08 comtes

A cool 75% price bump on the 06/07 releases and close to current 02 trading price. Glad I bought all those 06s at M&S for a quarter of this price!

Thanks for the memories Taittinger...
 
Putting comtes’ price history to one side, this is being proposed at 18% more than 08 DP and clos des goisses were, in line with pr winston and a hair below the 08 cristal. Unlike salon, I think the wine’s consistent track record and quality clearly justified a major price bump. However, I think they've overreached a little.
 
Who is pushing this BTW?

'08 won't be a long time on the market, before the next major release of 2012 (and is probably going to be superb too but being released earlier in the curve relative to 2008 will probably attract a discount).
 
It's not been released by the UK agent - it will be released at the end of March - but lets just say I would be extremely surprised if it were that price.
 
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Looking again at where the 02 is now trading (£885/6), I decided the pricing wasn’t as outrageous as I first thought and decided to hedge my bets with a couple of 6 packs.
 
Surely by buying at their price (which is based on pure speculation) it will only encourage the agent to raise the real release price though. 'delivery to uk in may'. I wonder how long before they have 'sold out' talk about skewing the market.
 
You worried me there Dan, thought my email was broken.
I was sure I’d get just a few if that was the case. Will be sub £100 surely. Bit cheeky of merchant but there you go.
 
I typically apply a 5% compound discount per annum when comparing new releases of similar quality to currently available wines. With the 02 as the obvious comparator trading at £885 minimum, the 08 needed to come out at £660. £706 was 11.5% over that but I suspect it will come to be viewed as a “better” wine. No question, it’s probably a toppy price and I’d hope to do better in bulk later but I’m ok with it fir a couple of 6 packs.

PS Some might rightly say buy more of the 06 for £450 but that was my daughters’ birth year so I’ve no need for more of it!
 
I typically apply a 5% compound discount per annum when comparing new releases of similar quality to currently available wines. With the 02 as the obvious comparator trading at £885 minimum, the 08 needed to come out at £660. £706 was 11.5% over that but I suspect it will come to be viewed as a “better” wine. No question, it’s probably a toppy price and I’d hope to do better in bulk later but I’m ok with it fir a couple of 6 packs.

PS Some might rightly say buy more of the 06 for £450 but that was my daughters’ birth year so I’ve no need for more of it!
So if the 08 is released sub £600 then all about ok ? I’d hope for around that but am waiting on the LGA rose and hope they haven’t punched prices up too much.
 
Availability of 08 LGAR will be the difficulty, I suspect people like F&M may get some and their case price may beat the “merchantsl” who seem to stoke the rarity angle.
Well if either of you get a heads up on release drop me a little nudge :) it’s one I’m actively waiting on, and I don’t await many releases. LGAR that is.
 
100pt review on Cellartracker today:

Not to be tacky or anything but I've had just about every hyped Champagne and bling Champagne to have been released in the last two decades and frankly it's pretty rare for them to provoke any reaction in me beyond, "Yeah, pretty good, tastes like Champagne" and then I find myself scratching my head wondering what is making everyone swoon other than the price tag or the fancy packaging. This is an exception so dramatic that the first sip just leaves me standing there, stupefied. The effect is positively transporting. Outside it's a miserable winter night and then with a sip of this, the fruit turns the inside of your mouth into Katrina & the Waves' "Walking on Sunshine" and the bubbles rain on the palate with the gentle patter of a light summer sunshower. Owing to its sheer glowing uranium-like vibrancy, the refreshment value is off the charts, but there is plenty more packed into the fruit beneath this, as it's fleshed out with thicker, more candied lemony flavors starting to pick up some of the honeyed character of age and which give it a very Salon-like profile, which isn't so strange considering the Mesnil part of the blend. It finishes with a sensation of metal shavings and a finely serrated cut followed by a sustained echo of that bright, thirst-quenching fruit, but not so quenching that you don't feel immediately compelled to grab another sip. 750ml is a cruelly inadequate serving size. Comtes de Champagne is always a treat to drink although it tends to require a few years for me to get past the aforementioned "pretty good, tastes like Champagne" stage - this one requires no such patience. I can't say whether it's unusually precocious this year or if the winemaking somehow stepped up to the next level (really, stepped up to the very top level), or both, but you just can't ask for or expect any more from a Champagne of this age. Champagne just doesn't get any better without there being actual nymphs to serve it to you.
 
100pt review on Cellartracker today:

Not to be tacky or anything but I've had just about every hyped Champagne and bling Champagne to have been released in the last two decades and frankly it's pretty rare for them to provoke any reaction in me beyond, "Yeah, pretty good, tastes like Champagne" and then I find myself scratching my head wondering what is making everyone swoon other than the price tag or the fancy packaging. This is an exception so dramatic that the first sip just leaves me standing there, stupefied. The effect is positively transporting. Outside it's a miserable winter night and then with a sip of this, the fruit turns the inside of your mouth into Katrina & the Waves' "Walking on Sunshine" and the bubbles rain on the palate with the gentle patter of a light summer sunshower. Owing to its sheer glowing uranium-like vibrancy, the refreshment value is off the charts, but there is plenty more packed into the fruit beneath this, as it's fleshed out with thicker, more candied lemony flavors starting to pick up some of the honeyed character of age and which give it a very Salon-like profile, which isn't so strange considering the Mesnil part of the blend. It finishes with a sensation of metal shavings and a finely serrated cut followed by a sustained echo of that bright, thirst-quenching fruit, but not so quenching that you don't feel immediately compelled to grab another sip. 750ml is a cruelly inadequate serving size. Comtes de Champagne is always a treat to drink although it tends to require a few years for me to get past the aforementioned "pretty good, tastes like Champagne" stage - this one requires no such patience. I can't say whether it's unusually precocious this year or if the winemaking somehow stepped up to the next level (really, stepped up to the very top level), or both, but you just can't ask for or expect any more from a Champagne of this age. Champagne just doesn't get any better without there being actual nymphs to serve it to you.
Lovely share Nick.
One day we will get to do an 08 head to head, before they all shut down I hope.
At the moment Bolly GA 08 sets the bar for me.
 
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