Back when tickets went on sale for La Fete du Champagne I got closed out of the Grand Tasting since I don’t have an Amex card but signed up for two seminars. I almost bought one off someone who couldn’t make it but for a while I was afraid I’d have to replace my car (turned out
I only had to replace the battery) so it seemed more fiscally prudent to pass.
Louis Roederer Tasting and Seminar
A house that I have almost no experience with and a very enjoyable surprise. I don’t think I’ve had a Roederer wine in well over a
decade, probably longer. BTW - this seminar will probably show up as an episode in Levi Dalton’s Podcast series I’ll drink to that
(he was hosting the seminar) and I highly recommend listening to it when it does.
It was very interesting hearing about Jean-Baptiste’s background and how he came from a school in Montpellier which emphasized
vineyard management rather than winemaking processes.
Apparently they do a selection massale not only for their grapes but for their yeasts which I had never heard of before. Each year
they ferment a batch with indigenous yeasts then if they got good results do a DNA analysis to verify if it’s a new variety and if
so register it.
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Louis Roederer Brut This is the only bottling where Roederer does not grow all their own grapes - 70% of the grapes come from their own vineyards.
Nice, chalky light and pure with good acidity and a long finish. Lovely, elegant wine. Not powerful, but precise.
B+ -
Louis Roederer Brut Nature 2006, Philip Starck label
This is the first release of this wine and they kept it a secret for 8 years. 100% biodynamic, zero dosage, all the grapes were
picked on a fruit day and come from one village, soil is all dark clay. The intent is Deiss-like to spotlight terroir.
It was fun hearing the stories of how Jean Baptiste had to keep telling journalists - no, no, we have no plans make any zero
dosage wines, it’s not the Roederer style - while all the while he was burning to tell them about what was aging down in the cellar.
Expansive, slightly floral nose more minerality, richer, softer mousse, gorgeous! rocks and flowers. Mouthfilling. Since all the
grapes were picked on the same day some were less ripe, others more so. Picking on a fruit day is so much mumbo jumbo IMO but the
wine was fantastic.
A
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Louis Roederer Cristal Brut Rose 2002
Balanced, round and approaching delicious but not my style. Some soft peach and strawberry notes. Continued improving in the glass so maybe it would have been better with more age or still more time but when I had it I found the fruit a little too ripe and round for me.
B -
Louis Roederer Cristal Brut 1995
A late release. a bit sulphury and leesy on the nose at first but this eventually blows off. Very impressively structured with a
long finish. A beautiful wine that opens even further on the finish, truly lovely complexity.
A
Given pricing on all the above I went downstairs to Astor and bought 2 bottles of the 2006 Brut Nature after the tasting. Having 3
hours to kill I dropped them off at the cellar and shared a few bottles with some folk there with minimal notes.
2002 Vatan Sancerre Clos de Neore
2000 Knoll Gruner Veltliner Loibenberg Smaragd
1990 Dr. Fischer Ockfener Bockstein Auslese Goldkap
1978 Biondi Santi Brunello
2011 Stephan Magnien Chambolle ‘Sentiers’
1988 Joseph Roty GC ‘Fontenys’
2010 Tissot Trousseau Sans Souffre
1997 Druet Bourgeuil Grand Mont
1999 Texier Cote-Rotie
I hear there were more bottles opened after I left.
After 2 disappointing bottles of the Biondi Santi I had decided that the last one would sit unmoving in the cellar and be opened
there in case it made a difference. Unfortunately on first pour it seemed just as dead/dying as the other two so I pulled the Roty
as a replacement. By the time it had been open for an hour it was flat out beautiful, coming back to life slowly and gradually
over the course of time. I wish I had treated my first two bottles of this the same way. If so, the auction purchase would have
been worth what I paid.
Speaking of slow opening the Roty was not the best replacement for the Biondi Santi as it opened even more slowly but I’m told it
was really good about an hour after I left to go to the Pinot Meunier seminar.
The 1999 Texier Cote Rotie was my favorite, just a perfect expressions of Cote Rotie and much better than the very good 1999
Texier Hermitage we had at PDH earlier in the week.
I bid everyone a fond farewell and hurried back to Astor.
A study of Pinot Meunier with Raphael Bereche (Bereche), Jerome Prevost (La Closerie), Alexandre Chartogne (Chartogner Taillet) Eric Asimov moderating
This featured 3 extremely exciting ones and 1 … not very exciting wine.
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Bereche et Fils Valle de la Marne Rive Gauche Extra Brut 2010Very nice rain watery enchanting nose, quiet lovely, beuatiful, long, softly flavored, some citrus, some wind just before the rain, a lissome wine and very much my style of Champagne. This is, to the best of my recollection, the first Bereche Champagne I’ve ever had but it certainly won’t be the last. Wonderful.
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Egly Ouriet Les Vignes de Vrigny Brut 1er Cru
Nose is a bit rough, palate is heavy but with some nice peristent fruit. I’ve had Egly Ouriet recommended to me for over 15 years and I’ve yet to have a bottle I’d consider buying. -
La Closerie Les Beguines Extra Brut 2009Delightful compelling nose hints of citrus and undergrowth, fantastic rich palate. I’ve been a fan for a while which this only reinforces. Richer, and more autumnal than the Bereche.
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Chartogne Taillet Les Barres Extra Brut 2009I’ve been a fan of their Fiacre ever since Suzanne opened it at one of her blind wine dinners and I’ve generally been underwhelmed by the Sainte Anne so I was curious to try this. At first smell and taste it’s like nothing I’ve had before in Champagne and I try to decide whether I like it or not. With time and air the answer is a decided yes as it develops into an amazing an compelling wine with orange rind and persimmon, very pure and expansive. Almost reminds me of an orange wine Champagne.
Grown on sandy soil from ungrafted vines.