Champagne Salon and Delamotte Tasting at Wally's

The other night Limor and I enjoyed a wine tasting at Wally's Wine & Spirits in Los Angeles. The tasting was in collaboration with Champagne Salon as well as Delamotte.

We arrived around 7 pm to find the tasting room packed to the max. A few days ago Wally's sent out an email stating that the tasting was sold out. We made the best of it and received our tasting glass from the person who checked us in at the front.

From there we began with the Delamotte Non-Vintage Brut. For Limor who isn't a wine:o I enjoyed seeing her reactions and comments to the Champagne. The Brut was very traditional. We picked up a nose of toast, some tart green apple and Limor really thought the nose resembled the smell of something 'salty'.

From there we went onto the Delamotte Rosé. The Rosé was elegant and tasty. The blend of primarily Pinot Noir grapes really stood out. Unlike the cheaper wines, this Rosé was made by letting the skins stay in contact with the wine, releasing the color and flavor that we see and taste.

Unfortunately, the ONE Champagne I built up all my expectation towards was nowhere to be found. I bought my ticket to this tasting not for the Salon but for the 1985 Delamotte Blanc de Blancs. Unfortunately, we were scammed as that bottle wasn't poured at the tasting.

From the Rosé we moved onto the 1999 Delamotte Blanc de Blancs. The Blanc de Blancs was awesome. Although the pour was very skimpy, my one sip was really refined and the sharp difference from the first two wines was pretty outstanding.

Lastly was the Champagne Salon. The 1997 Salon Le Mesnil is what I think everyone else was there for. The bottle is extremely expensive - somewhere in the $400/btl area. I found the Salon very, very good but I am glad to say that I am not an extreme Champagne fan yet as that hobby could get really really expensive.

I want to really point out that it is not OK to say that a specific bottle will be poured and then NOT pour that bottle. I went to Wally's to taste a quarter century old Champagne and that didn't happen. Although it was my first tasting at Wally's, I do hope to come to another event there where I will expect more than this tasting.