Another get together with my wine friends, another wine tasting that lasted from the mid-afternoons to around 10:00PM.
Per tradition, our wine tastings usually featured at least one bottle of champagne. Seeing as I recently came back from a long trip abroad, my friends asked me to pick the champagne for the night. After mentioning that I have never had very old champagne, one of my friends volunteered the 1978 Champagne Dom Perignon that he had sitting in his cellar.
When the bottle was opened, everyone present was shocked by how the cork still popped a bit. The pour into the glass also displayed some fine bubbles. Expecting an amber color, I was surprised to find the color to be this light. Without knowing the vintage, I would have guessed either late-80s or early-90s.
On the nose, the champagne displayed notes of honey, hazelnut, and caramel notes. The nose slightly reminds me of Madeira. On the palate, the champagne showed notes of browned butter, nougat, and very mellow acidity.
One of my friends remarked that, for very old champagne, he prefers Dom Perignon over Krug. I’ve never had very old Krug so I can’t make that comparison myself, however, the Dom Perignon was delicious. With that being said, 1996 Cristal remains my favorite old champagne.
by Disguised_Riches