Last night, Jean plank-grilled some salmon and put a bottle of Gruet
Brut in the freezer for a quick chill. When she asked me to open it
later, I pulled the cork only to have an icy plug push out, followed by
a geyser of half the bottle in thick, foamy bubbles. This was the
result of a gigantic plug of ice still inside the bottle, nucleating the
effervescence. By the time the foaming had subsided we were left with
half a bottle that was flat and... CORKED!!!

So, back to the "ready-to-drink" rack for a room temp bottle of:

2002 Verget Chablis "Cuvée de la Butte"
color: pale gold
nose: initially oaky, slight minerality, a hint of oxidation
palate: citrussy, more in the grapefruit vein than lemon, slight
minerality, tart acidity but lacking in crispness nonetheless

A cooling sleeve placed over the bottle brought it down to drinking
temperature in 10 min or so, and it was better than my first taste at
room temp. This was the last of a few bottles of Verget Chablis
purchased at a steep discount at Sam's years ago. Like the others, the
house style of Verget doesn't translate well to Chablis. This wine was
too oaky and lacking in focus. It tasted like a decent but not
outstanding CalChard with some age on it.

Mark Lipton

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