Champagne TNs: Marguet, Marie-Courtin, Savart and bunch of CA reds, too

Thanks to everyone who came over yesterday to do this event. Had a great time and we will do another one in 2019. I also like how we let the Savart stuff just happen unplanned, and a thank you to Robert Pavlovich for getting that started. Still aggravated at the Expression being corked but the retailer is going to work with me on a credit for the TCA issue. I also sent a note to Frederick Savart’s Facebook page, to see what he might say. Who knows if a small grower producer will take on the issue of TCA in their product and how that could look for replacement, but I don’t like sticking this onto the retailer, which I want to avoid.

I’ll post a few photos later and would appreciate any of the attendees sharing some impressions and photos. I know Cris Whetstone was taking TNs so we’ll see what he comes up with, as he is typically a candid, hard grader. Thanks for reading.

MARGUET AND MARIE-COURTIN, PLUS A LITTLE SAVART AND SOME STILL REDS, TOO - My House In The South OC (12/15/2018)

The group all pitched in and we pooled the funds to buy all of these wines. The sources were these were from my cellar, as well as Paul’s and Rob’s. HDH in Chicago, Sec Wines in Portland and Envoyer here in the OC were our retail sources for the rest of the lineup. We also had Basanti (Indian in San Juan Capistrano) cater in the food, which we had during the Champagne flight). The reds we opened after the food was done and people were mixing and retasting the bubblies, too.
Champagnes done non-blind
All wines tasted last night, with edits to my TNs for those wines I was able to retaste the following AM using the bottle leftovers which I kept closed and in the fridge.

  • 2013 Marguet Père et Fils Champagne Grand Cru Shaman 13 - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
    Disgorged 01/17. Zero dosage. 76% PN / 24% Chard. Cool green apple, touch of honey and flint.
  • NV Marguet Père et Fils Champagne Grand Cru Shaman 13 Extra Brut Rose - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
    Disgorged 01/17. Zero dosage. 71% Chard / 29% PN. Lots of red fruit, which may sound odd, as the base is mostly Chard (and oddly enough too, the 13 Shaman, which is mostly PN, showed green apple notes to me when we tasted it right next to this Shaman Rose). This shows a really fruit driven, with lots of strawberry forming the core of the palate for me…retasted this morning from the leftover bottle. Creamy red fruit, along with some fresh cut green apple, pear. Some nice saline in the finish and a light biscuity note.
  • 2012 Marguet Père et Fils Champagne Grand Cru Avize & Cramant - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
    Disgorged 09/17, with zero dosage and 100% Chardonnay. FWIW, in my other TN from earlier in the year when I was at the winery, the disgorgement date was 02/18. The bottle last night did not seem as structured as that one, showing golden apple, bread dough, lime skin and tangerine. This took some air to wake up for me, too.
  • 2013 Marguet Père et Fils Champagne Grand Cru Chouilly - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
    Disgorged 03/18, which is pretty recent I suppose. 100% Chard, zero dosage. Solid notes of citrus, and the same tangerine note as the Avize/Cramant, but more focused in the Cchouilly for me. Lime and mineral close the finish.
  • 2012 Marguet Père et Fils Champagne Grand Cru Les Crayères - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
    Disgorged 09/17. 70% PN / 30% Chard, zero dosage. Lots of lemon-lime in this bottle tonight, with grapefruit in the background. Finishes with a salty/mineral note. This was not the best of the single plots for me tonight, and I have consistently liked Crayeres before. Have several left in the cellar, will try another soon.
  • 2012 Marguet Père et Fils Champagne La Grande Ruelle - France, Champagne
    Disgorged 05/17. 100% PN, zero dosage. This was the best Marguet of the night for me, and reaffirmed why this is on my WOTY list for 2018. The length, fruit depth and balance of this wine is really superb. Deep flavors of black cherry with a lovely saline finish of red fruits and citrus. Excellent showing again tonight.
  • 2012 Marguet Père et Fils Champagne Grand Cru Rosé Ambonnay - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
    Disgorged 06/17. 57% Chard / 43% PN, zero dosage and FWIW, sans soufre (which the Marguet labels do list the sulfur addition). Minty and yeasty nose. Tangy strawberry, lime, with terrific acidity and energy. This wine really showed well tonight, and at lighter price than the single vineyards, it certainly stood in to challenge the Crayeres and Bermonts tonight, too.
  • 2012 Marguet Père et Fils Champagne Les Bermonts - France, Champagne
    Disgorged 09/17. 100% Chard, zero dosage. This is stony, with golden apple, light grapefruit and what I told the group reminded me of mango. I got a few raised eyebrows and some comments as to that remark, but I stand by it. When I taste wine, I let the sensory attach an image/word and mango was what popped into my head. I own some more of this wine and want to isolate this bottle next time and see what I find…retasted this morning from leftover bottle. The CO2 is gone as I didn’t close it very well, leaving it still. A brisk lemony core, polished and in balance. As a still wine now, it drinks like a well-built Chard with integrated acidity.
  • 2013 Marie Courtin Champagne Efflorescence Extra Brut - France, Champagne
    Disgorged 05/18, 100% PN, zero dosage. This comes from the bottom section of the 6 acre slope, and it tastes different than the Resonance, which is the upper slope. Raspberry, lime skin, stone fruit and good structure with a clean, minerally finish. This showed terrific.
  • 2015 Marie Courtin Champagne Presence - France, Champagne
    Disgorged 05/18. 70% Chard / 30% Pinot Blanc, zero dosage. There isn’t much Chard grown on the M-C slope, and even less Pinot Blanc but Dominique makes a little of this wine, which from what I can tell is the first vintage to produce it. This was the most newly disgorged of all the wines last night, and of note too is that there isn’t any of this wine in CT inventory yet. I got lucky finding some in the US and plan to go back and see if the shop has any left, as I will take it all. This wine for me was thrilling. Fleshy, lightly smoky, showing peach and nectarine (thank you Paul for that descriptor, as it was spot-on), along with melon. A few others last night too seemed to like this bottling a lot. Lovely stuff.
  • 2014 Marie Courtin Champagne Eloquence Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut - France, Champagne
    Disgorged 04/18, 100% Chard, zero dosage. This is the first TN in CT on this wine. This came off a little sweet for me, according to my notes. Smoky aromatic, granny smith apple, lime, tangy and lightly stony. MY thought is that I didn’t get my head around this when well enough, especially so as it was one of the final champagnes I tasted (of about 20). I have several bottles of it, as I went long on getting more prior to the event, given it is Chard from what is mainly a PN producer. Will open another soon and isolate it so I can get a better impression…retasted this morning from leftover bottle. Bright and lively, and it really complements the breakfast flavors we are doing very well, allowing the acidity to pop. Gentle pippin apple, with a good imprint of bright citrus. Glad I have several of these now for the cellar as this is a good drink. Also, the premise of retasting, with a different context (last night vs this morning) reinforces the importance of setting for tasting notes.
  • 2014 Marie Courtin Champagne Concordance Extra Brut - France, Champagne
    Disgorged 04/18, 100% PN, zero dosage. The fruit for this bottling comes from the oldest vines on the hill, and is also bottled sans soufre. My notes from last night say ‘a wine that makes me think’. This is an indication to me that I had to really work to get this wine. My notes have the word ‘cranberry?’, apple, minerals, tangy, crisp and rocky. This is also the most expensive of the cuvees (alongside the Presence, which is not PN based). I’ll be curious to see how I read this wine the next time I open one, to see if the distinctiveness is there again, and if I can sort it out better…retasting from the bottle leftover from last night. I closed the bottle of really well, as the CO2 is still quite present. Being able to taste this again this AM, in a different setting over breakfast, really made a difference. I can now get the wine into focus. The color of this is light gold, and the flavors belie the color which for me show an oxidative quality. Bruised apple, savory with some raspberry/red fruit. My hunch is that the sans soufre approach to this is making its impact, as this is distinctly different in tone and taste than the rest of the M-C range. I’ll plan to send Dominique a note and ask her if my experience here is consistent with the Concordance bottling, and if this was the style she was going after.
  • 2014 Marie Courtin Champagne Resonance Extra Brut - France, Champagne
    Disgorged 02/18. 100% PN, zero dosage. This is the top of the slope, where as Efflorescence is the bottom portion and they taste very different to me. The Resonance showed for me a lot of structure and grip, leaner too. The tannins were almost grainy in tone for me. Very stony (my notes have this underlined) with raspberry fruit. Probably the most structured wine for me of the entire day, across both Marie-Courtin and Marguet. Very good but will need air and or time… retasting now this morning from last night’s leftover wine. Red berry with some earthiness showing, including a light loamy note in the aromatic. Even now with being open overnight (and much of the CO2 is gone), the wine remains stony, a slatey imprint which I really like. For being the cheapest wine in the M-C range, this is very good for the price.
  • 2012 Piollot Champagne Champes Rayés Brut Nature - France, Champagne
    Disgorged 02/17, 100% Chard and zero dosage. Nutty and round in tone, with some citrus. It stuck out in the tasting as it doesn’t have the intensity and complexity of the M-C wines.
  • 2013 Savart Champagne Premier Cru Le Mont Benoit - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
    Disgorged 10/17, 100% Chard, 3 g/l dosage. Distinctly floral. I was so enamored with the aromatics on this bottle that I failed to write any other TNs. This bottle disappeared quickly, too.
  • 2013 Savart Champagne Extra Brut L’Année - France, Champagne
    Disgorged 10/17. 40% Chard / 60% PN, 3 g/l. This to me showed tight and grippy with apple and mineral, honey and what I call lime chew, a soft citrusy candy flavor. I didn’t get this enough attention so my TN falls a bit short.
  • 2012 Savart Champagne Expression Nature - France, Champagne
    Damn it. I have this on my short list for WOTY so I pull this bottle on the fly during our champagne event to share with everyone and it’s frigging corked. Adding to the pain is that I just paid a premium to source this very bottle, well above the release price when these first came out. AGGH! NR (flawed)
  • 2012 Savart Champagne La Dame de Coeur - France, Champagne
    Disgorged 06/16, 100% Chard, 2 g/l. As with the Savart Expression that I pulled spur of the moment, so too this Dame. The Expression was corked (AGH!) yet this Dame was fine. Regrettably for my TNs, there isn’t one and the crew polished it off so we’ll have to go with that the Dame was well-received.

Reds done non-blind, following the champagne flight
All reds were retasted the following AM after the event. My notes reflect that aeration.

  • 2015 Marguet Père et Fils Coteaux Champenois Ambonnay Pinot Noir - France, Champagne, Coteaux Champenois
    We drank this alongside the entire range of Marguet bubblies. This wine is still, made sans soufre and is listed on the bottle at 11.5% ABV. Opened yesterday, retasting today at 66f (room temp) from a burg stem. This reminds me of Santa Cruz fruit, such as a Big Basin or Rhys, with a solid core of cherry fruit that is lithe and pure. Finishes with some stony tannin. It’s cool to drink still Ambonnay PN, to get a sense of what the fruit tastes like without the champagne process being applied to it. Cherry and plenty of slate through the finish. Unique, glad I have another in the cellar for another time to share with others.
  • 2011 Copain Pinot Noir “En Bas” Kiser - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
    This was opened last night, as part of a flight of reds that were preceded by a # of champagnes we had tasted. There is enough left in the bottle for some retasting today. Sampling at 66f and through a burg stem, no food. These 2011 Kisers continue to march right along, with a moderately jammy core of red apple and spicy red fruit. Little prickly acidity in the finish, where there is another push of red apple and some mineral. I’ve never thought the 2011s were going to age a long time and yet 7 years out from vintage, they continue to show well. This is drinking just fine.
  • 2016 Carlisle Zinfandel Piner Olivet Ranches Russian River Valley - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
    Revisiting today the leftovers from the bottle we opened last night. So, it’s had plenty of air. Lots of stuffing in this wine, mixing some new french oak, brambly, juicy fruit and some moderate acidity, all working together. This is already showing nicely, with the oak needing to settle in over the next few years. It’s seasoning the wine well, adding just a touch of that barrel tannin to the edges.
  • 2012 Riverain Syrah Cardiac Hill Bennett Valley - USA, California, Sonoma County, Bennett Valley
    Opened and right to my glass to write this TN. In the past, I would have decanted this well as I have found it to be the most coiled of Steve’s syrahs. Some age is starting to make a real nice impact on this wine, as the burly side has softened away. With just 15 mins of air, this shows a cool mix of cedar, creosote, rosemary, charcoal, a touch of sweeter-tone fruit is dark, with a A-1/cooked meat note. Damn, this wine is really rounding out. We’ll see if a few hours of air causes it recoil…
  • 2014 Riverain Syrah Cardiac Hill Bennett Valley - USA, California, Sonoma County, Bennett Valley
    Opened yesterday, and funny enough, was tasted alongside the 2012, which we had not planned. The 2012 this AM seems to be gone, so someone took the remnants with them and this 2014 seems to have been barely touched. We simply had too much red at the end of the night and I think many people got their palates tapped out. This vintage of Riverain is unlike the 2012, as that wine shows the savory, whole cluster evolution that is really treating that wine well. In this 2014, the whole cluster is either buried under the fruit, or was hit with less of it–I simply don’t find it. Instead, this comes through as more modern CA in tone, with a plusher core, darkly colored and rich in the finish. Whereas the 2012 seems to be finding a home in the N Rhine flavor camp, this 2014 is finding a sexier, more plush expression. In the 2014, the fruit is blacker, there is a maple syrup note, along with a dark, jammy plum. Kind of too bad that this bottle got lost last night, as it’s drinking beautifully, bold. My sense on the 2014 is that it will drink better younger, with the pleasure it gives, and the absence of the savory/complex structure of the 2012. No harm in enjoying these now, especially during these winter months.
  • 2013 Switchback Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve - USA, California, Napa Valley
    We opened this last night, to go alongside a # of varied reds. So, it’s had plenty of slow ox air. Nearly 1/2 bottle left, not sure how in the midst of so many great reds that were left behind last night I will get through them all! This has the SR sexiness, of the cocoa-tinged oak married against some darker red and black Cab fruit, which shows as tarry, cedary Cab flavors, with some emerging herbal notes. This is squarely modern Cab, reminding me of the SW Merlot with that same flavor profile. Some decadence, pretty approachable now and probably better in 3-5 years as the remaining wood softens in and the Cab flavors can come all the way forward.



    Posted from CellarTracker
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Heck of a tasting, thanks again for making this happen Frank!

Was very educational to taste through these champagnes and producers in the same afternoon. Will follow up with some notes in a bit.
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Making your own cuvees! I like that … [snort.gif]

Seriously, fun set of notes on a fun set of wines. Very useful.

Frank,

wonderful notes that really express the wines. It’s fun reading your notes on the Marguets and comparing them to what I had recently. I think we can both agree that it’s a great thing that Benoit is doing these going forward!

Looks like a great afternoon. Terrific lineup and helpful notes, Frank.
Good stuff.
Thanks!

Thanks guys. This was a blast to do, and I am still awash in red still wine that is leftover from the final flight of the night.

FWIW, a few of us locked in more of the Marie-Courtin Presence and Resonance cuvees today. The wines are at Sec Wines in Portland, and there is no sales tax up there, which is a bonus for some of us who get raked every day by the onerous taxes of our state (like CA–sick). The Presence is really an excellent unique bottling, and the Resonance is beautifully structured. 85 and 45, respectively.

Following up, here are some of my notes and thoughts on the tasting. I went in with a plan to focus on the Marguet and Savart SV’s, and therefore didn’t taste or look to write a detailed note on everything.

2012 Marguet Ambonnay
Very fruity, red ripe fruit, slightly tangy, showing good medium acidity. The ripe fruit really stood out in this tasting, as it was distinctly riper and showier than any other champagne. Wins for most outgoing and jubilant.

2012 Marguet Avize & Cremant
Very nice and fresh, slightly buffered by its ripeness of fruit and bread/yeast notes. Lovely village. 100% Chardonnay

2012 Marguet Bermonts
After tasting a couple village Marguet’s this was the first single Vineyard I tried, and here the freshness and energy is dialed up quite a bit, so fresh and beautiful, just enough ripeness to broaden the palate, the effervescence plays perfectly with the acidity and flesh. Shows good depth to the fruit and the yeast accents really add as they’re under control. Good example of the Marguet style which I find to be pure and polished, however I found this still fairly tight (tighter than the LGR) and should benefit with additional time in bottle.

2012 Marguet Crayers
Coming off the Bermonts, found this just a touch more yeasty, and just a little less compelling though still very good.

2012 Marguet La Grand Ruelle
Masculine version of the Bermonts, excellent freshness and just a plush character to it that fills the mid palate, but what really sets this apart is the definition of fruit that comes through on the back, leading to a soft, graceful finish. Picked up a mix of all kinds of dark fruit, mainly purple and black. No doubt a compelling Champagne, and I look forward to future vintages.

2013 Savart L’Annee
40% Chardonnay, 60% Pinot Noir
The 3g/l dosage is quite the jump from no dosage of the Marguet’s. This bit of dosage seemed very popular to a few tasters, and for me I found it broadened the palate and contributed to a sophisticated nature that I’d use to describe Savart’s style.
This showed excellent freshness and energy, and notable for how “together” it was, with a very attractive texture. It didn’t occur to me to try and pick apart the near even assemblage of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, they work together here in great harmony. Excellent quality, right there with the Marguet Bermonts.

2013 Savart Le Mont Benoit
95% Pinot, 5% Chardonnay
Sensual, complex, and boldly elegant, it shows notes of honey, almond, and light citrus. Excellent texture and togetherness, much like the L’Annee, though with more serious, bass notes you’d expect from Pinot Noir. While this is rather tightly coiled, it carries itself with great purity, polish, and fresh energy. Very enjoyable now, though the potential is clearly impressive. There are no doubt great Champagnes composed of up to 100% Chardonnay, but I love how Champagne expresses Pinot Noir and this would make for a perfect example. A masterpiece in that regard.

Marie Courtin
After the impressive Marguet’s and Savarts, I made it to the Courtin’s and thought they held up well. They are very precise champagnes that do not skimp on freshness.
Out of the group of Courtin’s, the 2015 Courtin Presence stood out to me, cracking the top 5 on the day, and I also found the Concordance very nice for its level. I would describe Marie Courtin’s style as precise, pure, and raw. There’s slightly less polish in comparison to Marguet.

Overall a real pleasure, and great setting as always at Frank’s house with good company. Quite an educational tasting as well. Already looking forward to next time…

Looks like you had lots of fun with this, Frank. Thanks to you and Robert for the copious notes—hoping Wetrock will chime in as well, as I know the calibre of taster he is.

Slainte,

Mike

I opened this last night and am finishing it tonight. This wine is holding up quite well. While its youthful edges have softened, the wine still has a vibrant, red apple and tart cherry core. The wet sandstone note that was prominent earlier in its life has receded into the background, but it is still there. The wine is very enjoyable now, even if it doesn’t have the energy of its youth. I am savoring the last glass without food and contemplating the trajectory of the Guthrie-era Copain wines.

This wine may hold on for a few more years, but I would not gamble away the pleasure it offers now. Drink up!

i have a 3L of this… [cheers.gif]

2011 is my favorite cali vintage for PN.

FIFY

First, amazing tasting. Second, that’s a lot of acid. You take a tums before you get started with all those zero dosage bottles? Third, if you’re being as honest as possible, how many do you think would have benefitted from being extra brut instead of zero dosage? We’ve discussed it on the forum before, but I wonder if the additional of a moderate dosage, in most instances, balances some of the zingy acidity and delivers a bit more depth and balance. Trend is obviously towards zero dosage, I just wonder whether it is always, or even so frequently, a best practice.

Finally, I read this note and chuckled. I assumed this was an FMIII champagne master oversight caused by consumption of copious bottles of delicious champagne. Rose, as opposed to even a BdN, will almost always show a dominant line of red fruit regardless of the blend percentage because most have about a 10% or so inclusion of still red wine at bottling. Marguet uses a combination of saignee and still wine for the Shaman rose, which delivers the pink color and with it the red fruit often missing from even heavily pinot noir dominant non-rose blends.

Ah effing hell. Just realized this tasting was from back in 2018.

My questions still stand!

John, blame Brad, as he resurrected the thread.

I tend to drink a lot of stuff that is zero to low dose. I simply like this style more than others, as I enjoy the racy energy, the texture. I’m not a fan of 7-Up, desserts or sugar in general. As an aside, but perhaps on topic, my wife loves to bake and she frequently cuts the sugar called for by the recipe, usually by 1/3 - 1/2. So, I often look for ways to get sugar out of what goes in my mouth, and so it’s perhaps not off theme for me and Champagne.

But back to topic, I had another bottle of Marie Courtin Efflorescence this week, the 2014. It was beautiful, and that is a zero bottle. The fruit is creamy, the berry fruit shines and the salinity is excellent. If you ask Dominique Moreau why she doesn’t use dosage, she will tell you she doesn’t think her wines need it. She is a meticulous farmer and in my view her wines show the quality for it. They don’t need dosage, as the wines shine with energy, texture and fruit. Conversely, I had another bottle of 2012 Vilmart Emotion Rose last night, which has a decent amount of dosage in it. Laurent makes that wine with 8 gms of dosage, it drinks great to me, in fact, that is beautiful wine. Not sure what it would taste like if Laurent backed out the dosage but he has a vision in mind for what he adds, and it works. Laurent’s wines to me are consistently electric with acidity, and perhaps this is why his balance works for the dosage he uses.

Overall, what I look for is balance and energy, plus really good, clean farming. I generally end up with zero to low dosage in my glass and it’s most of my cellar and I generally don’t care for wines with a lot of dosage.

The Efflorescence screams salinity. That is a special wine.

The Emotion is top 3 rose sparkling for me. That was a big night yesterday and great Filipino food and friends. Ramon busted out the 2008 Cristal and 2009 Philipponnat Champagne Extra Brut Clos des Goisses just to make things exciting. :smile:

Where has the OP been lately?I miss FM llls posts.I hope all is well. [cheers.gif]
Sorry just saw post 14 [snort.gif] I’m a dork!!

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