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 Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve, Champagne, France: Retail $50. Equal parts Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir, with up to 50% reserve wines. It has been a minute since my last bottle of this wine at which point I said “I need to drink more of this” or something like that. Solid, brilliant straw in the glass with heavy yeasty aromas on the nose, girded by lemon rind and yellow peach. The palate is vibrant, attentive, shows depth, and is quite tart. There is plenty of nuance here, encouraging even further consumption, leading to a lengthy finish. Excellent. 92 Points.

2023 Domaine Lathuiliere Gravallon Roche Noire, Beaujolais, France: Retail $25. Under DIAM2. Very Responsible Bottle (468g; 16.4oz). There was a 20% off sale at Total Wine, and I did a bit of browsing. This clocked in at twenty bucks after the discount, so I took a flyer. Glad I did. There is not a whole lot of white Beaujolais to begin with, and very little of it makes it to this country. Which is a shame. Quite flinty with plenty of citrus on the nose with a hint of nuttiness, kinda what you want in an unoaked Chardonnay. That is confirmed on the palate with loads of fruit, a near-biting tartness, and nice weight. Very pleasantly surprised. Excellent. 90 Points.

2018 de Négoce Chardonnay OG N.77, Willamette Valley, OR: Retail $12. Responsible Bottle (593g; 20.9oz). Cameron Hughes claims that this is a $40-50 wine, and who am I to argue? I bought a case of this wine back in 2021, and this is now the tenth bottle that I have opened. Quite light in the glass with barely a “pale straw” evident, but there is quite a bit of citrus, and the oak is much more prevalent than in previous iterations. The palate is tart, but not overly so, with a slightly weighty mouth-feel and subtle citrus. But once again, the oak comes through assertively, stopping short of overpowering. While I enjoyed this bottle, I hope my remaining two are a return to the first nine. Excellent. 90 Points.

NV Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Cuvée Brut, Champagne, 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. Since I started doing most of the cooking (it was during COVID; I was home all day and my wife was working at the hospital), my wife *rarely* goes to the grocery store. I was busy one day, however, and she took it upon herself to both go to the H-E-B *and* cook that evening. When she popped this, I was a bit taken back since I knew there were none in the cellar. She went on to mansplain that she bought a few bottles, adding, “Did you know they are selling it for only $36?” Yeah, honey, I know. Perhaps the best value for a non-vintage Brut on the market right now, always solid, and the dosage (sugar) is always on point. Excellent. 92 Points.

2009 Rafael Reverte Garnacha Cistum, Navarra, Spain: Retail $38. Responsible Bottle (588g; 20.7oz). 100% Garnacha. I bought a case of this wine from the PLCB way back in 2013, and I popped 10 of them by 2014, when we lived back in Philly, and I did not apparently like any of those ten. Fast-forward eleven years, and no surprise, I do not like this bottle either. Most of the fruit is now stewed, the tartness does little to ameliorate the lack of what stewed fruit there is, and, well, I question why I held onto this wine for another eleven years (not to mention paid to have it transported to Houston). My main question now? How long will it take me to get to the final bottle of this ill-advised purchase? Who knows, since I have proven that I am not the brightest bulb on the tree. Meh. 85 Points.

NV Mailly Champagne Grand Cru Brut Réserve, Champagne, France: Retail $55. Extremely Heavy Bottle (889g; 31.3oz). 75% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay. 100% Grand Cru. Another stellar cork, but this is one of the heaviest NV Brut bottles on the market–I hope that changes soon as this is at least 40-50 grams heavier than other NV Bruts. I just returned from visiting the winery in Champagne, where I learned that the Export Manager reads this blog (Salut, Valerie!), so I popped a bottle of still-our-favorite non-vintage Brut. Excellent. 92 Points.

Many times I have arrived in Mailly by bike (although the recent visit was by car).

WINE OF THE WEEK: While none of the wines really stood out this week, every time we open a bottle of Maillt Grand Cru Champagne, it is seen as a bit of a special day. Sure, sometimes that means “Tuesday”, but Tuesdays deserve to be special, too. As I mentioned in the note, I stopped by Mailly Champagne this week to say hello to my pal, Xavier, and while the visit was far too short, it is a pretty magical place, in my view.

What was your Wine of the Week?