You can't buy happiness, but a few bottles of outstanding Champagne wines in warm company definitely bring you closer to the heavens. Elena Menshikova is our messiah. Her quest to taste all popular Champagne labels is alluring[fn:1]. And thus we, her humble followers, bath in the eternal light of sparkling delight. And for the sake of all that is Holy, do not imagine the previous sentence.

Most wine-tasting events are reminiscent of roller coasters if you look at the ratings. Sometimes, the graph contains several spikes. Sometimes, there is a single lonely peak. But monotonic growth of the average score? That's a rare bird in my book.

Of course, in terms of personal preferences (as opposed to the average score), the real battle was between Cristal Rosé 2012 and Krug Rosé 26ème Édition. It's also nice to see that some participants picked other bottles as their favourite of the night.

Without further ado, meet the protagonists (and antagonists).

Taittinger Brut Reserve NV

Billecart Salmon Brut Nature (d2021Q4) NV

Thanks to Anton T, I discovered that loads of information about each Billecart-Salmon wine is accessible by the 6-digit number printed on the counter label. It's not unique, so here is the link to the bottle we tasted.

For the lazy people and for the sake of the "completeness" of this site, I decided to steal a small portion of the information.

Brut Nature is a blend of Pinot Noir (28%), Chardonnay (28%) and Pinot Meunier (44%), sourced from 40 crus scattered around the Champagne region. This specific bottle consists of 36% base wines from the harvest of 2016. Everything else is reserve wines spanning to 2006. The majority of wine (96%) is vinified in stainless steel tanks. MLF is partial.

0 dosage. Disgorged in the 4th quarter of 2021 (hence the identifier on this site).

Lamiable Phéérie 2016

A Champagne house you are unlikely to mention in a list of the most popular producers. Yet we, consumers, should be happy as Phéérie is about value. At least, on the Ukranian market. And it's Grand Cru (Tours sur Mame)!

Deutz Brut Blanc de Noir Parcelle d'Aÿ Meurtet William Deutz 2015

My Google-fu is reaching the near-zero mark, so all bits of information stopped moving in my direction. From what I could gather, it seems that there are two parcels used for Hommage a William Deutz (one of the house founders) series production - Meurtet (2.42) and Côte Glaciere (1.92 ha). Both are adjacent to the house itself. Blanc de Noir is 100% Pinot Noir from Meurtet. Some sources (no links, cause not trustworthy) say that the wine spent 84 months on lees (fine lees, of course). If you have any extra information to share, don't hesitate to contact me.

Vilmart & Cie Emotion 2012

A 60/40 blend of Saignée Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from 45-year-old vines in Rilly-la-Montagne, vinified in barrels for 10 months without malolactic fermentation.

Emotion was one of those wines I wouldn't mind not being present in the final lineup. On the one hand, we already tasted it a few weeks before. On the other hand, it was kind of spoiled and showed some promise (although I liked it nevertheless). So I was emo-curious, but not too much. If it turns into an outstanding wine, I'll be happy. That's the motto of a person who just loves to drink (wine). The result?

Louis Roederer Cristal Rosé 2012

The 2012 Cristal Rosé is a 56/44 blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. No malolactic (not really) fermentation. 15% is vinified in oak casks. The rosé part is created using the 'infusion' method.

Krug Rosé 26ème Édition Brut NV

P.S. This is the only score that I changed (from 4.5 to 4.6).

Bruno Paillard N.P.U. 1996

It's not intended to be the best wine, but a cuvée that we push to the extreme.

[...] liveliness is more the focus here than complexity and richness.

--- Alice Paillard

A 50/50 blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from 7 of the most sought-after Grands Crus of the Champagne terroir: Oger, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Chouilly, Cramant, Verzenay, Mailly-Champagne, and Bouzy. Grapes are vinified and matured in small, old oak barrels for 10 months. Then the wine spends 12 years on lees followed by two years of post-disgorgement rest before release.

Raw scores