Tag: champagne

Tasting Events

Last Minute Party

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They say “Planning Prevents Poor Performance” – but sometimes it’s better to be a bit more spontaneous.  And so when my wife Jess suggested having a late-notice drinks party at the end of June, I chimed in with agreement.

Below are a few of the bottles which grabbed my attention – many of which were kindly brought by guests (you see what nice friends we have?)

A Starter For 10 – Sainsbury’s Blanc de Blancs Champagne Brut NV

Sainsbury's Blanc de Blancs Champagne Brut NV
Sainsbury’s Blanc de Blancs Champagne Brut NV

In the run up to Xmas 2012 this delightfully light and crisp Champagne was on double-bubble reduction – I ended up paying about £11.50 per bottle which is an absurdly low amount, especially when you can pay over twice as much for a very ordinary big brand.  At that price you don’t mind how many you open over the Xmas period!

The extra 18 months or so bottle age has helped add a little more funky complexity – it’s even better now, but I wouldn’t hang on to it until next summer.

The Blanc de Noirs from Sainsbury’s is great as well – especially with 25% off – and give more of a voluptuous red fruit vibe rather than citrus.

Random Light Whites

Random Light Whites
Random Light Whites

In a previous post on the Wine Society’s American Dream Tasting I mentioned Viña Litoral Sauvignon Blanc from the Leyda Valley in Chile.  That time it was the 2013, but the 2012 (on the right above) shows that well made Sauvignon Blanc doesn’t fade after a year in bottle.

The Muros Antigos Alvarinho is an Albariño-beating wine made just across the Portuguese border from Riax Baixas.  When showing it compared to some slightly pricier Spanish competitors at a tasting some years ago, even the Spanish attendees grudgingly admitted it was great.  This is probably a year or so older than you might normally drink it, but again age has been kind.  Available from Sweeney’s of Glasnevin.

This is technically a Vinho Verde, but not one of the lower alcohol types I mentioned here.

And finally, the beast in the middle – not a light white at all!  This is unreconstructed oaky Chardonnay, so beware if you don’t like that style.  The Montes Alpha range is great across the board (well done Liberty Wines), but in my biased opinion the Chardy is the best of the lot.

Riesling – The Prince Of Grapes

Riesling, Prince Of Grapes
Riesling, Prince Of Grapes

Some people remain unconverted by Riesling, but that leaves more for the rest of us.  The awesome foursome hail from the steep slopes of Alsace and the southern climes of Tasmania.

The latter was the oldest and the leanest of the lot.  Tazzie is generally the coolest state in Australia which has made it a perfect location for sparkling wine production.  It is now spearheading the cool-climate Chardonnay revolution as Penfold’s now source the majority of the grapes for their “white Grange” Yattarna from Tasmania, and Shaw + Smith bought a fantastic Chardonnay vineyard not too long ago.  Sauvignon Blanc has already found a home there, so why not Riesling?

South Pirie Riesling 2007 was lean and racy in the Eden Valley style – lime with a sideorder of lime!  Can be a little bit austere for the feint-hearted, but well worth a try.

I had seen a few of Domaine Muré’s wines in the past but it was luck and happenstance that I (almost literally) fell into their outlet in the centre of Colmar last year.  This Clos Saint-Landelin is from their own walled vineyard within the larger Vorbourg Grand Cru.  To be honest, it was nice but would really benefit from a few more years to balance out and open up.

I’ve already waxed lyrical about Bruno Sorg’s Séléction de Grains Nobles, but here we have a pair of just-off-dry Rieslings from the Grand Cru sites of Florimont (straddling the villages of Ingersheim and Katzenthal) and Pfersigberg (located close to Sorg’s home village of Eguisheim).  They aren’t sweet, but the little bit of residual sugar really balances the striking acidity and brings out the pure fruit.

A Brace Of Contrasting French Reds

Ladoix and Cahors
Ladoix and Cahors

A delicate Pinot Noir from Burgundy and a stonking 15.5% Malbec from Cahors provide proof that wines can really vary within the same country.

The Ladoix was quite flat for a good time after opening but eventually blossomed, showing red fruits sitting in a light crème anglaise.  It’s part of the Côte de Beaune, the sourthern part of Burgundy’s heartland the Côte d’Or.

The Cahors is a recent favourite from Sweeney’s of Glasnevin (it was my wine of the night at the Mackenway French tasting).  Tasted blind you would probably guess the big plum and bramble flavours were the producer of Argentina rather than south west France.

The Odd Couple

The Odd Couple
The Odd Couple

In fairness these wines aren’t a couple – just slightly off the beaten track compared to some of the more well-known bottles.

Wagner-Stempel Rosé Rheinhessen 2013 (available from The Corkscrew) has previously come close to wooing me before, but as my buddy Tara brought it round I had to give it a go.  Chris – you were right, it’s lovely.  I’m not generally a Rosé drinker, but more of this please!

Albert Mann’s Gewurztraminer Vendanges Tardives Altenbourg 2008 is a mouthful in more than one way – this is exactly how I like my Gewurz.  This late harvest beauty is something you could sit and savour at any time of the year.

The Grande Finalé

Belle Epoque & Dom Perignon
Belle Epoque & Dom Pérignon

Pretty bottles!  Belle Epoque is Perrier-Jouet’s prestige cuvée – it almost seems a shame to open such a lovely bottle.

Dom Pérignon needs no further introduction (otherwise why are you reading this blog?), but this 1995 example showed why mature Champagne is such a treat.

 

 

 

 

 

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My Favourite Wines of 2013 – Fizz

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Following on from my favourite reds and favourite whites of 2013, here are a few of the sparklers which grabbed my attention last year.  There are a few patterns you might discern:

  1. They are all traditional method sparkling wines – I’ve had a few drinkable Proseccos, but nothing that has ever made me want to go and buy another bottle.  Although it appears on the face of it to be an inefficient production method, second fermentation in bottle seems to be the best way of making quality fizz.
  2. They are heavily weighted towards Champagne – this reflects that region’s preeminent standing in the world of sparkling wine and the fruits of several visits in person.  Franciacorta and decent Cava are on my 2014 Wine Resolutions.

Dom Pérignon 1999

Dom Pérignon 1999
Dom Pérignon 1999

Possibly the most famous Champagne in the world, and definitely the biggest production of any prestige cuvée Champagne, Dom Pérignon is a byword for luxury.  However, behind all the razzmatazz, it’s still a wine (though not a…erm…still wine, obviously).

1999 was only the second time in the history of DP that three consecutive vintages were declared (I’m looking forward to a mini-vertical of 02/03/04 someday!)  It’s relatively full bodied in the mouth, almost a meal in itself (well it did replace bacon butties on Christmas morning!) but still with a citrus spine to the exotic fruit body.

Nyetimber Blanc de Blancs 2003

Nyetimber Blanc de Blancs 2003
Nyetimber Blanc de Blancs 2003

I finally supped my last bottle (for now) of this tropical wonder.  If you cast your mind back a decade or so, 2003 was the summer of heatwaves across Europe.  In some parts of France, the heat was such that vines just shut down.  In Champagne, the extra ripe grapes made for a very different vintage – if indeed a vintage was declared at all.  Bollinger called their release “2003 by Bollinger” instead of the usual “Grande Année” and Krug only decided to release a vintage at all last month.

So how did the 2003 heatwave affect the sprinkling of vines in southern England?  In pretty much the same way, but because the climate is slightly cooler, the resultant wines still held on to some acidity.  The Nyetimber Blanc de Blancs 2003 is of course 100% Chardonnay, which tends to be on the lemon and lime side of the fruit continuum™, but here it also gives delicious tropical notes of pineapple, grapefruit and mango – almost like Lilt Champagne! (and yes that’s a good thing in my eyes.)

Louis Roederer Cristal 2005

Just a glass of this was enough to confirm why the luxury cuvée created for Tsar Alexander II is still so highly regarded.  The name comes from the flat-bottomed, transparent lead-crystal bottle – it has been suggested that this design made regicide by poison more difficult, though the lack of a punt underneath means that the bottle has to be made of thicker glass to withstand the pressure, and when on display Cristal is often wrapped in a decorative cellophane wrapper which blocks harmful ultraviolet light.

The 2005 vintage is still a baby – after all it has spent over five years maturing on the lees and a further eight months resting in bottle post disgorgement before release – so expect it to evolve for another five to ten years.  When tasted at the Dublin Wine & Fizz Fest hosted by Deveney’s of Dundrum, it showed lots of chewy brioche character with fresh lemon through the middle – a consequence of time on the lees and a little more Chardonnay (45%) than usual in the blend.

Varnier-Fannière Brut Zero NV*, Grand Vintage 2006* & Cuvée St Denis NV

Varnier-Fannière Grand Cru Brut Zero NV
Varnier-Fannière Grand Cru Brut Zero NV

Three wines from my favourite grower in Champagne, Denis Varnier, based in Avize on the Côte des Blancs.

The staple of any Champagne producer is their non-vintage (NV) Brut, which should be fairly dry.  The Brut Zero is made in exactly the same way as the regular Brut NV but without any sugar dosage in the liqueur d’expédition, the top up of wine after the dead yeast sediment has been expelled from the bottle.  This is a very fashionable style at the moment, dubbed “skinny Champagne” by some because of the lack of residual sugar, but it doesn’t always work; there has to be enough flavour from the underlying fruit and / or some autolytic character from the yeast to make it interesting, otherwise a Brut Zero can be table-grippingly acidic without anything to balance it.

Thankfully Denis has got it right!  This was served as an aperitif with olives, and was a perfect match; it didn’t feel it was lacking anything without added sugar.  It is pure and linear, with delightfully fresh citrus from the 100% Chardonnay grapes.

Varnier-Fannière Grand Vintage 2006
Varnier-Fannière Grand Vintage 2006

So what’s the difference here?  The most aromatic grapes from old vines are selected when the overall quality is good enough to make a single vintage wine.  After the second fermentation the minimum ageing is 36 months, though this is exceeded.  Production is much smaller than the NV and so allocations are limited to a dozen bottles per customer each year.

And finally, the Cuvée St Denis which is a non-vintage, though Monsieur Varnier probably regards it as a “multi-vintage”.  It is made exclusively from the first (and best) pressing of 65+ year old vines in a single vineyard in Avize called “Clos du Grand Père”.  However, the Clos is apparently is being ripped up and replanted (possibly because yields have fallen so low) so there won’t be any more Cuvée St Denis produced for the next decade or so – get it while you can!

Cave de Turckheim Confidence Crémant d’Alsace NV

The precise blend of grapes in this Champagne method sparkler is a secret, but it most probably has a majority of Chardonnay (allowed in AC Crémant d’Alsace but not AC Alsace) plus a splash of Pinot Blanc.  It is thus a blanc de blancs, but a very different BdB from the Pierre Gimonnet below – it is fresh, floral and citrus-driven, and so could be a perfect aperitif.  At €39.75 for three bottles direct from the winery it is also something of a bargain!

Those of you familiar with French wine may notice the “Cave de” at the beginning of a winery name, meaning cellar but nearly always signifying a cooperative.  The wine from some coops can be dreadful, just made with volume in mind and very little attention paid to quality.  The Cave de Turckheim (and several others throughout Alsace) have much more rigorous standards, with several quality levels ranging from basic everyday drinking (just one or two glasses, of course!) to Grand Cru stunners.  Furthermore, they produce different cuvées based on the type of soil in the vineyards that contribute grapes, whether it’s granite, clay and calcium or sand and pebbles.  You can test the effect of terroir for yourself!

Pierre Gimonnet Premier Cru Cuis Blanc de Blancs NV

Pierre Gimonnet 1er Cru Blanc de Blancs
Pierre Gimonnet 1er Cru Blanc de Blancs

I bought a case of six from The Wine Society as a relatively inexpensive fizz as it was on a case discount.  However, despite its modest price it turned out to be excellent fizz – it showed very well at a Sweeney’s-On-Tour summer barbecue and was one of the stars of the 2013 Glasnevin Fizz Fest.  The winery is in the premier cru village of Cuis where Didier Gimonnet’s family has been growing grapes since 1750, though they also own vines in other grand and premier cru villages.  As always with France, if there’s a blend of different quality levels then the lower level is what goes on the label.

This is unmistakably a 100% Chardonnay such is the streak of lemon and lime through it, though it has obviously spent more than the minimum of fifteen months ageing on the lees as there are lovely bready characters as well.  A typical Non-Vintage cuvée can contain as many as five different years’ wines; reserve wines are stored ready-blended in bottle to make future assemblage easier.

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#MWWC6 – Monthly Wine Writing Challenge #6 – Mystery

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This is the sixth installment of the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge, but the first one I have been able to enter.  The theme of “Mystery” was set by The Drunken Cyclist who won the previous month’s challenge.

Normally I read the other entries which are posted to get an idea, but on a couple of occasions I’ve seen other people have already had a great idea which was at the back of my mind – and plagiarism isn’t good, even the appearance of it.

So for this challenge I’ve gone way out of my comfort zone and attempted a short bit of fiction – something I haven’t done since English class at school!  A little inspiration came from the badge created by The Armchair Cyclist…

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The door was unlocked so I let myself into the hallway; the rain was coming down like bullets into the night so I needed to get out of the rain. I peeked round the corner – nobody there, so I headed down the stairs and took a seat at the bar.

“How are you Frank? What’ll you have?” said the bartender. He was new. His accent was strange..somewhere from the mid-Atlantic. His pale skin and red hair made him look like he would get sunburn from a lightbulb. He must have heard my name from the boss.

“Champagne. Bollinger. Vintage.”

“A glass?”

“No. A bottle” He obviously didn’t know me. Not. At. All.

“Two glasses then? Are you waiting for someone?”

“Do I look like I want company?” I growled. “Open the goddam bottle will you?”

The bartender opened the bottle with a brief sigh (the bottle, not him) and poured me a glass. He put the bottle in an ice bucket with a fancy towel over top. It said “Ely” on the towel.

I knocked back a mouthful – man, this was great stuff. Creamy, complex, red fruits and biscuit with a long finish. My kind of drink. In fact, it was my regular drink at Ely. Don’t get me wrong, I like some of the other fizzy stuff they had, but not the Italian or Spanish garbage – far too simple, far too easy.

I quaffed the rest of the glass then poured myself another. The bar owner walked in and nodded to me as he walked past. “On the usual, I see, Frank”. Obervant as usual. He was a nice guy, real friendly, but left me alone when I wanted to be.

“You still have eyes then, Fred” I muttered. “You know me, I know what I like.”

“Come on, my old friend, tonight you should try something else.” A raised eyebrow made him pause. “On the house!”

“Okay Fred, just to make you happy, I’ll try them again. Then you won’t ask me again, right?”

“Great, I’m sure you will like some of them, Frank!” He seemed excited, like a puppy. This had better be quick and had better get him off my case.

“Pour away, Fred. This here..” I tapped the bottle of Bollinger Grand Année. “This here is my benchmark. Whatever you give me has to match this baby.”

He took a bottle out of the fridge behind the bar and popped the cork. Reaching up, he grabbed a couple of glasses from the shelf above the bar.

“What the heck is that? That’s no Champagne cork!”

“My friend, this is frizzante Prosecco. It doesn’t need a big cork and wire cage, it’s not as fizzy as other sparklers.”

I didn’t like Prosecco. I hated it. In fact, I hated it with a loathing far beyond mere contempt. It was a chick’s drink. As Fred poured us both a glass, I looked round to make sure no-one else could see I was trying such an absurd drink.

Bam! Fruit all the way! But then it was gone, as quickly as it came, leaving a slight prick of acid in my throat. It was like using a water pistol instead of a real gun – surprise from the impact, but no lasting effect.

“Fred that’s nowhere near close,” I said. “I hope you’ve got something better than that”

“Coming right up, my friend.” He fished another bottle out of the fridge. This time it looked to have a regular Champagne cork.

Another pair of glasses. He poured again. At least this seemed to be properly fizzy.

“So you reckon this is better, huh? Where’s it from?” I asked.

“Just try it and see what you think, Frank.”

I took a mouthful. Nice and round in the mouth. Not sweet. Biscuitty. Chewy even. But then it faded quickly; far too simple. The label said Freixenet Elyssia. Sounded more like a medical complaint than a drink.

“Well Fred…it’s just like I thought. Those other drinks, now they’re just fine for other folks. But not for me, they’re far too simple. I need a bit of wonder in my beverages.  I need mystery.”

Click here to vote.

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My 2014 Wine Resolutions

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It might seems strange, but I’m posting my 2014 Wine Resolutions before my 2013 Best Wines, mainly because it will be shorter.

So, here are a few of the wines I’m hoping to drink (more of) this year:

Muscadet

Yes, that’s right, Muscadet – the classic example of a bone-dry white wine. It’s supposed to be perfect with white fish and sea food, but as I don’t eat that much sea food at home I’ve nearly always tried it on its own. The Melon de Bourgogne grape doesn’t have that much flavour, so some of the better growers let it mature on its lees (dead yeast cells and other solid matter) to give it a bit more oomph. And that helps (a bit).

And how does it taste? Well, frankly, many of the bottles I’ve had over the years have been somewhere between vinegar and paintstripper. It’s usually very high in acidity with no residual sugar (RS) and the lack of flavour can make it taste thin and just, well, unpleasant.

However, as one of my favourite sayings goes: “It’s never too late to lose a prejudice”, so perhaps a few better bottles might change my mind. Muscadet is often cited as underpriced for its quality, and as a Yorkshireman getting VFM is a good thing. I’m thinking I might have to include a few different Muscadets in a mixed case from The Wine Society…

Cava

Most people with a bit of wine knowledge realise that Cava’s image is quite poor in the UK (where I’m from) and Ireland (where I live). It’s made in the traditional method like Champagne, but although the Chamapgne grapes Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are permitted nowadays, Cava is often made from the indigenous grapes Macebeo, Parellada and Xarel-lo. Perhaps I’m being a snob here, but these grapes don’t sound that promising as base material for great sparkling wine. Whenever I’ve put a Cava into a flight of sparklers in a blind tasting it has been spotted by most of the tasters, usually because of its relative lack of refinement and a certain earthiness.

Cava is often one of the cheapest sparkling wines in the supermarket which sounds a bit crazy when you consider the production method, more costly than Prosecco’s tank method, for example. So how do they make it so cheaply? Firstly, grape yields are higher than Champagne (which are already high for a quality wine), so the same vineyard area produces more grapes. Secondly, many producers buy in grapes from growers, and the market price for grapes in Catalonia (where ~95% of Cava is made) is much lower than in Champagne. Thirdly, the miniumum length of the second fermentation in bottle is only nine months for non-vintage compared to fifteen in Champagne. Use of Gyropalettes (machines which enable riddling to be done in bulk in a much shorter period) is another significant cost saving and is now standard for Cava. Of course, some Champagne houses do use them as well. Finally, due to its place in the market there is far far less spent on marketing and publicity for Cava compared to Champagne.

So why am I going to try more Cava in 2014? After some interesting twitter discussions with Alex Hunt MW (@alexhuntmw), Lenka Sedlackova (@lenkster) and others last year I decided to ignore the dross and look for the best that Cava has.  I took down some recommendations:

  • Gramona
  • Raventos I Blanc
  • Recaredo
  • Villarnau
  • René Barbier

I will also be scouring the Cava section of the Christie’s World Encyclopedia of Champagne & sparkling wine which I was lucky enough to be bought for Christmas. If you like fizz, buy this book!

Another target for 2014 for which I will be gleaning info from that book is:

Franciacorta

This is Italy’s quality traditional method sparkling wine made in Lombardy. I must confess I haven’t tasted a single sip to date! Franciacorta gets some good press, but as the volume of production is relatively low (about a tenth of Champagne) and domestic demand is high, very little is exported.

Some of the top producers I will try to find:

  • Ca’ Del Bosco
  • Bellavista
  • Guido Berlucchi
  • Barone Pizzini

Prestige Cuvée Champagnes

This resolution is very much wallet dependant! I’ve had many different vintages of Dom Perignon (it was the fizz on tap in Emirates First Class to and from our honeymoon in New Zealand) and tried Krug’s Grand Cuvée, Veuve Clicquot’s La Grande Dame and Louis Roederer’s Cristal, but there are still several top Champagnes I would like to try – even if that’s a taste rather than buying a bottle:

So there are my 2014 Wine Resolutions – what are yours?

Please feel free to leave a comment.

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Glasnevin Fizz Fest – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

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Veuve Ambal Cremant de Bourgogne 2011 was the surprise standout from last night’s fizz tasting…crisp acidity and racy citrus fruit against a background of yeast and toast.  The balance and development were a happy surprise in such a young and inexpensive wine.

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This wasn’t as much of a surprise: Pierre Gimonnet 1er Cru Cuis Blanc de Blancs NV (from The Wine Society) did all of the above and more.  Being a Non Vintage it isn’t apparent which years’ harvest the grapes are from, but the developped bready (autolytic for you real wine geeks) nose and flavours were appreciated by all the tasters.  I’m hoping I have another bottle or two left!

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The two sparklers above were both “Good”, so now for the bad.  Jean Louis Ballarin Cremant de Bordeaux is a blend of Semillon and Muscadelle, two of the three standard white grapes of Bordeaux (the third being Sauvignon Blanc).  Unfortunately this example was faulty as the main flavour coming through was wet cardboard – yuck!  The sibling Cabernet Franc-based Black Pearl was much nicer.

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The biggest selling Champagne world wide is The Ugly – or more precisely the Short and Boring.  This was served blind and tasters’ guesses as to its origins were all wide of the mark – no one thought it worthy of the badge Champagne. 

Offering very little on the nose, muted flavours on the palate a short finish, Moet et Chandon is a triumph of marketing over winemaking.  Give it as a present to someone who likes labels, but look elsewhere for good fizz.

Information, Opinion

Of Champagne and Serendipity, part 2

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So I was fortuitous to find a full wooden case of Champagne in my porch – but where did it actually come from?  It didn’t appear by magic (unfortunately) but was one of our purchases on a trip to Champagne in 2012 – “our” referring to my wife Jess and baby son James, though his main involvement was in charming every lady he met.

I’d like to highlight two of the growers we visited on our trip.  I narrowed down the choice from several on Terry Theise’s list and those mentioned in the Finest Wines of Champagne book (see Part 1) – and, to be frank, places that were actually going to have someone in to receive us.  Small firms can’t afford to have permanent cellar-door staff (and this is typical of small producers throughout France) so it’s the owner and his family or someone in the office who steps in to pour.

The first was Réné Geoffroy in Aӱ (pronounced something like “aye-ee”) which is a Grand Cru rated village in the Vallée de la Marne.  This area is famous for its Pinot Noir, which gives body and strawberry / raspberry / redcurrant flavours to Champagne (just like fruit-driven Pinot Noir still red wines).

Réné Geoffroy produces several different wines, three of which we decided to buy:

Volupté, which has a very high proportion of old vine Chardonnay

Empreinte, a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, fermented in oak

Rosé de Saignée, a 100% Pinot Noir rosé

Although the Empreinte was fermented in oak barrels it did not have an oaky taste.  So “why do it?” you may ask.  It’s all down to tiny pores in the oak which let oxygen in and the affect this has on the body and longevity of the wine.  Krug is a major advocate of oak – and their best wines often last for several decades.

The last one of the three was the most interesting from a wine geek (guilty as charged, m’lud) point of view.  The vast majority of rosé wines throughout the world are made solely from black grapes, and the lighter colour comes from reducing the time that the clear juice is in contact with the grape skins (where all the colour is).  Champagne is the only region in France where the blending of red and white base wines is permitted in the production of rosé.  However, some Champagne houses do try the light skin contact method, known as saignée (as the colour is bled from the skins), and Réné Geoffroy make a great example.

The second highlight of our visit was Varnier-Fannière in Avize on the Côte des Blancs, famous for its Blanc de Blancs Chardonnay.  This is another Grand Cru rated village, the top rung of quality in the Champagne region, with Premier Cru second (first is second, I’m sure that makes sense to someone).  Our host was the own himself, the charming, passionate and dynamic Denis Varnier.

Given the location there was no surprise that most of his wines were Chardonnay dominated, giving primary lemon / lime citrus flavours.  The body is usually light and the finish crisp, depending on the amount of time between second bottling and disgorgement (see below).

M. Varnier made a couple of very interesting remarks:

Firstly, expensive prestige cuvees such as Dom Pérignon are often made with 100% Grand Cru grapes, so the maker is entitled to use that label, but it is very rarely seen.  Could this be because LVMH, the ultimate owners of Dom Pérignon, don’t want consumers to think other producers use the same quality grapes?  Where would the magic be then?

Secondly, he preferred not to use oak barrels at all in the winemaking process as he prefers the wines to be as clean and linear as possible.  This is a different approach from Réné Geoffroy – neither is right or wrong, it’s a stylistic choice.

The biggest share of Varnier-Fannière’s production (which is true for virtually all Champagne houses, large or small) is the non-vintage (NV) Brut.  In this case it is made from Grand Cru small parcels in Avize and the nearby villages of Cramant and Ogier.

An interesting variation is the NV Brut Zero, made in exactly the same way as the regular Brut but without any sugar in the liqueur d’expedition, the liquid used to top up the bottle after the dead yeast lees have been removed post second fermentation.  This process is known as disgorgement (dégorgement in French).  Depending on the required style, different amounts of sugar are included to balance the acidity.  Brut Zero is a fairly recent phenomenon – great with sushi and other seafood!

For his Rosé he prefers to blend – he uses 10% Pinot Noir from Aӱ – rather than using the saignée method.  This makes sense if you’re great at producing Chardonnay!

He does produce a demi-sec (which tastes off-dry to medium) for certain clients who request it – he feels the additional sugar masks the underlying flavours so he’s not a fan himself, but if customers want it…he is running a business after all.

The Cuvée St Denis is made from grapes at least 65 years old grown in a single vineyard called Clos du Grand Père (referring to Denis’s grandfather Jean Fannière).  This is a cut above the regular Brut but although it is a premium Champagne it isn’t vintage, i.e. from a single year’s production of grapes.  In general – that should almost be in capitals – vintage champagne is the best that can be made with a single year’s grapes, and isn’t made every year if the harvest isn’t good enough.

Non-vintage is much more about maintaining a “house style” by blending component base wines from several years, though this is much easier for the grandes maisons to achieve as they also source grapes and base wines from all over the Champagne region.

Finally, we tasted the Varnier-Fannière 2005 Grand Vintage.  This is made from grapes from the oldest vines, giving more concentrated flavours, though lower yields.  It spends at least three years maturing in bottle compared to the minimum eighteen months for non-vintage.  This gives the wine more flavours from the yeast, often similar to bread or brioche (for Marie-Antoinette).

So the 64 million Yuan question – of all these interesting and delicious choices, which did we buy? As much as we’d loved to have taken it all with us, budget and space constraints meant we had to be sparing with our purchases.  We took a pair of the Brut Zero NV and a lovely wooden case of the Grand Vintage – and that’s what I just found in the porch!

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PS an admission: I’m such a fanboi, I got Denis Varnier to sign his page in my Champagne book – here’s hoping I collect ‘em all!

Information, Opinion

Of Champagne and Serendipity, part 1

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The subject of my first blog was prompted by an unexpected discovery.  While clearing a bit of space in the porch last week I thought to use the sturdy empty wooden box I had spotted to collect all the knick-knacks lying around.  To my delight the box was actually full, containing six bottles of Varnier Fannière Champagne!  I suppose I ought to tidy up more often, who knows what else I might find!

Despite being a self-confessed wino for twenty years, I’m a relative latecomer to the charms and intricacies of Champagne.  For a long time I’d see it as something for celebrations and posing without any inherent character as a wine.  The Champagnes I’d tried had been either terribly acidic (bye bye tooth enamel) or just bland – neither of which are good enough when the ticket price is so high.  Don’t get me wrong, if offered a glass of Moët I’d sup away, but it’s almost offensive in its inoffensiveness – it’s wet, fizzy and alcoholic but lacking in character.

Two books gave me cause to reconsider my stance:

Terry Theise’s Reading Between The Wines is an impassioned championing of artisanal wines, including “Grower Champagnes”.  Above all, Champagne can and should be treated primarily as a wine, and it can be a fine wine.  This might sound self-evident to some people but it needs to be stated explicity.

Michael Edwards’ The Finest Wines Of Champagne was the first of the Fine Wine Editions that I bought (or received as a gift, as in this case).  As well as an introduction on the history of Champagne and viticulture and winemaking of the region, this book contains engaging profiles of ninety producers, both big and small.  So engaging, in fact, that I resolved to travel to the area and taste some for myself!

The commercial landscape of Champagne has traditionally been dominated by grandes maisons (Négociants manipulants, the big names everyone has heard of, with huge marketing budgets) on one side and grape growers (farmers who happen to produce grapes) on the other.  Several cooperatives (Coopératives de manipulation) have bridged the gap somewhat, but it is only in the last five to ten years that grape growers making their own Champagne have come to prominence.

As the Growers (Récoltants manipulants) usually own small parcels of land within a distinct subregion of Champagne their wines are somewhat likely to reflect the place where the grapes are grown, compared to the consistent “House Style” which most big houses try to attain.  Of course viticultural and winemaking choices also have significant impacts, but the grower’s terroir (more on this elusive term in future posts) is laid bare without the blending regime of larger producers.

Ironically, despite prestige cuvées such as Louis Roederer’s Cristal, Moët & Chandon’s Dom Pérignon and Taittinger’s Comtes de Champagne being blended from sources all over the Champagne region, among the most expensive bottles available are Krug’s Clos du Mesnil and Clos d’Ambonnay.  These Blanc de Blancs (made from white grapes only, i.e. Chardonnay) and Blanc de Noirs (made from black grapes only, i.e. Pinots Noir & Meunier) respectively are made from tiny single vineyards.  Is this not a return to terroir?

More in my next post.