Happy holidays to everyone. Sorry I'll miss the excursion to Emma's. (And what is a "proven" pinot, anyhow?) Will hope to see you Thursday evening, 12-28, assuming we meet that night. Safe traveling to those who will be on the road. Zipp's Bubbly Tasting 12-18-2006 Ambience: a stand-up tasting with water and crackers on the concrete floor in Zipp's back room. On the other hand: Riedel glassware, plenty of wine, and the price of the tasting (free) was oh so right. PROSECCO (did not taste any of these) Paoni Col Vetoraz Nino Franco Rose CAVA Cristalino (not tasted). 2000 Juve y Camps Brut Nature ? the traditional cava blend of macabeo, parellada and xarel-lo, with little or no dosage. Very cava nose, dry as dust, stinky in a good way from the old-school grapes. Tastes as it smells, lacks aromatic force and turns surprisingly (unharmoniously?) sweet at the end, pretty good length though. Won't be everyone's cup of tea but you could sip this outdoors with tapas on a warm evening?. NV Castillo Perelada Brut Rose ? their high end cuvee with the Salvador Dali black and gold label, forgot to write down the name. Nose identifiably cava, very dry, smells attractively of strawberry. Midpalate structured, volume, lots of fruit, astringently dry (a touch tannic?), smooth transition to a forceful, delicious, characterful and very long finish. Yum! Very individual. Costs as much as cheap (real) Champagne, but worth it. NEW WORLD Korbel Brut (not tasted). Domaine Ste Michele Blanc de Noirs (not tasted). Roederer Estate Brut, Anderson Valley ? not tasted on this occasion, although I've had the current release of this wine 2-3 times in the past couple of months and enjoyed it very much, plenty of rich fruit (and plenty of structure, but not austere as this wine often is on release), perhaps reflective of the warm growing conditions in 2003 and/or 2004. Roederer Estate Brut Rose, Anderson Valley ? initially seemed very austere and thus more in the usual Roederer California style, reserved on the nose and so structured in the mouth that it seemed to lack fruit ? until you chew it for a while, then the fruit comes out. I may have failed to notice that it was served too cold. Really excellent length. Fine prospects in the cellar at only $21. NV Jansz (Australia) ? the blend is from Victoria, Tasmania, and one other appellation. Faint oxidized brown sugar aroma and flavor, not much structure, did not care for this at all compared to the two fine roses that preceded it. EUROPE, NON-CHAMPAGNE Simonnet-Febvre Cremant de Bourgogne (not tasted). Baumard Cremant de Loire ("Carte Turquoise") ? not tasted on this occasion, although this was very successful with a rich crab bisque at a wine dinner we attended recently. At the price ($15+) I personally prefer the California bubblies, but others may prefer the Loire flavor profile. This is clean, nicely structured, well made and affordable. 2000 Richter Sekt (Riesling) (not tasted). 2001 August Kesseler Spatburgunder Weissherbst ? Rheingau. Methode champenoise (or klassische flaschengarung, if you prefer). Oeil de perdrix color. SO2 on nose but it blew off with aeration of the wine. Nose pure clean fruit and flowers, herbal undertones; German flavored mouth entry in the sense of the flowers and spices (not the diesel fuel), delicious, this has real finesse, the finish very forceful and very long, snappy dry, this is excellent. You get several dollars change back from your $20; fine value. CHAMPAGNE NV Philipponnat Royale Reserve ? Philipponnat's basic nonvintage brut. This particular bottle, disgorged March 2003, smelled old, oxidized, funky and unattractive. No way to know whether the bottle was representative, but basic n.v. brut closing in on four years post disgorgement is getting pretty old. NV Bollinger Special Cuvee ? not tasted on this occasion, although I'd certainly recommend the wine, having bought a case of it last month. 1996 Bollinger Grande Annee ? nose massive, pure, the chardonnay dominant at this point in its evolution, may I curl up with this please; midpalate weight, force, finesse despite its great size, a whiplash of acidity late, flavor goes on and on. QUITE oaky at the moment, as the pinot noir aromatics don't seem very developed yet and pinot noir is undoubtedly well over half the cuvee. Amazing wine; may we all live to drink this at its peak (2020?). 1996 Pol Roger Brut Rose ? initially reticent nose of wild strawberry, licorice, sweet lemons; huge on the midpalate, very intense fruit struggling (but not yet succeeding) to balance the searing 1996 acid structure, a touch bitter (tannic?), finish leaves your mouth tingling. Genuinely difficult to drink now, although exciting! This is YEARS away but I'd be very, very surprised if it didn't turn out well. 1998 Dom Perignon ? SO2 on nose, to the point that I can't tell you what it smelled like; in the mouth good aromatic force, class, finesse, tastes of quite a few different fruits; intrusive acidity on transition, then finishes as it tastes, with very good but not outstanding length. Pleasant enough (except for the over-sulfured nose), but against the competition at the tete de cuvee level, this lacks volume, mass, and flavor authority. 2000 Diebolt-Vallois Fleur de Passion ? nose of flowers, anise, quince, tangerine, mint, peach; tastes sweet and pure, considerable fruit, midweight, fascinating flavor; absolutely gorgeous finesse transition to an increasingly intense and delicious finish. The best wine here, albeit the '96 Bollinger may be better some day. Affordable; this costs about the same as two bottles of cheap Champagne. Probably lots of potential for development with time in the cellar, but so delicious now ? why wait? SPECIAL GUEST NON-SPARKLING PINOT NOIR 1999 Bollinger Cote aux Enfants, Coteaux Champenois Rouge. Bollinger's single-vineyard still pinot noir from Ay. Silenced the room. Tasting notes would not do the wine justice. Definitely recommended to pinot noir fans. Something of a rarity: in the 1999 vintage, 327 cases.