Over the course of a week, I taste a bunch of wine, usually with friends, and almost always with my wife.  Here are some of the wines we tasted over the past few weeks. These are wines that were not sent as samples—in most cases, I actually paid for these wines (although a few have been given as gifts).

NV André Clouet Champagne Rose No. 3, France: Retail $50. Ridiculously Heavy Bottle (882g; 31.1oz). 100% Pinot Noir Grand Cru (10% Bouzy rouge added to the vin clair). I bought a couple more bottles of this wine, which encouraged me to pop this bottle, purchased exactly a year ago (or close enough). While the last bottle (no, not that Last Bottle) was, well, less than “good, this is certainly in the “Excellent” range, on the verge of “Outstanding”. A gorgeous salmon with a savory strawberry-rhubarb blend of aromas, the palate is tart and precise, with laser-sharp acidity, a delicate sparkle, and, eventually, fruit. Excellent. 92 Points.

2023 Caves d’Esclans Whispering Angel, Côtes de Provence, France: Retail $25. Heavy Bottle (604g; 21.3oz). Grenache, Cinsault, Rolle. This is now regularly priced at $15/bottle (when you buy six) at my local H-E-B (I love my H-E-B). Sadly, the weight of these bottles were 10 grams heavier than previously measured, pushing them into “heavy” category. The wine, however, remains solid; we drink a ton of this wine and at $15? Why not? Rosé everyday. I hesitate to estimate the number of bottles of Whispering Angel I have opened, but it is well into the triple digits. Along with Mirival, the Angel is really our house rosé and while I realize that there is a lot of hate thrown their way, I would contend that it is rooted almost exclusively in jealousy; this is really good rosé. Fruity, tart, balanced, layered and lengthy. Excellent. 91 Points.

2009 B Kosuge Syrah Hudson Vineyard, Carneros, CA: Retail $55? Under cork. I have been a fan of Byron’s wines for quite some time now and upon one visit to “his” winery, he indicated that he had this Syrah (going on 7 years old at that point) on “sale” for about 30% off. And so I bit. It was not a willy-nilly adventure since I had trusted Byron as a wine maker for years. No, it was more of a question of the variety: Syrah. Although I have never explicitly asked, I am pretty sure that Byron sees himself as a bit of a Pinot wunderkind and thus Syrah was a deviant, a departure, a shot in the dark at a different variety. And. It. Works. Dark in the glass with dark berry fruit, some pizzaz, and a whole lot of verve. Whoa. Black fruit (blackberry [duh], blueberry, cassis) dominates the nose, but there is also a spicy aspect that I normally don’t associate with Pinot Noir. Oh wait, yeah, this is a Syrah. Yeah. There is some coffee, a bit of earth, some fresh tobacco leaf, and whoa. This is much better than I remember the first bottle. The palate is still fruity, but more reserved than one would expect from a Sonoma Syrah. Great acidity and a killer finish round out this wine. Whoa. Outstanding. 94 Points.

NV Antoine Derigny Champagne Brut Rosé, France: Retail $60. Extremely Heavy Bottle (839g; 29.5oz). 60% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay, 5% Pinot Meunier, colored with 12% Bouzy red Pinot Noir. So this bottle was a return to that first bottle we cracked however long ago. Given how this wine has been a bit all over the place, it would be difficult to justify buying it again. But if it comes up on Last Bubbles I am pretty sure I will buy another 6-12 bottles since I have no will power and even less of a memory. Gorgeous ruby-pink color with plenty of fresh berry fruit on the nose with just a touch of yeastiness. The palate is equally fantastic with loads of fresh strawberry and cherry, a delicate sparkle, plenty of tartness and verve. Excellent. 92 Points.

NV Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Cuvée Brut, France: Retail $45. Extremely Heavy Bottle (837g; 29.5oz). 50-55% Pinot Noir, 20-25% Pinot Meunier, 15-20% Chardonnay with 10-20% Reserve wines. This used to be our house Champagne, replacing Mailly Grand Cru once the latter cost north of fifty bucks. Now, this too, is getting too expensive to be considered our house bubbles, but it is still fantastic and one of the better NV Bruts on the broader market. Yeasty, citrusy, lovely on the nose, with a straw color with a slightly golden hue, there’ are delicate, yet persistent streams of bubbles, looking to escape after their years of captivity. The palate is crisp, fresh, fruity, yeasty, and delicious. It is also a tad drier than previous iterations I have consumed with utter glee. Excellent. 92 Points.

2004 Veuve Doussot Champagne Memory Cuvée Guy Joly, France: Retail $125. 60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir. Ridiculously Heavy Bottle (900g; 31.7oz). It was last puppy night. Or something like that. And I pulled this. I bought three bottles of this wine from Wines Til Sold Out back in 2012, this is now the last bottle (not that Last Bottle), and this one lived up to the two previous iterations (92 & 94 Points). Every time I see a bottle of bubbles with “Veuve” on the label, I get a bit apprehensive. Given the enormous popularity and success (albeit largely unwarranted according to many “experts”) of Veuve Clicquot, I fear that the wine is but an imposter, trying to capitalize on some confusion (“veuve” means “widow” in French, thus adding another perhaps morbid aspect to my mini-conspiracy theory). This wine, however, proved me wrong. In a big way. This is the top of the line offering (tête de cuvée) from Veuve Doussot in the Aube Département, southeast of Troyes, which has been producing some of the best champagnes from the rather newer addition to the Champagne appellation. Plenty of oxidation and yeastiness on the nose with plenty of baked apple. The palate still has sparkle, even plenty of sparkle, with that yeasty aspect that is old champers folk adore. Outstanding. 93 Points.

WINE OF THE WEEK: This was a bit of an odd week but in a very interesting way. Each one of the wines listed above I had tasted before and each of them had been selected as Wine of the Week at least once. While I tend to shy away from awarding that very prestigious honor more than once, I guess this week I have no choice. Perhaps it goes without saying that it was a difficult choice, perhaps akin to choosing a favorite child (which is, I feel, a worn-out analogy, so I apologize). In the end, I opted for the 2004 Veuve Doussot Champagne Memory Cuvée Guy Joly as this week’s top wine, although all were obviously worthy. Why this wine, then? Well, I liked the picture the most…

What was your Wine of the Week?