Another (Dry) Champagne Tasting
Just before the Christmas season starts, is the ideal time to discover some new champagne. Paired with the fact that our last champagne tasting was two years ago, I gathered some friends and we tried nine different bottles.
We focused on small champagne producers, with two exceptions, but more on that later on. Furthermore, it was a single blind tasting, and I arranged the wines ranging from Blanc de Blancs to 100 % pinot noir. The ‘sweetest’ wine had a Dosage of 8.7 g / litre. All others were drier, something all tasters enjoyed quite a bit.
Henri Giraud Blanc de Craie
The first champagne in the tasting was an instant hit! Almost everybody enjoyed the Henri Giraud Blanc 100 % chardonnay bottling. The grapes come from 55 % Aÿ and 45 % Louvois vineyards. Fermentation takes place in Argonne oak casks and concrete tanks. On top of that, 70 % of the cuvée comes from reserve wines dating back to 1990. After the second fermentation in the bottle the champagne spends 36 months on the yeast.
I had this bottle in the cellar for a few years. Yet, there was a beautiful balance between fresh notes of green apple and citrus, as well as some honey and brioche flavours. There were slight hints of ageing notes as well. Right away, this was the favourite of a lot of tasters.
Pierre Gimonnet Millésime de Collection Special Club 2008
Second, we tried the Pierre Gimonnet Special Club 2008. A friend of mine had the bottle in his wine collection for over 10 years. This bottling is made from 100 % Chardonnay, 60 % Cramant Grand Cru, 25 % Chouilly Grand Cru and 15 % Cuis Premier Cru grapes. The fermentation as well as the malolactic fermentation takes place in stainless steel.
The Millésime de Collection had lost a bit of its freshness, especially in comparison with the Henri Giraud. Yet, it still had a good Perlage and showed how a well-aged champagne tastes like. You got a lot of yeast, red apples and brioche. I also found a bit of honey notes in the tase. This still is a great champagne, but it probably will not get better from now on.
Louis Roederer Collection 242
I could not help myself and also included a cuvée from a big house in our ‘winegrower champagne’ tasting. The Louis Roederer ‘Collections’ replaced the old Brut Premier. The number 242 uses 34 % of the ‘Réserve Perpétuelle’ started in 2012, enriched with the last harvest, aged in stainless steel tanks, 10 % reserve wines aged in French oak barrels from 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016, as well as 56 % vintage wines from 2017. The champagne ages for 36 months in the cellar and six months after dégorgement.
The nose of the Louis Roederer surprised most of the tasters. There were a lot of mineral notes, reminiscent of flint and almost sulphur. Yet, it settled after a while and then showed typical champagne flavours like green and red apples and citrus. It had the most bubbles of all the bottles we tasted, but they were quite small. Yet, at least for me, it was tasty, but could not keep up with the other bottles we tried.
Julie Dufour R19 Cleobuline Chapitre 1 Extra Brut
Julie Dufour is the sister of renown champagne producer Charles Dufour. This is the first ‘vintage’ from her own vineyards and she only produces 6000 bottles a year. Those are the reasons why I absolutely wanted to feature this bottling in the tasting. The ‘Cleobuline Chapitre 1’ consists of 50 % pinot noir and 50 % chardonnay. It spends some time in oak casks as well as stainless steel and 24 months on the yeast.
In contrast to the previous champagnes, where chardonnay dominated the taste, the pinot noir took over in this one. I instantly tasted red fruits and berries. While it was very interesting to see what such a new and ‘young’ champagne tastes like, it remains to be seen what Julie Dufour will bring to the market in the future.
Benoit Marguet Ambonnay Freedom 2019
The Benoit Marguet Ambonnay Freedom was the most controversial bottling in the tasting. At first glance, the bottling is just a village bottling from a great organic winemaker, with 69 % pinot noir and 31 % chardonnay. The garpes come from the ‘Lieu Dits’ Les Saints Remys, Les Beurys, Les Crayères, La Grande Ruelle, Les Bermonts and Le Parc. After a spontaneous first fermentation the wine spends 48 months in the bottle. Now comes the extraordinary thing – the Benoit Marguet does not disgorge the wine.
First off, I absolutely loved the atypical taste of the Freedom. Yet, not everyone agreed. For some, the combination of a lot of unusual yeast flavours with minerals and lactic notes was a bit too much. That being said, the champagne greatly benefitted from temperature. Moreover, I found flint, red fruits, green notes e.g. green paprika, and chalk in the taste.
Bonnet-Ponson Cuvée Perpétuelle Rosé Non Dosé R019
Next up, we tried the Cuvée Perpétuelle Rosé from Bonnet-Ponson, another small, organic champagne producer. The wine uses 50 % pinot noir (7 % red wine, 10 % macerated), 25 % pinot meunier and 25 % chardonnay from Premier Cru vineyards around Chamery. The vines have an average age of 35 years. Furthermore, the base wine ages in 75 % stainless steel tanks and 25 % in 228 l wooden barrels with 30 % reserve wines from a solera. The champagne spends 48 months in the bottle on the lees.
The Bonnet-Ponson Rosé really was everybody’s darling! Yes, there were some tannins in the taste of the Perpétuelle Rosé, but the berry notes kept the taste from becoming too astringent. The taste included raspberries and gooseberries as well as some yeast and apples. Although the wine was bone-dry, it created the illusion of sweetness in the first sip.
Huré Frères Instantanée Blanc de Noirs 2018
The Huré Frères Instantanée was the first Blanc de Noirs in the tasting. It uses 80 % Pinot Noir and 20 % Pinot Meunier from Ludes, Villedommange, Rilly La Montagne and Brouillet. The vines have an average age of 25 to 35 years, and Huré Frères prevents the malolactic fermentation. Finally, the champagne spends 72 months on the yeast in the bottle.
The taste of the Instantanée was clearly dominated by pinot noir flavours, together with some yeast, flint and slight smokiness. Apart from that, I noticed red fruits and gooseberries on the nose, as well as green apples, red fruits, tannins, and yeast on the palate. For me, the wine packed quite some acidity, but for others, it was not that prominent. I can imagine this one ageing quite well.
Raumland Kirchenstueck Reserve Brut Nature 2014
Obviously, the Raumland Kirchenstueck is not a champagne. Yet, I wanted to include a sparkling wine from this famous German producer. The Kirchenstueck uses 100 % pinot noir grapes from its namesake vineyard in Hohen-Suelzen. After a whole cluster pressing, the base wine ages for nine months in stainless steel tanks. When the malolactic fermentation has taken place, the sparkling wine spends 96 months on the yeast.
The Raumland starts with minerals, yeast, green apples and red fruits. On the palate, you can find red berries, red apples, a hint of honey, as well as some lemon. As one of my friends put it before he knew that this did not come from France, the wine tasted like a typical, classic champagne. I only noticed a difference, because I knew that this bottle was a German sparkling wine.
Clément Perseval Le Luth Blanc de Noirs Extra Brut
Finally, we ended the tasting with a single-vineyard champagne from another small producer. Clément Perseval only produces 13,000 bottles per year. The grapes for this one came from the ‘Le Luth’ vineyard, which is cultivated organically and partially biodynamically. After spontaneous fermentation the base wine ages for around 19 months in Tonneaux casks. For the second fermentation, Clément lets the wine rest for 80 months on the lees.
This was an excellent highlight of the tasting and one of my favourites. At first, you get the classic pinot noir flavours of honey, red berries, and gooseberries. Next, the time spent on the yeast becomes noticeable, together with hints of spices and oak. The aftertaste is long, with more red berries as well as red apples.
*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. We received a discount from Champagne-Characters as well as Wein am Limit.
