinart NV, a blend of chardonnay and pinot noir. This again had very nice flavours, with lots of toast and yeast, but I would have liked more bubbles and expect them from champagnes at this price point.
Showing posts with label ruinart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ruinart. Show all posts
Monday, 10 September 2012
Monday, 28 June 2010
The Power of Suggestion
We spent the weekend hanging out in the garden - celebrating both the incredible weather and my husband's return from a trip to the US. Yesterday, one of our neighbours had people over, and we could hear them over the fences popping open bottles of champagne. The sound was too much for us, so out came the cold bottle of Ruinart NV from Majestic Wine that was in the fridge.
Our impression of this champagne hadn't changed much since the last time we drank it. It's a very nice champagne. The entire kitchen smelled of yeasty-goodness when the bottle was opened. It had a huge, clean, lemony flavour and plenty of bubbles. My husband said that he actually liked the champagne more than he remembered, until I reminded him of the price point issue - and greedy people that we are, we agreed that we would rather have two bottles of the Roger Legros that I had been drinking earlier in the week than one bottle of the Ruinart NV. And this is the problem with this champagne, it's just not special enough to justify the price.
Speaking of price, for those of you who don't read the FT, in this past weekend's edition, Jancis Robinson ranked her favourite summer wines. I thought her sparkling picks were entirely uninspiring and was very disappointed that the only sparkling wine she could recommend below the £40 price point was an English sparkler...she apparently doesn't read my blog!!
Our impression of this champagne hadn't changed much since the last time we drank it. It's a very nice champagne. The entire kitchen smelled of yeasty-goodness when the bottle was opened. It had a huge, clean, lemony flavour and plenty of bubbles. My husband said that he actually liked the champagne more than he remembered, until I reminded him of the price point issue - and greedy people that we are, we agreed that we would rather have two bottles of the Roger Legros that I had been drinking earlier in the week than one bottle of the Ruinart NV. And this is the problem with this champagne, it's just not special enough to justify the price.
Speaking of price, for those of you who don't read the FT, in this past weekend's edition, Jancis Robinson ranked her favourite summer wines. I thought her sparkling picks were entirely uninspiring and was very disappointed that the only sparkling wine she could recommend below the £40 price point was an English sparkler...she apparently doesn't read my blog!!
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Hat Trick
On Sunday I was hanging out and watching The Wedding Planner (a movie I hate myself for liking) for the umpteenth time when my husband appeared in the sitting room with a glass of champagne in hand for me. We're a bit long on champagne at the moment and he figured we should enjoy it since it's there. I'm not going to argue with that!
He had put a bottle of Ruinart NV in the fridge. I have friends who like this brand and when I placed my order with Majestic, I thought I would try it to round out the case.
Let me start by saying that this is not a bad champagne. But for the price point (£45/bottle) it just isn't all that. It's nice enough, good acidity coming out with some nutty-lemony flavours. It has a very long finish. The bubbles are fine. But I would rather have two bottles of the Canard-Duchene that we drank on Saturday than one bottle of this - which would cost me the same amount.
The other thing that's caught my attention about this champagne - the box it was in was incredibly overengineered. And while I like to put a link to the maker in my blogs, the Ruinart website was also flashy (making it dreadfully slow) and impossible to navigate - too clever by half and incredibly frustrating, so I never actually found the information that I wanted and therefore can't be bothered to link to it. I feel like what I paid for wasn't necessarily a great champagne, but a huge marketing team that's built a brand. I don't feel the need to drink a name, I'd rather drink something interesting and that I really love.
He had put a bottle of Ruinart NV in the fridge. I have friends who like this brand and when I placed my order with Majestic, I thought I would try it to round out the case.
Let me start by saying that this is not a bad champagne. But for the price point (£45/bottle) it just isn't all that. It's nice enough, good acidity coming out with some nutty-lemony flavours. It has a very long finish. The bubbles are fine. But I would rather have two bottles of the Canard-Duchene that we drank on Saturday than one bottle of this - which would cost me the same amount.
The other thing that's caught my attention about this champagne - the box it was in was incredibly overengineered. And while I like to put a link to the maker in my blogs, the Ruinart website was also flashy (making it dreadfully slow) and impossible to navigate - too clever by half and incredibly frustrating, so I never actually found the information that I wanted and therefore can't be bothered to link to it. I feel like what I paid for wasn't necessarily a great champagne, but a huge marketing team that's built a brand. I don't feel the need to drink a name, I'd rather drink something interesting and that I really love.
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