SMALL GROWERS TETE de CUVEE CHAMPAGNE EVENT
SUNDAY, AUGUST 25,2019
A year ago, I held the first of 3 champagne events dedicated to taste some of the best of the best. The first one featured the top of the line from the ‘big” houses such as Krug, Dom Perignon, Taittinger Comtes de Champagne, Cristal, Philipponnat Clos des Goisses and others.
This year, the 2nd event was held again in late August and the theme was for tete du cuvees from small growers. A long list was provided for eligible brings and everyone stepped up beautifully.
Next year, we’ll do a blind tasing of both and find out where our preferences are and if we can recognize them.
Each event is held on the open air rooftop over our penthouse in downtown Santa Barbara. It is a special venue with 360 degree views of the local foothills, mountains and patchers of the Pacific ocean in the background with the city lying below. With typical Santa Barbara weather, we stand a good chance of being comfortable which is what happened. To ensure there is enough daylight, we have a 5:30 start time and on both occasions, the majority stayed until 8:30-9:00 as I pulled out some other wines from the cellar.
Quality champagne compatible food was catered and served as we sat at pre-arranged tables. Here’s the menu:
Black River Oscietra Tradtion Grade Caviar served on butter creamed toast points
Assorted cheese platter with fruit
3 Quiches: Ham and Bacon; Spinach and Feta; Salmon and Capers
Paninis: Bree, Arugula and Cranberry
Chocolate Tuxedo mousse, Godiva Belgium Dark Chocolate Ganache Heart and Lacey`s Dark Chocolat Almond cookies
As I see it, the best thing I can do when a guest arrives is to hand them a glass of champagne. On this night, there were 2 offered before we sat down and tasted the tete du cuvees.
2014 Jose Dhondt BdB Brut mes Vieilles Vignes GC Oger in magnum- my first exposure to 2014 champagne and 2nd magnum opened; as with the first bottle, it showed pretty well; it had lots of sweet citrus notes delivered in a creamy lush texture; it had bright acidity and seemed a bit more sweet than I prefer, but research discovered it was disgorged in May, 2016 with a dosage of 6 gpl; I would have guessed much more, say 10 gpl; nonetheless, it was rich and full bodied and a good small grower bubbly to offer upon entering the rooftop.
NV Eric Rodez Grand Cru Brut Rose- nice strawberry and red cherry flavors abound in this spicy and easy to quaff rose.
7 Flights of 2:
2002 Henri Goutorbe Special Club Grand Cru Brut Ay- I’ve noticed a common thread style amongst the Club members and this fell into that category being very rich and full bodied with lots of citrus and stone fruit delivered in a creamy texture; that’s what I got here only more advanced and mature and in good balance.
2002 Marc Hebrart Special Club Brut 1er Cru- no ditto marks here for this Special Club as it had more butterscotch and ginger accents to the citrus and stone fruit along with a rich and creamy texture.
NV Henri Billiot Cuvee Laetitia Grand Cru Brut Montagne de Reims- 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay; disgorged 8/10/08; stated to have an 02` base by the one who brought it; this was very tasty with toasty, buttery, ginger laden white peach most evident; it had some complexity and good mouthfeel.
2007 J. Lassalle Special Club Brut Chigny-Les-Roses1er Cru- 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay; elegance was the hallmark of this beauty if being in perfect balance was not; it had grace and so much charm giving spicy lemon lime notes in a steady stream from the nose through the tail. It got WOTN, at least for the champagnes, as we opened some other wines afterwards that some claimed stole the show.
2008 Paul Bara Special Club Grand Cru Brut Bouzy- Disgorged 7/17. 90% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay; classy champagne here with everything hitting all of the sensory preceptors just right; a hit of toasty brioche provided just the right accent to the green apple and lemon lime notes.
2008 Gimonnet Special Club Millesimé de Collection Brut- the nose had some must and candied circus, but the taste profile was much different and had more of the typical Club style being creamy and full bodied; the fruit was enhanced by a dollop of pepper and spice.
2011 Chartogne-Taillet Heurtebise Blanc de Blanc Brut- I would have called this a Special Club as it fit the customary profile almost to the tee; full bodied, rich, creamy and loaded with ripe fresh fruit in this case, lemon, lime and guava and an unexpected accent from white pepper.
NV Bonville les Belle Voyes Grand Cru Blanc de Blanc Brut- mild spicy stone fruit jumped out of the glass and landed on my olfactory senses, then the taste had more stone fruit character with a bit of sweetness and was delivered in a lush and creamy texture to the back end. Solid bubbly here.
2013 Mousse Fils Special Club les Fortes de Terres Brut- 100% Pinot Meunier; our first 100% PM and it showed beautifully with toast, ginger and spice accents to the stone fruit from the nose through the finish; it was full bodied and had wondrous mouthfeel; it even had some layers of depth and if we had more time and a larger pour, I’m presuming it would have expanded even more magnificently. One of my favs.
2013 Pierre Paillard les Mottelettes Grand Cru Blanc de Blanc Extra Brut Bouzy- dosage 1.8 gpl; from a vineyard planted in 1961; spicy and chalky citrus starts it off in the nose and continues on with some minerals joining in; lemon zest and ripe pear notes were most prominent in this medium bodied, easy quaffer.
2014 Marie Courtin Eloquence Blanc de Blanc Extra Brut- no dosage; so much to like here with such an inviting nose of spicy citrus, namely lemon, lime and kiwi; it was elegant and yet stately, had bright acidity and really good feel that was just perfect for maintaining the elegance all the way through; one of my favs on the night if not THE fav. I was really happy to discover I have a couple in the cellar.
2011 Pierre Peters les Chetillons Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blanc- Ive long been a fan of this producer and especially this release, so it was nice to see 2 of the guests step up and bring one; of the 2, I thought this was much more expressive and satisfying than the 04 and the 04` was very good; this had really serious intensity with concentrated mineral infused citrus in the form of spicy lemon zest; it had power and yet lots of finesse and the hallmark for this youngster was it was already in.a state of amazing balance; my champagne of the night with the Lasalle and Eloquence very close behind.
2004 Pierre Peters les Chetillons Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blanc- another fine bring from this fabulous producer; on its own, it would stand out as a really good champagne, but to follow the youthful exuberance of its younger sibling that has it all going for it right now, it paled in comparison; just a whiter shade of pale tho; it had. plenty of pizzaz with fresh and ripe citrus fruit enhanced by chalk and minerals served up in a lovely textured medium and holding on for a grand finish; sounds like a really good bubbly and it is; it just got caught following one just a bit better IMHO.
2009 Vilmart Coeur de Cuvee Brut 1er- disgorged May 2016; dosage at 8 gpl; 80% Chardonnay, 20% Pinot Noir; citrus, wet stones and minerals greet us in the nose and then lemon oil, fresh baked apple and white peach come in on the palate while being delivered in a rich and creamy texture; it had nice balance and yet seemed just a bit held back from its fullest expression and after having had a few of these, I’m thinking bottle variation OR a trip into the valley before returning to the mountain top.
Once we had arrived at the conclusion of the champagnes everyone seemed pleasantly happy and still situated and it was obvious something else needed to be opened, so I ventured down to the standup cellar in the 3rd floor penthouse and pulled a 1996 Williams Selyems Ferrington Vineyard Pinot Noir and 1997 Williams Selyem Rochioli Vineyard Pinot Noir. Both received raves and deservedly so; they were exceptional wines.
In essence, we went from having a champagne WOTN to a Pinot WOTN, first the Ferrington and then the Rochioli. I`m posting separate notes for these along with another fabulous wine that I procured later on in the evening from the ground floor wine cellar, a 1995 E. Guigal Hermitage. The latter became the final WOTN and final wine for me for a few days after this event. Its rehydration time.
Conclusions about the small growers tete du cuvée: All bottles.were more than decent with some standouts. IMO, none came up to the level of some of our champagnes last year which included the 98 Dom P2 or the 05 or 08 Cristal, 06 Taittinger Comte des champagne, Krug 166 eme Edition and others.
A blind tasting should be very interesting. Next year for that one.
It was also readily apparent that the Club leverages their group power to purchase materials such as the glass, labels, corks, foil and even their cardboard boxing that some use for the bottles as they were all the same.
Early on in my notes, I referred to a Club style which actually I’m retracting a bit as that is really not true for each and every member, but in general, its been my experience that they most definitely go for a big, rich and full bodied style.
Also, a commonly heard remark about most small grower champagnes is that the pricing, in general, comes in at 1/4 to 1/2 the cost of the Grande Marques. Not true. Many were more expensive as say the 06` Taittinger CdC.
Like i said, the blind tasting next year should be very interesting and probably humbling as most are. I’m salivating thinking of the opportunity.
Cheers,
Blake