New Years Eve tipples! Post here.

I managed to sample this Champagne downtown...NV Champagne Gardet Brut Tradition.
Good price at $65 Cda, firm and lean, small bubbles. Nice depth of flavors, well made and easy to drink.

[David M. Bueker]

As noted elsewhere, we had the 2002 Extra Brut Champagne from Geoffroy. But then with some of the last of the Christmas cookies I did have a short pour of Plantation Extra Aged Rum.

[Jenise]

We partied with our pod. Early in the hibernating days of the pandemic, this group of five couples chose to confine our socializations to just each other and we remain a tight-knit band of brothers and sisters. Everyone loves wine, but they're not intellectual about it and lean more $30 New World stuff than I do, so this isn't a time to break out wines of considerable age or value of the type Bob and I would drink if celebrating at home. That said, I took:

NV Paul Berthelot Champagne Premier Cru Extra Brut Champagne Blend
This wine's dry, no-dosage style with tiny, persistent bubbles was riveting and welcome compared to the sweeter, frothier bubbles brought by others. I've owned these for about 3-4 years and this was the best bottle yet; I'm sad it's my last.

2018 The Walls Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Curiositas Red Mountain
Splash decanted at home before taking to the party. A biggish, modern wine with robust cassis fruit, spice and a sweet finish. Still very primary. I like but don't love this early/initial style of The Walls wines. I much prefer the elegant, complex wines being produced for the label now by Todd Alexander, who came on board with the 2020 vintage.

There were a lot of other wines but these are the only ones I paid attention to.

6 couples (but one person mostly drinking kombucha): NV Agrapart 7 Crus, Marguet Shaman 18, 1987 Heitz Martha's, 1986 Sociando Mallet, 2002 Baumard QdC (375 ml). Will work on notes tomorrow. Happy 2024 all!

Just us two, and were were asleep before midnight.

Before roast beef, roast parsnip and potatoes, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broad beans we had as an aperitif
N.V. Domi Moreau Champagne Cuvée d' Argent (France, Champagne)

Tremendous amount of tiny bubbles, wine now showing a yellowy golden colour. Great taste of mature Champagne

and with the beef we had
2014 Château Batailley (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac)

A favourite winery from my favourite Bordeaux appellation - good deep colour, pencil shavings on nose, typical left-bank claret on palate.

Followed by the first two episodes of Jack Reacher Series 2 and to bed with a book.

Our New Year's Eve dinner consisted of oysters, cold Breton lobster, Stilton cheese and the remains of Christmas bûches(=dessert logs).

With the oysters (from Isigny in Normandy) -

2021 Domaine Raphaël Luneau R de la Grange Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine sur lie L'R du Temps Vieilles Vignes - France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine sur lie (31/12/2023)
This is perhaps less succulent but more bracing than the 2020. Some may find this more what they want from Muscadet. Good with oysters.

With the lobster -

NV Bollinger Champagne Special Cuvée Brut - France, Champagne (31/12/2023)
As always, fine bubbles, airy crisp fragrant bouquet and quite full for champagne with delicate texture, fine white fruit and minerals, rich burnished undertow leading to firm and long finish. Ideal pairing for lobster. I think Bolly's SC has reached a consistent level of excellence in recent years even higher than in the 90s and 00s. Excellent.

With the Stilton and the bûches -
This one might have qualified for the Grenache WF being derived from Grenache blanc & gris + Macabeu.

NV Marc Parcé Rivesaltes Hors d'Âge Ambré Vin Doux Naturel bottled 07/2023 - France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Rivesaltes (31/12/2024)
For about the last ten years I have bought at an autumn Foire aux Vins a bottle of 30+ year old colheita style Rivesaltes ambré with a vintage date from the Marc Parcé estate I have been seduced by the exceptional elegance and complexity of these bottles but this year I let myself be influenced by a RVF recommendation to buy the NV Hors d'Âge at a much more modest price. This is a very good wine, fruitier and sweeter than its elder brothers, but without their exceptional elegance, subtlety and length. Next autumn, if still available, I will go back to the dated 30+ year old release. Nevertheless very good.
Posted from CellarTracker

The food was excellent but unfortunately about a day later my daughter was stuck down by gastroenteritis and me too but much more mildly. Probably the oysters which this season have been suspect and banned from sale by many French oyster farms.