BIG Champagne Surprises! Grand Marques Blind Tasting

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I use this wine key: Forge de Laguiole Ebony
I have used this glass in this Video: RIEDEL Veritas Champagne
I have tasted the following wines in this Video:

Pol Roger Brut Reserve, Champagne, France
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/pol+roger+brut+rsrv+champagne+france?referring_site=KSB

Taittinger Brut Reserve, Champagne, France
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/taittinger+brut+rsrv+champagne+france?referring_site=KSB

Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial, Champagne, France
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/moet+chandon+brut+imperiale+champagne+france?referring_site=KSB

Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Yellow Label Brut, Champagne, France
https://wine-searcher.com/find/veuve+clicquot+ponsardin+yellow+brut+champagne+france?referring_site=KSB

Louis Roederer Collection 242 Brut, Champagne, France
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/louis+roederer+collection+242+brut+champagne+france?referring_site=KSB

Bollinger Special Cuvee Brut, Champagne, France
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/bollinger+spc+cuvee+brut+champagne+france?referring_site=KSB

The 100 Point Scoring System (from www.robertparker.com):
96-100: An extraordinary wine of profound and complex character displaying all the attributes expected of a classic wine of its variety. Wines of this caliber are worth a special effort to find, purchase and consume.
90 – 95: An outstanding wine of exceptional complexity and character. In short, these are terrific wines.
80 – 89: A barely above average to very good wine displaying various degrees of finesse and flavor as well as character with no noticeable flaws.
70 – 79: An average wine with little distinction except that it is soundly made. In essence, a straightforward, innocuous wine.
60 – 69: A below-average wine containing noticeable deficiencies, such as excessive acidity and/or tannin, an absence of flavor or possibly dirty aromas or flavors.
50 – 59: A wine deemed to be unacceptable.

I drink Champagne when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Otherwise, I never touch it―unless I’m thirsty. Goes the abbreviated quote by Lily Bollinger that is probably the most famous Champagne-related statement.
I love to drink Champagne, even though I don’t have the Lily’s consumption habits, and I also enjoy exploring the region, looking for new and undiscovered gems.
However, the vast majority of the region’s production is commercialized by the Grandes Marques and those are the Champagnes most of you know and will be able to get
The Oxford Companion to Wine defines the term Grandes Marques as “an obsolete, self-imposed term for some of the major houses or brands of champagne. The original Syndicat des Grandes Marques was founded in 1882 but was disbanded in 1997. The term means literally ‘big brand’ in French and is still used informally.”
So today I want to taste the Grandes Marques – the big Champagne Houses side by side in a blind-tasting face-off to see which ones have invested in quality and which ones in marketing.

I drink champagne when I’m happy and when I’m sad otherwise I don’t touch it unless I’m thirsty goes the abbreviated version of the quote from Lily bolang which is probably the most famous champagne related statement in the world I love drinking champagne even though I don’t have Lily’s consumption habits and

I enjoy exploring the region looking for new and undiscovered gems however the vast majority of the Region’s production is commercialized by the C Mark those are the champag that most of you know and will be able to get in most markets Oxford companion to Wine defines the term gr Mark as obsolete self-imposed

Term for some of the major houses or brands of champagne the original synda the gro Mar was founded in 1882 but was disbanded in 1997 the term means literally Big Brand in French and is still used informally so today I want to taste the entry-level Champagnes of the gr Mark the big

Champagne houses side by side in a blind tasting face off to see which ones have invested in quality and which ones have invested in marketing let’s Go Leon has selected these wies so I don’t know which one he picked they are also kind of yeah obscured so so I don’t even see the agraph for some reason I couldn’t find number two so this is why we have a number seven here but there

Are just six Champagnes okay so let’s clean this up so that we can start popping some cork so we’re starting with champagne number one I’m not looking let’s pop oo pretty pale in color fine bubbles looks looks pretty good so far on the North this is really bright and clean

There’s apple and pear flavor a little bit of Brios yeastiness coming from the maturation on the dead yeast cells quite quite delicious on the pad this is Rich and round quite grippy as as well there’s great structure there quite a lot of intensity this feels like it’s

Based on P Noir more than the other gra varieties pin and Chardon and it’s it’s really good this obviously doesn’t have the structure and intensity that you might get from a vintage champagne or Prestige cuvet but it’s a really good start I’m going to rate this 89 points

Quite delicious a little yeah it just could have a little bit more freshness and vibrancy on the Finish but apart from that this is definitely good have you ever been to a Vineyard in Champagne in Winter I have and I can tell you that the cold wind and rain dry out your skin

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On my travels around the world so click the first link in the description and head over to te Hanley but now let’s get back to the Champagnes we’re moving on to Wine number three because like I told you two is missing so I’m again trying not to look and now come

On I might lose one or two lights here but it’s worth it I mean this is this is fun popping corks what could be better this is actually quite a bit darker in color again with fine bubbles fine mousse but yeah it’s it’s not as as

Bright and clean or as as light in color as the previous one there’s a little bit of a bronze tinch on the nose it also has a different expression it smells a little bit of orange zest a little bit of grapefruit so so there’s yeah different kinds of citrus fruit flavors

On top of that there’s obviously the Brio character the slight nuttiness like roasted hazelnuts so it’s quite quite interesting on the palette this shows quite a bit more structure more grip freshness acidity there’s a little bit more going on here this is definitely not the most classical champagne but it’s a really

Interesting one so I’m going to rate this 90 points delicious wine a little bit more edgy I don’t know I don’t think this this is something Everyone likes but but I I like it so next up we have wine number four I’m not looking this is going to go wrong at some

Point did you know that like one of those bottles has two three or four times the pressure that a car tire has so this could really knock somebody’s eye out so this again is a little darker in color there’s a fine mousse here quite a lot of it it’s quite frothy on

The nose this has quite a lot of lemon and lime character so it’s quite citric there’s obviously also the K brii yeasty do kind of character which is which is quite nice I think it’s actually really complete quite delicious there’s quite a lot of stuff going on so the freshness is good

There’s a little bit of bitterness there as well a touch of like mature wine like reserve wine character coming through so so yeah it’s quite a complex wine considering that this is like the entry level of one of the big houses so I’m going to rate this 91 points pretty good

And it’s in the lead right now so we’re moving on to Wine number five come on no risk quite a bit of frothiness quite a lot of fine Bubbles as well it’s relatively pale in color so this is definitely not not one of the darker ones so this is

Actually well it’s it’s not in the same leak as the previous ones I think this is bit below that it’s actually bit well it doesn’t really show a lot of flavor the flavor it shows is more towards the fruit and less yeastiness kind of pointing to the fact

That this might not be might not have been stored on the lease for a long time it’s a bit more peachy there’s a little bit of Apple character coming through but yeah it’s it’s not as precise as the previous ones on the palette it also lacks a little bit of

Structure it’s kind of fresh and Lively it’s not a bad wine but but it’s it just doesn’t have like grip and multi-dimensional texture it it it just yeah it’s a sparkling wine a champagne for sure but but not not a great one so I’m going to rate this 85

Points good I’d probably drink it but yeah the other ones were better so here we go wine number six come on what how did I do that that that’s that was magic no one has ever done that before that was that was just too much luckily I caught on camera catching an

Exploding bottle or the cork from an exploding bottle in your glass that’s kind of that special but now let’s focus on this so This is actually really golden in color that’s that’s certainly different that’s not yeah the other ones were much paler than this it also has this bruised Apple

Character a little bit of yeah a little bit of soy soil yeastiness but more like bu Cube kind of yeastiness also like baked goods but but also this kind of really Savory yeastiness on the palette there’s great structure there there’s quite a lot of bitterness quite a bit of grip I don’t

Think yeah this is not for everyone the previous wine was more of a crowd pleaser and this is more of a thinker a little bit more complicated maybe but uh I I quite I quite like this great finish really I’m going to rate this 92 points

I think it’s quite delicious but like I said it’s not for for everyone probably last but not least wine number seven I still have both of my cameras which is quite impressive considering that I’ve been shooting cck around like a crazy person but let this one fly into into that

Corner let’s not risk it so again a little bit paler in color quite a bit of bubbliness quite a bit of froth on the nose this is actually quite grassy a little bit greenish maybe that’s due to the work with the leav the yeast cells or the

Ripeness of the fruit but it feels a little bit yeah a little little green on the palette this also lacks concentration there’s quite a lot of sharpness there not the creamy texture that you want from Champagne it’s more yeah bit bit rough I don’t know I I’m not a big

Fan I’m going to rate this 803 points I actually think this is the worst champagne in the lineup yeah I I wouldn’t recommend this if they are all at the same price point this is probably the the weakest one all right let’s go let’s reveal those babies

And see which one which one is which I’m actually quite excited excited because we probably know most of those Brands if Leon just selected the K Mar that is so I’m curious to find out which one was which champagne number one was I I quite

Liked it I rated at 89 points I was a bit on the fence there but but I thought it was very solid champagne Paul Ro good stuff po Reser brute well done champ number two or three was a little bit better tiny bit better quite quite a bit more structured

I I like that so let’s see what it is T or titinger is as Germans we’re calling it titinger but T brute Reserve good stuff next up we have wine number four champagne number four which I liked even more four I liked even more

I rated 91 points and it was no way this is the brute Imperial that’s crazy that is a bit of a shocker because this is definitely one of the most large scale Productions there is um and I did did like it the beauty of blind tasting

So let’s move on to Wine number five I didn’t really enjoy this one so let’s see oh the yellow widow ver brute yeah this probably together with the mo brute Imperial they are like the biggest Productions even though this is quite a step up from there but yeah I

Thought this was just it lacked depth so let’s move on to Wine number six which was actually my wine of the tasting I like the fact that it was quite a bit different and really really exciting and it is the Lou r colle or collection 242 I’m actually not

Surprised because L rud they’re producing really great wines throughout the whole range and this certainly isn’t an exception and now I’m curious to find out what wine number seven was I I didn’t like it I I just thought found it really weird and it is the Bon Binger what the hell

You know this is fascinating because I would probably say bang is a champagne I enjoy also probably because this was the champagne that I drank when I became a m of wine so so there’s quite a lot of emotions attached to it now stripping out the emotions and just tasting it

Blind I really didn’t enjoy it but yeah that’s what blind tastings are there for funny so this was fascinating I love doing these tastings where I taste well-known wines blind because you strip out all of the marketing and the great memories that you have just judge the

Wine based on what you have in your class and in this case it’s certainly well there were some curve boards here my favorite wine though of the tasting was definitely the Lou rera collection which was just delicious I’m fascinating I mean this certainly I I wouldn’t have expected this one to come

In this high but but that’s life and I definitely wouldn’t have expected Ed this one to perform this poorly so thank you for watching I hope you enjoyed this video if you did then please like it down here subscribe to my channel if you haven’t done so already my question of

The day is what is your favorite k Mark champagne let me know down below you can also ridicule me today I’m I’m okay with it so so ridicule Me Down Below in the comments I hope I see you guys again very soon until then stay thirsty