October 31, 2013Conrad (The Wine Wankers)

Do we really need a good reason to drink a posh champagne?

A few years ago now (and maybe a few more) when I proposed to my wife I decided that I should source a really good French Champagne and make sure that my wife was thoroughly enjoying it before proposing.  My wife loves bubbles, she can’t get enough of it.  So bubbles and their warming effect was always going to play on my side!

bolinger champagne wine blogs blog nice wine online wine wankersI sourced a bottle of Bollinger La Grande Année 1996.  This Champagne only ever gets released in the best years and the 1996 Champagne vintage is regarded as outstanding and some people believe it to be the best since 1928… Champagne drinkers have the longest memories in the world!

It was actually my wife’s birthday which gave me the perfect cover to wake her up before sunrise on a crisp morning and drive her to the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean south of Bondi Beach in Sydney.  I don’t think she was 100% thrilled about such an early rise on her birthday but went along with it for the unknown adventure.  On driving down to the cliffs she said “Oh, you’re taking me to see a sunrise”.  She had told me she’d never seen a sunrise before, although had still been awake many a times when the sun came up but that’s her story to tell, not mine.

So I had the perfect excuse to lay down a picnic blanket, pour us a glass of Bol each, and sit there sipping away as the sun rose, and healthy joggers ran by bemused by two drinkers outdoors that early in the morning.  So just as the sun fully appeared I was lubricated enough to pull out the ring and pop the question… And…

boizel champagne wine blogs blog nice wine online wine wankersSo, how was the 1996 Bollinger?  It was the best Champagne either of us had ever had and became the benchmark all others have been measured against and, for me, none have beaten.  It had the perfect array of bubbles that sat beautifully at the top of the glass.  And it was so tasty, very buttery and full of toasty flavours that lasted and lasted in the mouth.  And the occasion added to just how good it was, of course. 😉

I recently picked up a couple of bottles of 1996 Boizel Champagne Joyau de France for about $60/bottle at auction.  This was a bargain considering its currently being sold online for $235 and I’ve also seen it for $225.  There were probably about a dozen lots of this up for auction but the price forced me to show restraint and just bid on two; destined for “special occasions”.

The other night my wife said that she really felt like a champagne, just because.  Did it pass the special occasion test?  Yep, my wife wanted a champagne and that was enough for me to pop the 1996 Boizel that had been screaming at me to try.

boizel champagne wine blogs blog nice wine online wine wankersOMFG!  It was such a different tasting champagne.  Unique in the way you want a great new wine experience to be.  It was definitely champagne but came across with its own new angle.  It bubbled away with energetic beads and looked so tasty with its foaming mousse at the top.  You could smell the toast, nuts and citrus popping out of the bubbles.  And it went down so smoothly with flavours of bread and toast layered with a hazelnut spread sprinkled with citrus, and it just didn’t go away finally delivering some biscuits for dessert.  Yum!

I’m kicking myself though that I didn’t shake the coin for another couple of bottles of this fine Champagne.  Absolutely stunning, especially when the feel of a bargain adds to it.  At least I have one more left though and surely that has to be for a special occasion, hasn’t it?

Was it as good as the 1996 Bol?  Of course not.   😉

jansz nv tasmania wine blogs blog nice wine online wine wankersThe following evening my wife was again in the mood for a Champagne.  I wasn’t going to pop the second bottle already so I pulled out a Jansz NV Premium Cuvee from Tasmania.  As usual, and as it was when I was on tour, it was a gorgeous non-vintage sparkling white.  To be honest, it’s as good as any standard-line non-vintage French Champagne.  Full of flavour and just a fun sparkling.  And at about $27/bottle it’s way more than half as good as the 1996 Boizel.

There’s always a good reason to drink good wine, always.  Heck, while we were drinking the Boizel was probably when our blog got its 1000th follower (thank you!).  There, I plucked out another reason.

Oh, back to the proposal.  Of course my wife said yes!  She crumbled instantly.  Ummm, I never had any doubt.  I like a good Champagne too…  😉

144 comments

  3. Loving your style! I just had a Pol Roger Cuvee Winston Churchill 1996 – absolutely the best champagne I’ve ever had (Churchill’s favourite vintage was 1928). I must get a post up too!

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  4. Of course the answer is no, Mr Wanker. Have you been to Rheims? Must’ve… I went with cultural party; all the twin cities across the continent converged for all sorts of activities, we even had lunch with the mayor – I should write about it and give you a mention for the thought…

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  9. To your health! BTW, I sent a couple of pics and an inquiry to you about some bottles I bought when I was in Australia several years ago…have you had a chance to see them?

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    • Sorry, I’m not actually personally on Facebook. I think I mentioned it in our recent Twitter/Facebook post. My wife logs me in at times to have a look and I leave the rest up to Stu and Neal but they’ve both been out of action. I’ve looked at it now and will do a bit of research and get back to you. A bit slack of us!

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      • So you do see it! Yay! I am a bit apprehensive about what the verdict will be…those bottles will be 9 yrs old in January, at least! Thanks, slacker or not…
        😀

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  10. Wonderful words Conrad. My matrimonial bottle was the 1989 Clos de Mesnil. In truth, it was SO good, that the memory of that wine, (and even the empty bottle,) has lasted quite a bit longer than the marriage. Oh well! Guess I am wedded to my passion.
    PS Thanks for the Tassie plug

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  14. Just want to come here and say how much I enjoy your posts. I live in coastal southern California, and I needn’t go into what a wine growing region California is. To be honest, on my budget, I’m mostly an $8 – $20 bottle wine guy (mostly $8…, and occasionally less, but why humiliate myself…haha. Oops, too late! haha.), so much of what you go into is at a whole other level for me. Still, I enjoy your posts mostly because of your passion for wine, which I also share, albeit at another price level maybe. Still… So, that’s all. I’ve never commented here before, and just want to say thank you for such a wonderful site and such interesting posts. I feel like I’m getting an education. Hope your day or evening is going well. ~ Bill

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    • And thank you so much for coming on here and commenting! Hey, this is up there with the more expensive bottles of wine I’ve ever bought, and it’s rare for me to spend this amount. I’d have to trade food for wine if I did, well more than I already do! It was just such a bargain compared to normal price that I just had to. I usually spend far less and my experience has taught me how to find decent enjoyable wine in your price bracket, which I do a lot.

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  15. hmmm — apparently I need more romance in my life!
    P.S. I was horrified to see a stemless champagne glass on the market here in Canada – why on earth would one want to allow one’s fingers to warm up the wine?

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  18. Fortunately for me, the people who surround me celebrate each moment we can be together with a bottle of champagne. It really makes all those moments become special!

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  19. The only reason you need to drink posh champagne is the fact that you have opportunity to drink posh champagne. Any further reasons to celebrate can be the icing on the cake 🙂

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  26. Clearly you *do* know the answer to the titular question, for many reasons! And *of course* ’96 is THE vintage: it’s the year *we* got married. 😉 Now I have to dash out and find me a bottle or two…

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  30. Everyday is a great day for champagne so far as I’m concerned! What a wonderfully romantic picnic, wow, sounds perfect, no wonder your wife said yes! Lovely story Conrad and congratulations on 1,000 followers 🙂

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  32. Word around the train yard is that you guys are one of three countries that holds the wine reserves, while everyone else is drying out. What’s your side of the story?

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  39. Ah Champagne! I’m not from the Champagne region and not a huge fan, which always surprises my American friends. But I must say one thing: if you have a long, long meal and a long, long night of celebration with friends, drink Champagne and only Champagne. You will wake up just fine. I don’t know what it is with Champagne but I swear it’s true. Besides Champagne goes well with all kind of food so you will avoid the chaos of having to serve several different wines.
    That said I’d rather have a glass of red wine any day!

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  45. I’m no wine connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination, in fact I know pretty much nothing about the stuff except that I enjoy a glass or five here and there (I’m craft beer and scotch lover). But I’ve read through some of your posts and they’re very entertaining. This post in particular had me chortle out loud, when you pop the question and hold us a little in suspense on the verdict (even though we know you’re married) and you follow with your verdict on the taste of the bubbly. Well done sir, well done. I think I’m going to have to expand my palate’s beverage range and get to know some wine 🙂

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  46. Just found your blog, now I am no wine expert, but I am going to have a read of your stuff to try and convince me to ditch the beer and bourbon and take a walk on the wild side. Thanks for following my blog. Oh and you have the best blog name ever. Genius! Later Wankers!

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      • An excellent story. Clearly a lie though, you just love the booze like me. Honestly, I have heard and seen many a professional wine critic and they aren’t a patch on you.
        They make it feel like a chore and a job. You make me want to drink wine. Right, where’s that wedding day bottle!

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      • Interesting you say that about how we write. I think a lot of professional wine writers are under pressure to wrote about wine, and describe it, in a real set manner. We don’t care for any of that, and are happy to admit we are rank amateurs, but we are damn well passionate about a good glass of wine!!!
        .
        Don’t “wait” for the right moment to open a good bottle of wine because it may disappoint if you take too long to decide on a fitting occasion. Just do it when you really want to and you will enjoy it all the more for the spontaneity!

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  47. Oh, man! I haven’t had a decent champagne in years–and now you have me yearning for one!

    Fortunately, this week I get to lay in a supply of wine as an alternate libation for a martini bash that a friend and I are throwing this next weekend. I’ll add a bottle of champagne to my shopping list!

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