13 Feb 2012: I finally got to try the 1996 Bruno Paillard NPU ('Nec Plus Ultra' aka 'There is nothing beyond').....perhaps not as far as this, but it was a pretty stunning champagne. A wine that took 15 years in the making. Only made in the best vintages, the first release being 1990 and the second 1995 and now 1996 being the 3rd time ever released. Selection of 4 grand crus: Bouzy, Verzenay, Oger and Le Mesnil sur Oger. Fermented in small oak barrels for 9 months, before further selection of the best barriques (50% Chardonnay, 50% Pinot Noir). Only 6,523 bottles were produced. The wine then spent 12 years ageing on its lees before disgorgement. Tiny amount of dosage as a finishing touch. The bottles then spent another 2.5 years of ageing in the cellars before release. All in all, 15 years!!!
Well, the result was a very stunning effort. Opulent, richly balanced, harmoniously mature and wonderfully complex, with brioche, pear, nutty, and floral notes...infusing a wine with a creamy and mouthfilling texture, lifted by a vibrant freshness. Finish was extremely long....I was unfortunately too busy in the kitchen that I had forgotten to ask for mine to be served in a white wine glass....still a very remarkable wine and better paired with food, such as my roast chicken or better still pasta or risotto with black truffle in roast chicken jus (like the one they make so well at Amuse-Bouche)! 18.5/20
Same evening, we had a 1990 Meursault Clos de La Barre, Comtes Lafon, which was saved by some aeration....it had initially emerged from the bottle, tasting rather flat, but I had insisted on having it decanted....and voilà, a bit of transformation! Still it needed drinking up.....15.5/20
The 1997 Cheval Blanc that Charles kindly brought to dinner was deliciously perfumed, showing sweet tobacco, leather, plum preserve, blueberry, violet and sweet spice. Not a wine boasting of structure, depth, concentration or power, but rather delighted us with its approachability and charm. Drink now. 17/20
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