Steve Nordhoff shared this bottle with me last night. I trust his palate, he’s to blame for the champagne abyss I have fallen into the past few years, as well. When Steve was over in Champagne this year, he bought a few of these at the domaine and had been telling me about the wine. Was excited then to see it last night for the bite of dinner we shared with our wives who joined us. This is a terrific champagne, rare at the moment it seems and one to try if you can find a bottle. PS–to Steve and his wife, Mariko, congratulations on the upcoming birth of their first boy, who is due this month. All the best to the Nordhoff family.
NV Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Extra Brut Extra Old- France, Champagne (9/22/2017)
Enjoyed this over dinner last night via the generosity of Steve Nordhoff who brought this bottle back from his visit to Veuve. Based on the back label, it is a 6 vintage blend–1988, 1996, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Dosage is 3 g/l and it appears to be disg’d in June 2016. It’s not available in the US to my knowledge and is sold (for now) only in Europe, perhaps limited to the domaine, too. And, this is the first time the domaine has made this cuvee, a new project if I understand it right. I really don’t care for anything Veuve that I have had to date, as the wines are too sweet for my palate. However, this bottling of Veuve is terrific. The dosage level reflects a wine of leaner tone. Lemon, yellow apple, grapefruit and a brushing of saline that gives it a cool, drying finish. Great balance, nothing cloying here and has a lightly nutty tone, I presume from some of the aged components? Delicious.
I think people’s view of the rest of the lineup kind of suffers from the reputation of the basic NV. I’ve had some aged vintage wines from VC that have been quite good. A Grande Dame Rosé with some age on it (1990?) a few years ago was downright spectacular.
This sounds very interesting. I hope I’ll be able to try it at some point.
Cool note. I like this wine too. Essentially it is the ‘best of the best’ reserve wines that go into Yellow Label. Same blend as Yellow Label, just with older wines of high pedigree and, of course, a lower dosage.
It is currently only sold in Europe, but will come to the US too. I think I recall being told that if demand was there that production would top out at 75k bottles. For right now, the plan is for it to be a regular release.
You may want to keep an eye on Clicquot moving forward. Dominique Demarville has done amazing things since he joined in 2006. The 2008 vintage was his first year flying solo in charge and that is where you really start to pick up on the changes. Both the Clicquot vintage wines from this year are very good and the Grande Dames are stunning (though not released yet). Dominique has done a lot in terms of changing things in the vineyards, the winery, and the blending. Extra Brut Extra Old is just one example of how he is doing this.
WS tells me that the Old Wine for Old Men is available in one spot, not one of my regulars, minimum order of 6 bottles, prearrival, at $85 per. I’m interested, but not that interested. If my regulars offer it for a decent price, I may pop for a bottle or three
I agree that $85 is steep. I see this as something that should be priced no more than the vintage. Clicquot marketing sees it as something that is more likely to sit a little above the vintage and I understand that, but it is a tough sell at that price. Supply is not large so they may be able to get enough demand at that price point though. Guess we will have to see.
I kind of look at it as a situation similar to Grande Dame and DP. Grande Dame is a tough sell at the same price point as DP, but once it is $20-$25 less expensive, it moves more easily. They need to figure out where the market is going to value the Extra Brut Extra Old. I find it to be a very interesting wine and I like it, but I like most of the Clicquot vintage wines a little more.
A little more info on this now that I have my notes in front of me:
Another big difference with this wine vs. the rest of the Clicquot range and the Yellow Label is that it has a lower pressure (4.5 atm vs. the traditional 6 atm). This makes it a very good match for foods IMO and helps out with matching the more mature profile of the wine.
It was bottled in 2013 and distribution of this should be across the globe by the end of the year. Production of this debut release was 50k bottles. Production could possibly reach 100-120k if demand is there (my earlier statement of 75k was incorrect and too conservative).
Brad, it’s cool that you bring your perspective and info to this topic and these wines. Thank you for doing that for us.
I noticed last night that the bubbles ceased pretty quickly in this wine. For context, I was using a Burg stem for the wine so I assume that increased the rate but to your point about ‘atm’…does the lower atm cause the CO2 to dissipate faster given it’s present at a lower volume?
The CO2 is going to essentially dissipate at the same rate regardless of whether it is 4.5 or 6 atm in the bottle, but since you are starting at 4.5 atm, it is going to quickly get to a point where you don’t notice a ‘prickle’ especially in a larger glass like a Burg stem where the surface area is larger. In general, I love a prickly, bubbly wine to wake me up as an aperitif, but with food (especially richer foods or desserts), aggressive bubbles can be a distraction and often times not mix well. With young wines that are high in acid and low in dosage this is exaggerated even more - lower pressure works well in these cases.
I tried this when it was first released in the UK. Wasn’t a fan. Very heavy, bitter, nutty tones. I stashed the rest of mine to see if it would mellow a bit with age.
Great note Frank and thanks for all of the info Brad.
When I was at VC in May, I could sense this was something a bit new for them. I liked it enough to carry a couple home. 06 Grande Dame and 08 Vintage Rose were both very good as well, the former in the consistent style and latter had some very nice acidity and seemed on the drier side, which I like.
This is an interesting thread. Are any of you guys familiar with a VC wine called “Cuvee St. Petersburg”? I see it around in Asia and assume it is targeted at Russians. Wasn’t Russia the original export market for Cliquout back in the day? Would that be a sweeter wine?
Funny thing…dined at my next door neighbor’s last night and I was telling him about the bottle that Steve and I had enjoyed the previous night. He then proceeds to tell me that he picked up this really cool bottle from VC when he was there in France earlier this year. On his side table next to the dinner setting was this wine, in the box. He’s not a dork or geek but go figure that he has one right there. Too funny.
This wine was named in honor of Clicquot’s dominance in the Russian Market in the 1800s. It is generally found in Duty Free shops in Asia, Australia, and Eastern Europe, but shows up for sale at some regular places in Europe and Asia too. It is the same blend as the Yellow Label, but sees more aging prior to disgorgement and a different dosage that is a little sweeter.
Chris, I opened a bottle with some of the T.O. crew last month and I think everyone was impressed with the depth and complexity of the wine, but in the end there are equally interesting Champagnes available locally in the $70-80 CAD price range. Next time you see Paul or Rick, ask them for their opinion.
