hehehe well, this is the time of Champagne or about 70% of their sales is in the period now running to the New Year. I admit, to me it has become a special occasion drink maybe couple times a year like now. The rest is wine/beer! and porto!
I have written several posts on Champagne over the years. And talking about years, WordPress has just remind me with the best wishes of “Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com! You registered on WordPress.com 10 years ago.” Indeed time flies when having fun, thank you to all my readers past present and future! Going over my many updates I realised many of you are no longer posting but I know who you are, and I thank you too!
Now , let me give some of the latest tastebugs in France on Champagne with the personal favorites in black. Happy Holidays to all!!
From some of these who grow their own grapes and do wonderful bubblies I bring you!
De SAINT-GALL Cuvée Orpale 2008, Blanc de Blancs, Grand Cru. Golden reflections to the eye as well as an effervescence of extreme finesse precede the intense nose of citrus fruits and candied lemon. The palate is dense, rich, the finish fresh and very saline, lemony with delicacy. Cuvée sold in an environmentally friendly box.
CANARD-DUCHENE 2012 vintage. From the golden dress escape scents of white flowers, lemon, toasted. Round and rich on the palate, with candied apple flavors, on the attack and mid-palate, the champagne then becomes more energetic, fresh and tense. This is certainly the most successful vintage from this house.
CHARLES HEIDSIECK Cuvée Blanc des Millénaires 2006. Made from 100% Chardonnay, this magnificent wine expresses remarkable aromatic complexity. Notes of violet, acacia and citrus intermingle with more intense ones of exotic fruits (fig, date, pineapple). The palate is creamy, full, full, intense. A little wonder.
AYALA Cuvée N ° 7, Brut 2007. It results from the association of seven grands crus (2/3 Chardonnay, 1/3 Pinot Noir) all from 2007. The color is golden, luminous, underlined by a fine effervescence. The nose releases aromas of mirabelle plum, honey and apricot. The palate is fleshy, spicy, generous, with some notes of candied lemon, stewed fruits, a nice freshness.
RUINART R de Ruinart 2011. Clear golden color with green reflections, extra-fine bubbles that run straight, a bead of persistent, creamy foam, all heralding signs of the quality of this great wine not denied by the lightness, the beautiful balance, the incredible freshness due to the minty notes, of antesite, anise that we smell on the nose, savor in the mouth and in the finish, mineral.
PIERRE GIMONNET & SON ; Cuvée Brut Nature “Œnophile” Premier Cru Blanc de Blancs 2010 An enveloping champagne, elegant, even sophisticated, chalky on the finish. Despite the total lack of dosage, a practice dating back to 1985 at Gimonnet, the complex wine shows good maturity.
And what about these wonderful bottles of always!!
JACQUESSON 743 Extra-Brut. The palate is perfectly balanced, with obvious repercussions on the flavor of this very great wine made in casks, complex, sapid, mineral and infinite, embellished with a fine and creamy bubble. As with each 7xx cuvée, the blend exacerbates the character of the base year, here the 2015 harvest
CHRISTIAN GOSSET Blanc de Pinot noir Loiselu Aÿ Grand Cru 2016 .After working in the family vines, Christian Gosset markets his first plot vintages. Golden color, persistent string of foam, nose of cereals, floral, iodine… The wine made from 100% Pinot Noir unfolds in the mouth with suppleness then with breadth, intensity, generosity. On tangy red berries, the finish stretches in length, chalky and saline.
TARLANT La Lutétienne 2005, Brut Nature. The cuvée takes its name from the Lutecian limestone subsoil and wants to be Parisian if we refer to the old Lutèce (Paris) built of Lutetian limestones … Made from chardonnay (80%) and pinot noir (20%), it is full-bodied, round and plump. The finish goes on forever, mineral, of course! Limited edition of 2,800 bottles.
LARMANDIER-BERNIER Les Chemins d´Avize Grand Cru Blanc de blancs Extra-Brut 2013 Straightforward, rich, crystalline, biodynamic wine reveals itself in a flight of extra-fine bubbles but it should not be drunk too cold to appreciate its complex flavor, its long and lively finish, its finesse and freshness.
And of course, for la vie en rose folks need to show some of the gems of Champagne!
LAURENT-PERRIER Grand Siècle Iteration N ° 24. Blending the best with the best to obtain the best, such is the motto of this cuvée resulting from three beautiful complementary years (2007, 2006, 2004) and 100% grands crus. We come close to perfection with this immense champagne of great purity, mineral, distinguished, melted. Lace
DOM PÉRIGNON Vintage 2010. We no longer present this mythical cuvée which, in the 2010 vintage, is of rare elegance. A divine wine, intensely aromatic, which imposes itself with superb on the palate thanks to a silky mouth feel. Ample, full, all in finesse until a crystalline, peppery, saline, chiseled, slender finish.
LOUIS ROEDERER Crystal 2012. A brilliant and luminous cuvée in every way. From the color to the finish, everything is elegance, complexity, balance. Added to this are power, concentration, vinosity and tension embellished with an incredible chalky freshness and infinite length with notes of candied lemon.
POL ROGER Sir Winston Churchill 2009. Each vintage of this prestigious champagne is a new tribute to the British statesman and is meant to be in his image: robust, ripe and structured. With the 2009, everyone can add flesh, gluttony and generosity, which would not displease Winston. Dried fruits, vanilla, citrus fruits intermingle in a remarkable and tasty harmony.
TAITTINGER Comtes de Champagne Grands Crus Blanc de blancs 2008. An exceptional cuvée and a vintage to seize since the next one will not leave the cellar until the 2011. Aromas of orange blossom, peach, liquorice … Very straight and pure on the palate, crystalline, grandiose. A full, round, open wine, which forms a splendid accord with a crushed potato and Sologne caviar.
POMMERY Cuvée Louise 2004. A divine champagne with a silky touch of superb freshness, mineral, complex and salivating. The next day, always so distinguished, he left aside some of his effervescence to make way for a very great wine, of tremendous flavor. This year, it slips into a box called “Introspection” in a limited edition.
VEUVE CLICQUOT PONSARDIN’S The Great Lady 2012. The effervescence of extreme delicacy announces the distinction of this great lady with a white gold dress and crystalline reflections. The nose is intense (jasmine, frangipane, mirabelle plum), the mouth refined, chiseled, all of finesse and complexity. A wonder. Endless and mineral finish.
PERRIER JOUET Cuvée Belle Époque 2012. In its iconic bottle, adorned with Japanese anemones imagined in 1902 by Émile Gallé, it does not go unnoticed. It also stands out for its roundness, its flexibility, its brioche, pear and floral aromas, which join the flavors on the palate, fresh, elegant, tender, harmonious and long.
And how about those that are from one grape variety only!
DE VENOGE Cuvée Princes Blanc de Noirs. The magnificent carafe reminds us that the great European aristocracy at the beginning of the 20C decanted champagne in a crystal bottle. Created in 1864 in homage to the Princes of Orange, this cuvée now blooms on the palate with vinosity and richness, complex, intense until the finish is long, fine, delicately tense, on red fruits.
EGLY-OURIET Brut 1er Cru “ The Vines of Vrigny ”.A cuvée composed exclusively of old Pinot Meunier vines. At 1 g / l, it offers the eye an old gold color tinged with amber reflections streaked with ultra-fine bubbles. The aromas of pear and brioche precede the vinous palate enhanced with notes of persistent red fruits in an infinite length.
BOLLINGER Cuvée PN VZ 15. A brand new special cuvée: PN for Pinot Noir, VZ for Verzenay (dominant village), 15 as of 2015, the base vintage that makes up the wine imagined as the little sister of the priceless and miraculous cuvée Vieilles Vignes Françaises. Opulent, vinous, rich, elegant palate with a strong personality, an interminable finish. It will hold its own against a sweetbread.
LANSON Blanc de Blancs. A 100% pleasurable Chardonnay, very aromatic on the nose (pastry notes, frangipane) as well as on the palate that is initially soft. The smoothness is then offset by a nice acidity and notes of citrus zest for firmness, the candied lemon prevailing on the finish, pleasantly persistent.
BESSERAT DE BELLEFON Cuvée des Moines Blanc de blancs. An exquisite champagne whose signature is now BB and with which we enjoy from the beginning to the end of the tasting. Intense, iodized, floral (acacia) and fruity (citrus) on the nose, it opens up with width, full, round, petulant, with flavors of lemon candy, chalky and chiseled.
And I leave you with the extre brut, those wonderful bubblies with no sugar added. Straight we call it!!
BILLECART-SALMON Les Rendez-vous N ° 1, Meunier Extra-Brut. Very fresh, this sensual, airy, floral, fruity, tense and salivating wine has been aged on lees for five years. Ephemeral and confidential, the first cuvée of the new range already gives an appointment next year to discover N ° 2, another experiment carried out in the cellars of the house.
DRAPPIER Brut Nature, No Added Sulfur. This 100% Pinot Noir cuvée shines with its freshness and elegant flavor. A wine as close as possible to nature, pure, precise, unfiltered, without sulfur or added sugars and therefore without makeup. A vibrant and energetic experience in the mouth, harmonious, mineral, very long and salivating. We never tire.
LECLERC BRIANT Premier Cru Extra-Brut. Dominated by red grape varieties (70% Pinot Noir and 15% Meunier), we are no longer surprised by the intensity of the wine on the nose as well as on the frank, long palate, on freshness without untimely acidity. Notes of citrus, salinity, good persistence. Low dosage (2 g / l) and grapes from the 2014 harvest.
Well, finally, the classics Champagne
GOSSET Brut 12 years in the cellar at least. Cellar master Odilon de Varine has allowed this cuvée to age for twelve years on lees in the freshness and depth of the cellars in order to deliver a full and complex wine. An unprecedented cuvée blessed with a fine, abundant bubble, an astonishing freshness, a sacred tension and whose saline finish calls for iodized dishes
DEUTZ Brut Classic. A great elegant wine with undoubted charm, a sure bet in Champagne. It envelops and caresses the palate with its silky texture and its open, seductive aromas (brioche, ripe white fruits, almond paste). Expressive, it is also complex and smooth.
G.H. MUMM Brut Cordon Rouge. You have to rely on the blend of around 120 vintages to successfully develop this emblematic cuvée of the house. It will appeal to the greatest number, both lovers of Brut champagne without year and those of Brut Nature, because it is precisely balanced between fruity roundness, power and freshness.
DE TELMONT Cuvée without added sulfur. The grapes (90% chardonnay and 10% meunier) were vinified without sulfur, in oenodynamics (same principles as biodynamics applied to oenology). A myriad of bubbles sparkle delicately in the mouth, suave, elegant, fleshy and deliciously tight for this brut dosed at 5 g / liter!
PHILIPPE GONET Brut Reserve. The 7th generation at the head of this house presents its brand new Brut Réserve. On the power, the nose exudes pastry notes. A wine of character, supple, crunchy, easy to access, very long in the mouth. The chalky and spicy finish goes well with a carpaccio of sea bream or scallops.
And there you go folks, have yours, take a pick, go quickly this is Champagne time all over the world! And toast a bubbly , the real one of Champagne for your best moments. Wish I could be there but in consolation I bid you rememberance with these.
“Remember gentlemen, it’s not just France we are fighting for, it’s Champagne!” Winston Churchill
“I only drink Champagne on two occasions, when I am in love and when I am not.” Coco Chanel
“Champagne is the only wine that leaves a woman beautiful after drinking it.”Madame de Pompadour
“I’ll drink your champagne. I’ll drink every drop of it, I don’t care if it kills me.”F. Scott Fitzgerald
And I leave you with another of this great men quote: “Champagne is the wine of civilization and the oil of government. Winston Churchill!
And remember, happy travels , good health, and many cheers to all!!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 