The 2024 Ultimate Champagne Extravaganza Dinner Awaits…
You are invited to join us on a sparkling journey through 16 of the world’s most celebrated Champagnes in the 2024 edition of Lamont's annual Champagne Extravaganza!
This is a rare, relaxed tasting experience with some of the finest and most iconic Champagnes ever crafted—featuring the famous, the rare, and the best-reviewed wines from the likes of Krug, Lamandier-Bernier, Pol Roger, Dom Pérignon, Louis Roederer, Charles-Heidsieck, Bollinger, Billecart-Salmon, and more!
"A single glass of Champagne imparts a feeling of exhilaration.
The nerves are braced; the imagination is stirred; the wits become more nimble."
- Winston Churchill
This year we’ve decided to leave the hosting to you! The perfect environment to allow you to sit down at your own table, with friends and/or family and experience some of the worlds most famous, greatest, rarest and best reviewed Champagnes.
The Dinner:
Time: 6:45 for 7pm
16 Iconic Champagnes paired with a 6 Course Menu
$995
Saturday November 23rd
The Champagnes List & Menu
On Arrival
Billecart-Salmon Brut Réserve NV | Our Price $114
95 Points, Tyson Stelzer
The brilliant crystalline radiance that defines Billecart shines bright and strong in the 2016 base, epitomising the purity and precision that we adore of this beloved house. Meunier and pinot noir unite in a core of delightfully fresh, crunchy red apples, spicy wild strawberries and ripe raspberries, streaming out long and true with a line of lemon acidity. The subtlety of long lees age is intricately played, lending only the most gentle brioche, almond meal, honey and toast. Dosage is perfectly played to lift its fruit and its structure. It coasts long and refined on a sea of fine chalk minerality. The consummate apéritif!
Charles-Heidsieck Brut Réserve NV | Our Price $123
93 Points James Suckling
A creamy and silky champagne that has notes of lemons, pastries and apple compote on the nose. It’s medium-bodied and layered with fine bubbles and tasty pastry notes on the fresh, balanced finish.
Bollinger Special Cuvée NV | Our Price $109
96 Points, Tyson Stelzer
95 Points, Huon Hooke
Light yellow/straw to rose-gold colour; the bouquet is very complex and driven by mellow toasty, brioche and nutty characters but also parsnip, celery, dried herbs and orange-peel with a trace of brown-apple. The palate has even more accentuated toastiness, with lively acidity which is fresh and cleansing, while the finish is very dry following a fruit-rich middle, the follow-through very long-lasting. Impressive.
Parmesan tarts, chorizo bits
1st Bracket
Billecart-Salmon Cuvée Nicolas Francois 2008 | Our Price $426
100 Points, Tyson Stelzer (2023)
Long have I anticipated Nicolas François Billecart 2008 and my first encounter came with Antoine in the dining room of the house in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. I spent a full 20 minutes riveted by its evolution in the glass, moving me to tears. The profound precision and intricate, molecular detail that defines Billecart is transported to a higher level of fidelity in 2008, illuminating a brilliant display of fine chalk minerality of the highest proportions. A saline chalk core erupts from its depths, framing the most pure lemon fruit and strawberry hull; emphatically, unrelentingly and sublimely primary, without even the slightest movement toward evolution. In time, pinot steps forward in the most gloriously pure red cherry fruits. Even 17 months post-disgorgement, it is still intricately, tightly coiled, with an undeterred line and unrelenting persistence; a high-tensile spring of taut, pure energy that screams out for a lifetime to uncoil. This is an NFB with sixty years of glorious life stretching before it, and strictly must not to be approached for at least another decade yet.
Bollinger RD 2008 | Our Price $600
99 Points, James Suckling (March 2023)
Amazing aromas of sweet uncooked pie crust with almonds. Then you smell dried apples, apricots and pineapple. Grilled fruits, too. Full-bodied. So tangy and energetic with sizzling acidity and creamy tannins. Flavourful and lightly oxidized at the finish. Smacking my lips. Agile. Ginger and spices. A touch of bitter complexity with some salinity. Extreme character that grabs your attention. 13 years and six months aging on the lees with cork. 3 grams dosage. 71% pinot noir and 29% chardonnay. Don’t serve too cold. Drink or hold.
98+ Points, William Kelley, The Wine Advocate (March 2023)
...On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, with a deep core of fruit that's animated by racy acids and a refined pinpoint mousse, concluding with a bone-dry finish. Extremely harmonious and full of youthful energy, it's the finest R. D. of the decade and one that will richly reward a bit of additional age on cork. In style, the most obvious comparison is with the 1996, but the 2008 is more integrated and harmonious on release. These bottles were disgorged late last year with three grams per litre dosage.
Salmon carpaccio, ginger, fetta, toasted almond, lime
2nd Bracket
Louis Roeder Cristal 2012, Magnum | Our Price $1523
99 Points, Peter Moser, fastaff.com (November 2020)
For the first time entirely from certified organic grapes. Mid greenish-yellow hue with silver reflections; persistent, fine bubbly mousse. Typical Cristal nose with white apple, fresh peach, fine biscuit, a touch of orange marmalade, also lime; an attractive bouquet. Very rich, tropical fruit nuances, a little more broad-shouldered than the finely chiselled 2008, supported by lively acidity, mineral and balanced on the finish. Has something immediately appealing, but will still improve with further bottle maturation. Once again a candidate for "Champagne of the Vintage
Louis Roeder Cristal 2015 | Our Price $593
98 Points, Lisa Perrotti Brown
The 2015 Cristal is a blend of 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay. No malo-lactic was employed, and 25% wine was aged in oak. The dosage is 7 grams per liter. An exquisitely delicate yet complex perfume of clover honey, freshly shaved ginger, marzipan, and jasmine slowly emerges from the nose, giving way to a core of pear tart, persimmons, and apple butter. The palate is an exercise in finesse, featuring very fine bubbles and fantastic intensity with a myriad of spice and floral nuances, finishing with impressive persistence and jaw-dropping poise. This is a style for those that embrace purity, soft-spoken expression, and impeccable crafting. It won't disappoint those who love Champagne in its initial youthful perfume flushes, yet will undoubtedly reward the patient with a richer, toastier, more obvious and opulent style with 5-10 years+ of cellaring.
White asparagus, nori, Jamon
3rd Bracket
Dom Perignon 2013 | Our Price $488
98 Points, James Suckling (May 2022)
A driven and serious DP with aromas of chalk, biscuits, apricot stones and lemons. Some spice and dried flowers, too. So sleek and sophisticated. Elegant. Yet, it’s long and powerful, with a sharp minerality. Tight and precise.
Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires 2007 | Our Price $450
98 Points, Anne Krehbiel MW, Falstaff.com (March 2022)
The nose is very subtle, has glimpses of oyster shell and lemon. The palate is taut, bright, super-fresh, linear, lemony and just incredibly youthful. There is a vein on ripe, lemony freshness that pervades this wine, that sets the tone, that defines its character. This is intense, insistent, urgent, yet also gentle and smooth with very fine mousse. A wonderful and most compelling personality. Exquisite. The finish is a serene stretch of lemony, chalky, profound freshness. Drink now or keep. Will evolve.
Chevre galette, basil
4th Bracket
Krug Grand Cuvée 162ème, Double Magnum | Our Price $2127
96 Points, Natalie Earl Decanter (April 2024)
Another glimpse into 2006 (around which this Grande Cuvée is based), this offers up an incredibly nutty profile, combining grilled cashews, bitter walnut skin and cinnamon with a decadent accent of crème patissière. It's nifty and lithe though, with gorgeous succulent sweetness and richness, finishing with the pure pleasure of pecan and maple richness. A blend of 163 separately vinified wines from 11 different years, back to 1990.
Krug Grand Cuvée 172ème | Our Price $476
97 Points, James Suckling (March 2024)
Beautiful notes of dried citrus fruit, lemon curd and dried apples with hints of spices, dried flowers and subtle brioche. I like the polished and caressing texture and steady, refreshing acidity. It’s fresh and even austere, with notes of ground spices. So vertical and firm. Structured and long. Drink or hold.
Grilled whiting, peach and lemon balm salsa
5th bracket
Larmandier-Bernier Vieille Vigne de Levant Grand Cru 2013 | Our Price $440
The Larmandier family excelled in this cooler vintage, so it's unsurprising that the 2013 Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Vieilles Vigne du Levant has turned out beautifully. Wafting from the glass with notes of crisp yellow orchard fruit, brioche, white flowers, oyster shell and honeycomb, it's medium to full-bodied, deep, layered and incisive, with a tangy spine of acidity, terrific tension and a long, racy finish.
96+ Points William Kelley, The Wine Advocate (December 2023)
Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill 2015 | Our Price $558
96 Points, James Suckling (July 2023)
Very complex nose with a wide spectrum of candied citrus, dried peach and mirabelle tart aromas. Bold and rich, particularly on the mid-palate, but with a great deal of subtlety and delicacy for the vintage. This is already delicious, but at the finish you really taste how this has been made for the long term. Great drive and persistence right at the end. Drink or hold.
95 Points, Alison Napjus Wine Spectator(2023)
A tightly meshed Champagne, with an up-front, broad feel that's quickly reined in and well-defined by racy acidity. Creamy on the palate, with the fine mousse carrying flavors of crème de cassis, lemon-infused pastry cream, smoked almond and oyster shell. Long, harmonious finish. Drink now through 2038.
Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2012 | Our Price $450
99 Points, James Suckling (December 2022)
This is a fantastic and refined Blanc de Blancs. So layered and complex, with lemon curd, chalk, hazelnuts, pastries, baked apples and almond croissants. Structured and tightly wound, with almost imperceptible bubbles. Delicious salty notes at the end. Beautiful.
Prawn cutlets, green pea pesto
6th Bracket
Billecart-Salmon Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon Rosé 2008 | Our Price $435
99 Points, Tyson Stelzer (2022)
The electrifying energy of 2008 charges Elisabeth Salmon with a dynamism and an endurance like never before. To capture such precision and such concentration of epic, pure morello cherry and raspberry fruit and yet at every instant to remain steadfast to the elegance and refinement that is Billecart is the profound juxtaposition that elevates 2008 to dizzying heights. Testimony to the depth of south-facing Mareuil pinot noir even in a season as cool as 2008, just 9% red wine is all it takes to infuse a pretty, medium salmon hue that has taken on a copper tint in time. It confidently takes 14 years in its stride, revealed only in the most subtle nuances of vanilla and marzipan. With time in the glass, it billows to incredible heights of spice and even suggestions of fruit mince spice. A little fermentation in old oak barrels builds texture and integration more than it does a subtle nuance of jamon. Partial malolactic fermentation in a season with malic acidity as pronounced as 2008 is a nail-biting affair, perfectly played by chef de cave François Domi. Radiant acidity spirals with minerality as fine as ground glass to drive incredible persistence and build a shimmering jetstream that slices through a finish of endless blue daylight. It is dashing from the outset, yet possesses decades of potential coiled into its graceful yet commanding folds.
Krug Rosé 21éme Édition, (Magnum) | Our Price $1348
97 Points, Natalie Earl, Decanter (April 2024)
The 21ème édition is really in its stride now, although it still has lots of life ahead of it. The aromas seduce immediately with their notes of dainty red currants, peach parfait and glistening strawberry tart. It has lots of energy and tension still, unfolding into notes of marzipan and dried autumn leaves. Based on the 2008 vintage, a fairly cool year, and is a blend of 57 wines back to 2000.