In Love with Champagne

Philippe and Veronique Glavier, Champagne Philippe Glavier, Cramant

(Photo courtesy of Champagne Philippe Glavier)

I admit it - I'm in love with Champagne. And why not? Each to his own, but I don't understand people who don't care for Champagne. But I don't have the time to argue with them - either you love it or you don't. And as a friend of mine likes to say, well if they don't like it, that means there's more for you and me!

I attended a small Champagne tasting in Chicago the other day; I'll go to any Champagne tasting, but I love the small ones, as it doesn't overwhelm you and it gives you time to talk to the proprietors. This tasting featured ten small producers, many of whom are recoltant-manipulant - producers that grow their own grapes. These small houses are the backbone of Champagne and each producer has an intriguing story to tell; they are all part of a membership called Les Champagnes de Vingnerons (website here).

The ten producers represented the four regions of Champagne: La Montagne de Reims; La Valle de la Marne; La Cote des Blancs and La Cote des Bar. Some of the houses use grapes only from one region where their winery is located, while others blend grapes from two or three of these regions in particular cuvées. Each producer poured at least four wines, some as many as six or seven, ranging from Rosé to Blanc de Blancs to Extra Brut.

Here are notes on some of my favorite wines from the tasting:

Champagne Benoit Cocteaux  - This small house is situated in the southern part of the Cote des Blancs in the town of Montgenost. As the Cote des Blancs is planted primarily to Chardonnay, this is the grape that dominates their Rosé, which was one of the finest of its type at this tasting. Their NV Rosé d'Helene (named for co-owner Helene Cocteaux) has a bright pink/strawberry color and pleasing cranberry and beet aromas and flavors. This has very good freshness and is quite elegant with a delicate finish.

Georges de la Chapelle - Another Cote des Blancs property; a very fine Rosé, a blend of 35% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir and 35% Pinot Meunier was excellent. Medium-full, this has beet and strawberry aromas with a round finish of excellent persistence. Another impressive wine is the Nostalgie, a blend of 70% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Noir and 15% Pinot Meunier; medium-full, this offers notes of coffee and brown spice along with dried pear and can be enjoyed over the next 5-7 years.

Champagne Philippe Glavier - Both Philippe and Veronique Glavier were present to pour their wines; they are a delightful couple that makes elegant Champagne in a delicate, charming style. Most impressive here were the Genesis, a 100% Chardonnay from Grand Cru vineyards and the Folie de Cramant; Cramant, a village in the Cote des Blancs, is the location of this house. The former is a silky Champagne with a long, round, very pleasing finish, while the latter, fermented in barrel and aged on the lees for five years, is fuller on the palate and has very good acidity and lovely complexity. This can be enjoyed over the next 5-7 years.

Champagne Jean-Jacques Lamoureux - This house is located in the Cote des Bars - also known as the Aube - in the far southern reaches of the Champagne district. The wines here tend to display a charming fruitiness; though they do not tend to be as rich as the best wines from the other regions of Champagne, they are very impressive in their own right. A highlight here is the 2008 Alexandrine, produced entirely from Chardonnay. Medium-full, this has appealing aromas of lemon and lime with a distinct yeastiness. Quite elegant and charming, this is a delightful wine to be served on its own or with lighter seafood preparations; enjoy over the next 3-5 years.

Champagne Boulard-Bauquaire - This house is situated in the Montagne de Reims region; this area surrounds the town of Reims in the northern section of Champagne. There were several intriguing cuvées offered at this event; one of my favorites was the Carte Noire, a blend of 50% Pinot Noir and 50% Pinot Meunier. Displaying a light copper color along with bread and biscuit aromas, this is a full-bodied wine with a light creaminess and very good acidity. I was also impressed with their Rosé, a blend of 80% Chardonnay and 20% red wine; this offered delicious strawberry fruit and very good acidity. Also their Vielles Vignes, from 70 year-old vines, has lovely pear fruit and distinct yeastiness and a dry, lightly austere finish.

Champagne Gratiot-Pilliere - From the Vallée de la Marne region, a bit south and west of the town of Reims, this house offered two excellent Brut bottlings; the first, a NV Brut Tradition, an intriguing blend of 74% Pinot Meunier, 10% Pinot Noir and 16% Chardonnay. Medium-full, with pear and apple aromas, this has impressive persistence. The 2009 Millesime, a blend of 70% Pinot Meunier, 10% Pinot Noir and 16% Chardonnay, is a winner! Medium-full with excellent concentration, this has a long finish, excellent persistence and beautiful complexity; enjoy this over the next 5-7 years.

Champagne Michel Gonet - Last, but certainly not least, we have the marvelous cuvées of Michel Gonet, a house located in the Cote des Blancs. I had tasted their wines previously and have always enjoyed them; however, at this year's tasting, it seemed to me that the wines had reached even higher levels of quality. As you might expect from a Cote des Blancs house, Chardonnay is their speciality and the proprietors offered several Blanc de Blancs, usually Grand Cru. The 2004 Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs is an impressive wine with dried lemon and yeasty aromas; medium-full, this is tasting out beautifully now.

Even better - and clearly among the two or three finest wines at this tasting - were the 2009 and 2008 Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs. Both wines have a pleasing yeastiness along with a distinct minerality in the finish. These are wines made from first-rate vineyards and treated with great care in the cellars; both are extremely flavorful and beautifully balanced with excellent persistence. I loved both wines, giving my preference to the 2008, which is a powerful wine, one with a rich mid-palate and a lengthy finish that goes on and on. The 2009 is first-rate, while I think the 2008 is a great wine! This is clearly a Champagne house that deserves to receive much greater attention.

Grower Champagne - In a League of its Own

I love Champagne and drink it whenever I get the chance. So when a tasting of 10 grower producers of Champagne was held recently in Chicago, I had to be there, even though I was flying overseas the next day. This wasn't just any tasting, after all.

No matter the type of wine, from California to Italian and the world over, most of the finest wines are made by the smaller producers. This is especially true when it comes to Champagne. Not having to please millions of drinkers with a house style year in and year out, these vignerons craft highly individual wines that reflect their vineyards as well as themselves.

No make no mistake. I am not criticizing the large houses as most of them do an excellent job, especially when it comes to making a luxury cuvée. Also, just because someone is a grower/producer in Champagne, this doesn't automatically make their wines great.

But I find such uniqueness in the wines of the small growers, which is why I'm always excited to try these Champagnes. The recent tasting in Chicago was from a group of 10 producers under the banner Les Champagnes de Vignerons; especially nice was the mix of areas in Champagne represented by these producers, as three were from the Cote des Blancs, three from Le Montagne de Reims, two from La Cote des Bar (otherwise known as the Aube) and two from La Vallee de la Marne.

David Bourdaire, Champagne Bourdaire-Gallois (Photo ©Tom Hyland)

One of my favorite wines was among the very first I tried, a Brut Rosé from Bourdaire-Gallois (La Montagne de Reims). David Bourdaire told me that although this was listed as a non-vintage, all the fruit was from 2009. One other thing to note about this wine is that it is 100% Pinot Meunier, which is a bit of a rarity. Deep color and ripe strawberry fruit were the highlights of this wine, which has very good acidity as well as fruit persistence. I rated this wine as excellent and noted another 3-5 years of aging would improve this wine even more.

From Michel Gonet (La Cote des Blancs), where all the products are made from Grand Cru vineyards, I enjoyed the non-vintage Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs, which sported lemon and fresh apple fruit in a truly lovely, elegant Champagne. I also enjoyed 2004 Prestige, a Blanc de Blancs with an earthy finish with textbook biscuit flavors.

Several of my top wines at the tasting were from Rémy Massin from La Cote des Bar. The non-vintage Brut Tradition, a 100% Pinot Noir, is quite elegant with a very long finish. The NV Brut Prestige, a 50/50 Chardonnay/Pinot Noir blend, was my favorite; this wine offers lovely floral aromas as well as a very long, persistent finish. The NV Cuvée Aristide, made from 95% Pinot Noir and 5% Chardonnay, has excellent acidity as well as big toasty, yeasty notes, while the Millesime 2004, a blend of 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir, offered rich pear fruit and lively acidity.

Delphine Colin, Champagne Colin (Photo ©Tom Hyland)

Finally, I sampled the wines of Champagne Colin from La Cote des Blancs. This firm is located in the town of Vertus, which is home to several great producers, including Larmandier-Bernier and Duval-Leroy. I absolutely loved the NV Rosé, a blend of 15% Pinot Noir vinified as a red wine with 85% Chardonnay. Displaying big aromas of strawberry and black cherry, this is quite rich with a long finish and excellent persistence. The Cuvée Blanche de Castille, a non-vintage Blanc de Blancs has pleasant yeasty, lemony flavors, while the Grand Cru Millésime 2005, also a Blanc de Blancs, has a big entry on the palate with excellent acidity.

Proprietor Delphine Colin also sampled out two older bottlings with the initials RA; this referring to Roger Adnot, the grandfather of her husband. Adnot still has a few older bottlings he produced, including the 1985 and 1973. I found the 1985 flavorful with good depth of fruit, but this particular bottle seemed a bit tired. The 1973 however, was in splendid shape. Though lighter on the palate than the 1985, this wine offered more elegance as well as freshness. A 39-year old Champagne - now that's a great way to wind up as special a tasting as this one!