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    My Column

    Richard Juhlin - Best Champagne Critic of the World

    Tb: What aspects you consider particularly crucial to succeed as a wine critic, and how have you succeeded in them personally?

    "As a wine critic, several crucial aspects contribute to success:  A wine critic must have a well-developed palate to accurately assess and evaluate wines. Effective communication skills are vital for conveying evaluations and recommendations to readers or consu...

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    My Today

    All of the tasting notes of the wine critic mentioned above in tastingbook, comes from press releases from wine importers and vineyards, or directly from the critic and can also be found on the critic’s own website, which can be easily accessed by clicking on the link above.

     

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    My Yesterday

    Shipwrecked 1830's Champagne uncorked!

    Wednesday, the 17th of November will always be a day to remember for champagne lovers around the world. It was the day when the 150-year-old shipwrecked bottles were opened and the worth of the Baltic Sea’s champagne treasure was assessed.

    Some think that I live a life of luxury and am a bit spoiled. As I tasted an estimated six million euros worth of shipwrecked champagne in just three days, it is ...

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    My Tomorrow

    Bollinger Treasures

     During a couple of rainy days at the end of June, we were a small select group of international champagne journalists who was invited to Bollinger to take part in something quite unique. The first night I ended up alone in an old nostalgia awakening restaurant in Reims overlooking the park where my interest in champagne started with a bottle of Bollinger Special Cuvée 30 years ago. I sat there and dreamed myself away ov...

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    Me

    Richard Juhlin is the number one Champagne expert in the world.

    He is world famous for his skills in blind tasting. At the annual Spectacle du Monde tasting in Paris in 2003 he correctly identified 43 out of 50 champagnes when the runner-up identified 4.

     Richard Juhlin was awarded the Chevalier del Arc in 1997

    He was awarded the Merite d’Agricole by the French Ministry of Agriculture in 2002 and upgraded to the highest level in 2010....

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    Pro Me

    Would you like to gild your existence with some help from Richard?

    Richard is available for wine tasting, lectures, dinners, tours, consulting, journalistic assignments, media events, interviews and more. The possibilities are nearly endless! If you are interested or would like to discuss the possibility of engaging Richard’s services, please send your request to contact@champagneclub.com.

    If you are interested in Richard's amazing books...

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    Digital Me

    Welcome to The Richard Juhlin Champagne Club

    Whether you are a loyal visitor, a revered member or a new acquaintance, we hope you will enjoy these pages. As many of you already know, the primary idea behind the site is to offer access to Richard Juhlin´s vast digital library of tasted and evaluated champagnes. In order to get access to the digital library, as well as to articles and other material produced mainly by Richard himself, you mus...

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Wine Moments

Here you can see wine moments from tastingbook users. or to see wine moments from your world.

Richard Juhlin/ BWW2024 Finalist, Wine Writer (Sweden)  had a tasting of  28 Wines  from  19 Producers 

Tasted very finen and rare wines like Penfolds 60A 1962, Latour 1962, Lafon Montrachet 1990, Ramonet Montrachet 1990, Harlan 1997 etc.

1m 16d ago

Richard Juhlin/ BWW2024 Finalist, Wine Writer (Sweden)  had a tasting of  12 Wines  from  7 Producers 

Krug Clos du Mesnil 1982 / The wine of the vintage. More Krug-like than Mesnil-like. The color is reminiscent of a big, white, toasted, oak-barrel Burgundy—even the scent points in that direction. It has an oriental, spicy nose. Toffee, honey, coffee, linden, cream, butterscotch, sun-ripened oranges: it's got everything! Enveloped in a Corton-Charlemagne-like fat, nutty, enormous taste. The acidity is incredibly high but it hides beneath a layer of sweet fruit. One of myWINNERS  at the Millennium Tasting. The last two bottles have shown a rich big maturity and less refinement so the gigant is now down on 98 points.

1y 13d ago

Richard Juhlin/ BWW2024 Finalist, Wine Writer (Sweden)  had a tasting of  11 Wines  from  1 Producers 

1914 Bollinger Collection  99p.  75% PN, 25% CH
 Disgorged for Madame Bollinger´s private cellar in 1969 and now in perfect condition at Bollinger. Made from across 23 crus with Bouzy as a main component of 18%. A startling bouquet. Golden light color and a long majestic taste that lasted for hours. Most impressive is the incredibly intense scent which in its complex creation contains diverse and at the same time nicely orchestrated ingredients such as; cardamom, lavender, lilac, vanilla, orange blossom, bergamot, Chinese tea and mandarin. Well thickened fat and at the same time a youthful champion. Probably the house's most outstanding vintage.

1y 7m ago

Richard Juhlin/ BWW2024 Finalist, Wine Writer (Sweden)  had a tasting of  9 Wines  from  8 Producers 

A champagne from the legendary La Côte aux Enfants plot, a Grand cru from Aÿ. Ever since 1829, Champagne Bollinger have strived to make the Champagne terroir ever more perfect, and their identity is clearly expressed in the wines they produce. Through continuous research and innovation, Champagne Bollinger have enriched their understanding of the many profiles of La Côte aux Enfants vineyard in Aÿ, a legendary plot of land established with great perseverance by Jacques Bollinger himself between 1926 and 1934.
Aware of the vineyard’s potential, it became Champagne Bollinger’s ambition to produce a great vintage champagne, made of 100% Pinot Noir grapes from the north-west side of the hill, revealing the otherwise hidden side of La Côte aux Enfants vineyard.
La Côte aux Enfants Champagne, Bollinger’s first single plot cuvée, offers fine wine enthusiasts a truly unprecedented tasting experience. La Côte aux Enfants joins Champagne Bollinger’s Pinot Noir collection, alongside the PN cuvée and the Vieilles Vignes Françaises.

2y 30d ago

Richard Juhlin/ BWW2024 Finalist, Wine Writer (Sweden)  had a tasting of  4 Wines  from  3 Producers 

‘It is striking that Winston Churchill 2013 is now lighter and more shy at launch than they used to be in the past. On the other hand, they seem to end up very close to the older vintages after a few years of their own storage. This slow development with Verzenay as such a clear mineral-rich stringent protagonist is noticeable not least in the glass. Just like in 2012, the wine is much more impressive and rounded rich a few hours after opening the bottle. Then a little cautiously, the whole Winston bouquet appears in the form of baguette, dark chocolate, strawberry jam, olives, gunpowder smoke, black coffee and sweet gravenstein apples. Drink after 2028.’

90(94)p

2y 5m ago

Richard Juhlin/ BWW2024 Finalist, Wine Writer (Sweden)  had a tasting of  31 Wines  from  20 Producers 

Thiénot x Penfolds Blanc de Blancs 2012 / The dosage stored in Penfold's Australian barrels. In all three wines where Peter Gago had a hand and his barrels in the production, you have an added and impressive power and butterscotch oakiness. The wines are simply larger and more expressive than in the steel tank-fermented prestige champagnes from Thiénot. The very best in the trio with a Comtes de Champagne-like opulence and fullness. Even more roasted and coffee-scented than the model and at least as smooth texture. Not quite the same depth and elegance, but it is a fantastic champagne in any case.

2y 7m ago

Richard Juhlin/ BWW2024 Finalist, Wine Writer (Sweden)  had a tasting of  20 Wines  from  16 Producers 

Salon Oenothèque 1961 / 99 points / If I was close to crying in disappointment over the 66' on the Tidelius tasting, the tears really came in the next flight when this bottle disgorged at the same time and with exactly the same low dosage was so lovely that the emotions overflowed. In fact, this wonderfully youthful champagne is the bottle that most reminded me of the world's best wine 1928 Pol Roger Grauves. Here was the same unlikely contrast between youthfulness and nicely mature notes. The scent is so unreal with its euphoric pheromone-like perfume uplifted by linden, geranium, lily of the valley, acacia, ginger, fresh tarragon, mint, lime peel and Sorrento lemon. Glass-clear brilliance and laser-sharp sharpness and precision. Caressing with faint undertones of vanilla, brioche and roasting. Pure flint mineral finesse and swirling little pearl necklace bubbles that dance ballet in the palate. What is missing in relation to 28' Grauves is a well thickened oiliness that may come in twenty years or so. Imagine that a 51-year-old can personify snowmelt, spring winter and the rebirth of life.

3y 6m ago

Richard Juhlin/ BWW2024 Finalist, Wine Writer (Sweden)  had a tasting of  21 Wines  from  5 Producers 

Already in the 1600s, Fiacre Taillet was a wine-grower in the small village of Merfy in the Massif de Saint-Thierry planted in mostly sandy soils, while Chartogne-Taillet was formed in 1920. Today, Chartogne-Taillet is still a family business. Alexandre Chartogne run a quality-controlled property with access to very old grapevines—even a little pre-phylloxera rootstock. Alexandre was educated in Burgundy and has a strong faith in the recipe: low yield equals high quality. He also worked with Anselme Selosse and returned to the family estate in 2006. He took full control the following year, and his influence has elevated the domaine to the top ranks of grower-producers in the region.The grapes come from 11,5 hectares in Merfy, Chenay, and Saint Thierry. Fiacre is a brilliantly refreshing, elastic, potent wine with a deliciously concentrated young fruit. Truly genuine terroir character is, of course, missing but this deficiency is well compensated for by its tart, rich, fruity cannonade. The Clos des Barres is a beautiful and super intense pure Pinot Meunier. Close to 4 stars today.

3y 9m ago

Richard Juhlin/ BWW2024 Finalist, Wine Writer (Sweden)  had a wine moment

“Dom Perignon 2010 / This is a wine that risks being misjudged due to the slightly unknown reputation of the vintage. I think a lot of people will jump straight from the classically cool, elegant 2008 to 2012, but please don't! This is a wonderful wine right from the start with a much longer joyful life ahead of them than most people would expect.

The problem with the vintage is related to colossal rainfall on August 15th and 16th which caused problems with botrytis. If you, like Dom Pérignon's eminent team, accepted 20% lower harvest withdrawals and had ice in the stomach and harvested their pinot noir a few weeks later and also concentrated their selection on the steepest slope with good drainage, you could create magically fine wines with impressively high stats.
The maturity and concentration of this wine is extremely impressive and the acidity is significantly higher than that experienced on the tongue. Here is a richness and natural sweetness even though the dosage is only 5.3 grams / liter. Bouzy, Mailly and, above all, the rocky critical Verzenay have been given more room than usual to compensate and balance up the Burgundian sun-ripened chardonnay that was used when the cuvée was created.

This wonderful wine is very reminiscent of how the legendary ’82 performed at launch. The scent is extremely generous and rich in deliciously inviting notes of roasted coffee beans, orange chocolate, nougat, mandarin, lily plants, freshly baked baguette and madeleine cookies. At the same time, there are exciting darker overnotes of mushroom cream, undergrowth and petroleum-like features of diesel fumes. The taste is impressively full with a super concentrated sweet & fruity boost with elements of both exotic fruits, sweet citrus and peach.
This wealth is embedded as usual in a seamless cocoon of silky texture with fine depth. Notice that the finish is paradoxically fresh with a little tannin that guarantees that this mighty wine will hold up very well in the cellar despite already showing impressive maturity with striking aromatic similarities to the 1998 P2.’”

4y 4m ago

1 Wines 1 Producers

Richard Juhlin/ BWW2024 Finalist, Wine Writer (Sweden)  had a tasting of  16 Wines  from  2 Producers 

1970 DOM PÉRIGNON P3, A previously unreleased rare wine which gained greatly by being stored in the producer’s cool cellars. Great complexity and density. However, I am not so fond of the round taste profile and the architecture. The taste is classic nougat sweet with hints of coffee. The scent however breathe lake plants and mid-Swedish summer evenings. A lot of bottle variation unfortunately.’ RJ 93(93)

4y 5m ago

Richard Juhlin/ BWW2024 Finalist, Wine Writer (Sweden)  had a tasting of  24 Wines  from  18 Producers 

A large 1990's Champagnes tasting / Dom Pérignon P2 1995 / Lights are so beautiful with an iridescent color, crackling mousse and a dense hazy mature taste of high class. Almost P3 mode.
Here is a wine that has always been elegant and extremely enjoyable. However, the intensity and depth have been screwed up another notch in this nice extra-stored edition.

4y 7m ago

Richard Juhlin/ BWW2024 Finalist, Wine Writer (Sweden)  had a tasting of  26 Wines  from  23 Producers 

Moet & Chandon vintage 2012 / A stylish and very promising vintage where elegance and finesse are stronger keywords than power and concentration. Chardonnay dominates the overall impression at the launch as the Pinot grapes work more as a structural moderator in the first years. Delicate polished buttery and spring floral notes dance beautifully over the tongue in a lovely youthful harmony.

5y 2m ago

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