Grower/Producer Bubbly Event at Frenchie's House

Really appreciate Todd putting this together. 14 people, a mix of casual drinkers and some WBers (myself, Andrew Christiansen, Mark Jones and Veronica Castro, who was a rock, still jet lagged from her trip home 2 days prior from Champagne–that’s commitment!). Todd organized things at his home, asking each person to bring one bubbly, which had to be grower/producer (i.e. RM). The opening flight was non-blind, served chilled so the group could socialize. The next flight was served blind, with only Frenchie knowing the bottles that were under the foils. The 8 bottles of this flight were separated into 2 stations within his house, and each taster was given a small slip of paper that had the numbers of “1 -5” on it. We were asked to taste each wine, then rate it, circling the # and dropping it into a small brown bag that was associated to each bottle. Half the group did station #1 and the other half did station #2. Then after about 20 mins, the groups switched stations. Once the tasting was done, the votes were tallied and an average score was created. Todd has the results, perhaps he can post them here.

A really nice evening, with time to taste 15 bubblies–this is the way to share and leverage getting bottles open to explore. Thank you, Todd.

GROWER/PRODUCER BUBBLY EVENT - Todd Frenchie’s Place (8/19/2017)

Served non-blind

• NV Fleury Pere & Fils Champagne Blanc de Noirs Brut - France, Champagne
  Has a kind of steely tone to it, with bitter lemon, lime rind and plenty of acidity. Finishes with a saline tone. Leaner styled here, probably not for the Brut palate but I enjoyed it.
• 2008 Pascal Redon Champagne Trépail - France, Champagne
  Dsgd-10/2015, dosage-6.7 g/l, 95% C/ 5% PN. Bread dough, creamy lime, raspberry?, almond and a mineral finish.
• NV Xavier Leconte Champagne Cuvée Prestige Brut - France, Champagne
  Disgd-09/2016, dosage-7 g/l, 60% 2012 base and 40% reserve wine. Tonic water, bread dough, zingy, lemon peel, light complexity.
• NV Paul Bara Grand Rosé - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
  Have not tasted this wine for a few years, and I notice too the label has been re-designed. This showed creamy, red fruited, licorice and a bitter finishing note. Like the energy of this wine, enjoyed this.
• NV Vilmart & Cie Champagne Grand Cellier Brut - France, Champagne
  Disgrd-10/2015, 70% C/30% PN. Lovely. Great depth. Bit of wood on the aromatic, Lemon. Love the weight, creamy lemon peel. This drinks complete and lively and for the cost, I want to look at picking up a few again for the cellar.
• NV Marguet Père et Fils Champagne Grand Cru Shaman 13 Extra Brut Rose - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
  Dsgrd-03/2016. I have become a fan of Marguet, drinking several bottles of the 12 Shaman, which for value and what’s in the bottle is a real success. Salmon colored, tight strawberry flavors that seemed even a bit sappy. Light complexity, really kind of reminds me of a still wine through the tone the bottle showed. Would like to try another soon to see if my perceptions change.

Served blind

• 2012 Marc Hébrart Champagne Extra Brut Noces de Craies Blanc de Noirs - France, Champagne
  Served blind. I liked this, although it was a little bigger in tone, i.e perceived dosage. Biscuity, lemon and lime skin, some decadence but it’s in balance. Delicious.
• NV Alexandre Lenique Champagne Cuvée Excellence Brut - France, Champagne
  Dsrgd-01/2017, dosage-6 g/l. Served blind. Yellow apple, creamy, lime candy, citrus/orange and zesty.
• NV Christophe Mignon Champagne Brut Nature - France, Champagne
  Dsgrd-03/2016, made with 2012 and 2013 as the base. I am also fairly sure this is 0 g/l dosage. Served blind. I had brought this bottle to the event, having purchased 2 of them last year and this was the first time I had opened one. Interesting that this won the event across the 8 blind wines served, especially given the no dosage approach, which I don’t often think appeals to the more modern bubbly palate and the dosage/expressions that are crafted for the mass markets today. This bottle tasted lean, bright, with apple and some yeasty notes. Zesty, with minerality and youthful. I simply loved the energy of this bottle. Terrific.
• NV Perrot-Batteux Champagne Cuvée Helixe Blanc de Blancs - France, Champagne
  Dsgrd–11/2016, dosage-8 g/l, 80% 2012, 10% each 2011 and 2010. Served blind. I did not care for this, as it resembled flavors of 7-Up soda. Toast, lemon/lime sweetness. A pass for me.
• NV Pascal Doquet Champagne Grand Cru Diapason Le Mesnil-sur-Oger - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
  Dsgrd-01/2015, dosage-6 g/l, base of 75% 2007, 21% 2006 and 4% 2005. Served blind. This was Ok, plush with green apple, spicy and a mint note.
• NV Paul Bara Champagne Grand Cru Brut Réserve - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
  Dsgrd-12/2016. Served blind. Has an aged quality to me, it’s the mental note I made when I first tasted it. Green apple, kind of simple with some honey. I didn’t get this bottle.
• NV Vilmart & Cie Champagne Grande Réserve - France, Champagne
  Dsgrd-09/2015, 70% PN/30% Chard. In the past, I have not cared for this cuvee so I stopped buying it. However, like the Grand Cellier we also had during the evening, this too showed well for me. While the dosage seems higher to me than I usually enjoy, I kept wanting to refresh my glass with this one. Zesty, red fruited with a black cherry quality and blood orange. Toasty, too. This was terrific.
• 2008 Chartogne-Taillet Champagne Blanc de Blancs Heurtebise - France, Champagne
  Dosage-5 g/l. Served blind. This poured frothy. Lemon, yeasty, yellow apple, toasty.

Closing reds

• 2003 Turley Petite Syrah Hayne Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena
  I opened this at the end of grower/producer bubbly event at Frenchie’s place. I was looking for heat in this and I didn’t find it. Instead in the aromatic is a 5 spice/clove note, I presume from some residual wood? Lots of dark plum and spicy. This had some richness but it didn’t to me come across as over the top. In a pretty good place to drink IMO.
• 2009 Windy Oaks Estate Pinot Noir Henry’s Block Schultze Family Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Was the final wine I tried at the end of an evening of champagnes. So, make of my note what you like considering my palate may have been fatigued by this point. Something herbal here or light stems? Inside of this too was what I perceived to be some heat, too. Sweet cherry, vanilla, herb and a distinct, persistent sour cherry finish.

Posted from CellarTracker

I’ll watch Envoyer for that Mignon — it sounds great! Thanks for posting, Frank. Will continue watching to see if others in attendance chime-in with their thoughts and impressions.

Frank,

If I didn’t love Bellingham so much, tastings like these would be enough to lure me south.
Several wines I enjoy are listed here. I’ve never had any Christophe Mignon, but have his Brut Rosé Pur Meunier and Blanc de Noirs Pur Meunier Brut Nature pending delivery in November.
Cheers, and thanks for the notes.

Warren

There was a few bottles of Mignon in stock the time before last when I was in Envoyer but the last trip in, I didn’t see any so maybe it be gonzo now. Maybe you send Scottie an email there or call them, but if you spend money, don’t blame me.

Fantastic event! Was originally planning for 24 people, and I’m happy that so many had to cancel, as 14 seemed like the perfect number for such an event. Perhaps 16 would have worked as well, but I wouldn’t push beyond that number, as there was plenty of re-trying the blinds, and folks liked going back for more once the results were posted, and most had a few pours left in the bottle.

Frank won the event, and ever-so-generously donated his prize (a Wine Check set, of course) to the 2nd prize winners, who will very likely use it. Here are the results, and my brief notes to follow each:

1st - (Frank Murray) NV Christophe Mignon Champagne Brut Nature - (I was obviously in the minority on this one, as it was perhaps my least favorite) Richer style, lemon curd, palate is completely different than the nose with a strong citrus component, and the finish seems altogether a different wine as well. Clunky and unbalanced.

2nd - (Rani and Milos) NV Pascal Doquet Champagne Grand Cru Diapason Le Mesnil-sur-Oger - Oddly yellow-tinted bubbles, complex nose of ripe apple and florals, nuts and cake batter on the palate, very fine bubbles, super energetic texture

3rd - (Andrew and Sabha) 2008 Chartogne-Taillet Champagne Blanc de Blancs Heurtebise - a bit cheesy on the nose, strong richness on the palate, sweet apple, nutty, opening up quite significantly with air and changing constantly

4th - (us) NV Vilmart & Cie Champagne Grande Réserve - Nice freshness with citrus and green apple on the nose, tons of bubbles, tart and long finish, excellent, with all the components clicking and melding together

5th - (Rick and Rebecca) NV Perrot-Batteux Champagne Cuvée Helixe Blanc de Blancs - very light color, fresh nose, green apple and spring water, higher dosage than others thus far (that’s what Frank gave the ‘Sprite’ comparison to, I think, as he does NOT like sweet wines), touch of mint, strong finish

6th - (Paul and Beth) NV Alexandre Lenique Champagne Cuvée Excellence Brut - Shy nose, honey and flowers barely peeking through, creamy texture, higher dosage of the group but nice, long finish

7th - (Mark and Brad) NV Paul Bara Champagne Grand Cru Brut Réserve - rocky stream, bright fruit on the nose, fine bubbles fading very quickly, astringent finish, too much citrus overall

8th - (Veronica) 2012 Marc Hébrart Champagne Extra Brut Noces de Craies Blanc de Noirs - lots of fizz on pour, apple pie nose, nice texture and mouthfeel, fluffy on the palate yet also heavy, very short finish

Nice job, guys. This sounds great. Love the lineup. Lots of gems.
One thing I’ve never done is a focused Champs tasting. Need to do this.

You definitely still get palate fatigue from it, as when the blind tasting was over (we had the non-blind wines out to share beforehand, with a large variety of food) we immediately started opening reds, for a break.

I’m a big Hebrart fan and thus a bit surprised how this showed. However, I have no doubt this will become a very good wine with a few more years of age to allow it to shed it’s baby fat and hit its stride. I have yet to have a Hebrart that I would consider heavy on the palate.