WTN: A Brut Nature to Celebrate with!

I received a good enough piece of news today that I had to go out and buy a bottle of fizz to celebrate!

• N.V. Drappier Champagne Brut Nature Zero Dosage - France, Champagne (11/6/2008)
  34,90€; 12% abv; 8g/l acidity. The nose at first was voluptuously fruity, more Rubensian in proportions that I thought possible for a Brut Nature - it smelled of strawberry jam. Gladly by the second glass some nuance had appeared and it became a very pure example of Pinot with its red toned fruit/red apple and floral notes. The fruit was sweet and still had a touch of strawberry to it, but it was no longer jam. Fine, small mousse. The palate is well structured and dry and grippy but it also had more pure fruit than I expected from the label, but happily less than I was afraid I would get from the first sniff! It shows great Pinosity, but I wouldn't have guessed a Brut Nature if served blind - could this be based on 2003? A surprising wine in some ways, but a very pleasurable one, too.

[David M. Bueker]

Lots of 2003-based NVs out there right now. 2004/2005 are coming into markets now/soon, but not soon enough for me.

I'm glad you enjoyed it & also glad you got some good news.

And your good news is.....????

Slow day in the office there Bruce!!!

DavidB: Lots of 2003-based NVs out there right now. 2004/2005 are coming into markets now/soon, but not soon enough for me.

Indeed. I read that the '04s should be in the steely, high acid style that I guess we two would enjoy very much. I'm very much looking forward to seeing the NVs and MVs based on '04. I guess '05 was as warm in Champers and elsewhere in France, so maybe not crisp and steely enough for me?

BruceH: And your good news is.....????

I was exempt from the compulsory military service. With a large part of my studies having concentrated on peace in the Near East, and being of a rather pacifist bent in a more holistic way also, this was obviously a huge relief for me.

[Jenise]

I was exempt from the compulsory military service. With a large part of my studies having concentrated on peace in the Near East, and being of a rather pacifist bent in a more holistic way also, this was obviously a huge relief for me.

Fantastic, and congratulations!

Indeed Otto, congratulations. As is said, quite truly: War is bad for flowers and other living creatures".

When you speak of the "Near East" are we using the same terminology as when I refer to the "Middle-East" - that is to say in general Syria, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan and Israel? If so, we must talk more in detail......

Best
Rogov

DavidB: Lots of 2003-based NVs out there right now. 2004/2005 are coming into markets now/soon, but not soon enough for me.

Indeed. I read that the '04s should be in the steely, high acid style that I guess we two would enjoy very much. I'm very much looking forward to seeing the NVs and MVs based on '04. I guess '05 was as warm in Champers and elsewhere in France, so maybe not crisp and steely enough for me?

BruceH: And your good news is.....????

I was exempt from the compulsory military service. With a large part of my studies having concentrated on peace in the Near East, and being of a rather pacifist bent in a more holistic way also, this was obviously a huge relief for me.

Congratulations, Otto!

Great, Otto, to hear that some good news came your way! May it be the start of a really good period for you.
Cheers,
Anders

Indeed Otto, congratulations. As is said, quite truly: War is bad for flowers and other living creatures".

When you speak of the "Near East" are we using the same terminology as when I refer to the "Middle-East" - that is to say in general Syria, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan and Israel? If so, we must talk more in detail......

Thanks for all the congratulations! Rogov, that is indeed what I meant with NE. Middle-East and Near-East are practically synonyms, though ME tends to have more political connotations while NE historical.

Belated congrats to you, Otto. Your scholarship would have been wasted in the military, I am sure, and the wines available for tasting would have been spoofy to the extreme

Mark Lipton

Congrats on your good luck Otto. Incidently, I'm making a 100% Pinot Noir bubbly this year. I may make a few bottles "Brut Nature" and maybe, somehow, a few years down the road, perhaps I could get a bottle to you. I don't know how.

Congrats on your good luck Otto. Incidently, I'm making a 100% Pinot Noir bubbly this year. I may make a few bottles "Brut Nature" and maybe, somehow, a few years down the road, perhaps I could get a bottle to you. I don't know how.

When Otto gets that job as a globe-trotting wine scribe for a leading European wine magazine next year, I'm sure he'll be able to drop by and share a glass or two of your bubbly, Howie.