Rare Champagne Tasting back to the 1985 Vintage with Special Guest Maxime Levi Friday, October 9th 7:30pm
"Yes, I like Piña Coladas and getting caught in the rain
I'm not much into health food, I am into champagne”
Rupert Holmes
I am also into Champagne as it is my favorite wine so any chance I get to host one of our friends from a great Champagne producer I put a date on the calendar to drink some bubbles at the wine bar.
I will never forget the market visit that I had from the people at Piper Heidsieck or at least I thought someone from this marquee Champagne house had made an appointment to taste wine with me some 20 years ago. When the Gentleman arrived for his appointment he was very dapper with a three piece suit and a briefcase that contained a tiny recording device and to my surprise no Champagne.
When a wine supplier makes an appointment to visit usually, they bring a bag full of wines to sample so I can try the wines to make a purchasing decision. But on this afternoon, there was no wine bag just a briefcase and a mini recording device and a very sharply dressed gentleman that wanted to ask me some questions. He proceeded to as about various Champagne brands, who their customers were and then showed me a few pictures with various wine packaging mockups for the new Rare Champagne bottling that was soon to arrive on US shores.
I politely answered the questions and noted the packaging that I thought was the best of all the pictures that he produced. After around 25 minutes I was starting to get a little annoyed by this interview and thought to myself who comes to an account without wine and says for half an hour asking questions and wanting advice about packaging? I realized that this guy was a hired gun to do market research in regard to the new packaging design for the new release of Rare Champagne.
At that time the gentleman packed up his briefcase turning off the recording device and reached into his pocket and pulled out five one hundred dollar bills and put them on the table and thanked me for my time.
WOW! I never made an easier $500 in my life in 30 minutes and when the new Rare Champagne package was revealed upon its release, sure enough it was the mock up that I had selected!! Rare Champagne will always have a special place here at the Wine Watch as I love telling that story!!
Join us as we taste through four decades of this Rare Champagne with our host Maxime Levi going all the way back to the legendary 1985 vintage. The fee for this tasting which includes dinner and gratuity is $395 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.
Rare Champagne Tasting
with Special Guest Maxime Levi
Friday October 9th
7:30pm
2012 Rare Champagne Brut
2013 Rare Champagne Brut
2014 Rare Rosé Champagne Brut
2008 Rare Champagne Brut Magnum
1998 Rare Champagne Brut Magnum
1985 Rare Champagne Brut
Menu
Truffle Parmesan Shoestring Fries
Sea Scallop Carpaccio with Candied Citrus and Lavender Aioli
Pork Belly Bites with Black Garlic Florida Grits and Local Oranges and Honey Sauce
Aussie A-5 Filet Mignon Sashimi with Champagne Rice
Strawberry Shortcake
The fee for this tasting which includes dinner and gratuity is $395 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com. Please let us know when you make your reservations if you have any dietary restrictions or aversions and chefs Toni and Dani will be happy to accommodate you.
A bit about Rare Champagne
For the first time in its history, Maison Rare Champagne has made it onto the prestigious list of the renowned magazine Drinks International. Ranked 15th, Rare Champagne is also the only new entrant in 2024.
Rare Champagne boasts a noble origin dating back to 1785 when Queen Marie Antoinette tasted the House’s first cuvée. With limited production and unapologetically exclusive, Rare Champagne stands as a regal rejection of convention. Since 1976, only 14 vintages have been released: 1976, 1979, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2013, and Rare Rosé Millésime 2007, 2008, 2012, and 2014.
Rare Champagne transcends norms and conventions to reveal an unparalleled champagne. The Cellar Master crafts each Rare Champagne vintage to reflect an exceptional year, magnifying nature itself. He aims to achieve the signature silky texture and endless freshness of Rare Champagne. Vineyards are selected based on their expression rather than their rank in the scale of Premiers and Grands Crus. By thinking outside the box, he chooses Chardonnay grapes from the Montagne de Reims, known primarily for Pinot Noir, resulting in incredible, precise minerality. He also prefers Pinot Noir grapes from the Montagne de Reims for their intense, powerful, and silky texture. This uncommon blending approach contributes to the complex, distinguished, and pure style of Rare Champagne.
The house recently achieved B Corp Certification and joined the selective B Lab community, a non-profit network founded in 2006. B Corp is one of the most demanding certifications, evaluating the social and environmental impact of a brand through more than 200 questions about governance, workers, communities, and environmental impact. This certification is the result of over 28 months of collective work by our teams worldwide, led by our Chief Winemaker, Emilien Boutillat.
All the Rare Champagne Available at Wine Watch:
1985 Rare Brut Champagne
Price: $2995.00 Your Price: $2695.50
Born from adversity, this vintage emerged from one of Champagne’s coldest winters and a devastating frost, yielding a wine of depth, spice, and structure. Notes of candied fruit, truffle, and Armagnac unfold in a generous, solar style that continues to evolve with remarkable vitality. The wine is a blend of 70% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir.
1998 Rare Brut Champagne 1.5 Liter Magnum
Price: $1125.00 Your Price: $1012.50
(98 Points) A beautifully bright and expressive Champagne, with precision and vivid acidity throughout; roasted coffee bean and graphite notes lead to a rich palate of toasted brioche, crystallized honey, bergamot and crème de cassis. Exotic ground spice details of cardamom, ginger and anise show on the finish. (AN) -Wine Spectator Review Date: 11/2019
2002 Rare Champagne Brut 6 Liter Methuselah
Price: $5880.00 Sale $5292.00
(97 Points) Like a stallion out of the gate, this shows an initial explosion of power, in the form of mouthwatering flavors and fine texture, before quickly settling into an elegant gait. The racy acidity is seamlessly knit, buoying the lacy mousse and flavors of cassis, toasted brioche and tangerine, with accents of candied ginger, hazelnut and fleur de sel lingering on the long, creamy finish. Drink now through 2035. 2,000 cases imported. Wine Spectator
2006 Rare Champagne Brut 3 Liter
Price $2550.00 Sale $2295
(96 Points) Aromas and flavors of toasted brioche and grilled nut enrich the yellow plum, nectarine and grated ginger notes of this rich and creamy Champagne. Finely woven and beautifully integrated, with a firm backbone of mouthwatering acidity providing precise balance for the lush range of flavor. Drink now through 2029. -Wine Spectator
2008 Rare Champagne Rose Brut 3 Liter
Price 3600.00 Sale $3240.00
(98 Points) The 2008 Champagne Rare Rosé is straight-up sensational. Only the second time they’ve produced this cuvée, it offers a deep, full-bodied, powerful yet chiseled and laser-focused style carrying loads of wild strawberry fruit as well as notes of orange blossom, spice, and crushed rocks. Backward, austere, yet simply loaded with potential, it needs a solid 4-5 years of bottle age and will drink brilliantly for two decades or more. Jeb Dunnuck
2008 Rare Champagne Brut Magnum
Price: $847.50 Your Price: $762.75
(97 Points) Like a stallion out of the gate, this shows an initial explosion of power, in the form of mouthwatering flavors and fine texture, before quickly settling into an elegant gait. The racy acidity is seamlessly knit, buoying the lacy mousse and flavors of cassis, toasted brioche and tangerine, with accents of candied ginger, hazelnut and fleur de sel lingering on the long, creamy finish. Drink now through 2035. Wine Spectator
2012 Piper Heidsieck Rare Brut Champagne
Price: $297.00 Your Price: $267.30
(93+ Points) Unfurling in the glass with incipiently complex aromas of citrus oil, wheat toast, fresh peach and crisp orchard fruit, the newly released 2012 Vintage Brut is full-bodied, deep and tightly wound, with excellent concentration, racy acids and a fine mousse, concluding with a long and penetrating finish. Even though it's still a little reserved after its recent disgorgement, - WK
2012 Rare Rosé Champagne Brut 6 Liter Methuselah
Price: $14,625.00 Sale $13,162.50
Blend: 60% Chardonnay & 40% Pinot Noir; 12 Crus of which 8 are classified as Grand Crus and 3 are classified as Premier Crus:
Chardonnay: Villers Marmery, Vertus,Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Chouilly, Avize
Pinot Noir: Verzy, Ay, Verzenay,Ambonnay, Ville-DommangeRed
Wine: Les Riceys (8%)Full malolactic fermentation
Dosage: brut (7g/l)Time aged on lees: 8 years minimum
2013 Heidsieck Rare Millesime Brut Champagne
Price: $225.00 Your Price: $202.50
(98 Points) Originally a part of the legendary Piper-Heidsieck Champagne house, Rare is moving their Champagne Millésime to a new brand and want it to stand alone. (Think Delamotte and Salon.) The 13th vintage for this cuvée, the 2013 Champagne Millésime is a blend is 70% Chardonnay with the rest Pinot Noir, with the majority of the blend coming from the Montagne de Reims Grand Cru and Premier Cru. A bright yellow hue, its aromatics are exquisite and well-balanced, with fresh notes of key lime, candied apple, fresh croissant dough, fresh pineapple, and honeysuckle. Medium to full-bodied, it fills the palate with a rounded and supple texture and a pillowy mousse. It’s long on the palate and has a silky personality as well as a long, pristine finish. It has fantastic balance of decadence and freshness, and I could drink this all day. It’s going to have a long drinking window. Drink 2024-2044 and beyond. Disgorged December 2022. Jeb Dunnuck
2014 Piper-Heidsieck Rare Brut Rose Millesime Champagne, France
Price: $517.50 Your Price: $465.75
(97 Points) Bursts with vibrant energy as soon as this hits the palate, yet is refined and elegant throughout -- akin to a prima ballerina's marriage of stored power and grace. Reveals a lovely range of strawberry coulis, blood orange granita, raw almond, honeycomb, smoke and chalk notes framed by chiseled acidity and carried on the vivacious, finely detailed mousse. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Drink now through 2038. -Wine Spectator
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