Recently spent a couple of weeks in France and just getting around to typing up my notes. Great experience to hit 3 major wine spots in the same trip. The first stop was Champagne to celebrate one friends 40th and another friends 50th. 10 of us met up in Reims for a dinner followed by a day of wine tasting. It was a non wine geek crowd so the focus was on catching up and having a good time.
We started by meeting up at Les Clos wine bar just behind the the market. Its a lovely little place with mismatched furniture and a nice selection of bubbles. The gang quickly devoured multiple bottles of Jean Diot NV “Extase” Blanc de Noirs. This wine has a nice price and complexity for the price. More of a fuller style wine with a toasty/leesy nose. I don’t think this is a wine that makes it to the US.
The next day we gathered for a tour of several places. We opened with a private tour of Dom Perignon. While clearly a large corporate endeavor, the experience was amazing. Seeing the caves and hearing the history was fun for both the geek (me) and everyone else. We finished by being whisked off to a private salon to taste the 2004 vintage. The 2004 Dom Perignon is 53% Pinot Noir and 47% Chardonnay. The whole group fell silent once they stuck their noses in the glass. This has lovely notes of toast, almond, brioche and mushroom. The balance is lovely and I’m convince my glass had a hole in it and it was quickly gone! The great thing is that the sommelier helping us poured out two full bottles for the group.
It was then off to see the other end of the spectrum with lunch and tasting at Henry De Vaugency in Oger. A completely family run operation where everything is done by hand including disgorgement. Pascal and his wife made and served us a lovely 5 course lunch after the birthday girls got to attempt their hands at sabrage. Thankfully two perfect attempts and no visits to the emergency room.
Here we tasted:
NV Henry De Vaugency: crisp palate with loads of green apples, high acidity and very food friendly.
NV HDV Grand Cru Carte Noir: green apples and Anjou pear, aged 3 years
NV HDV Grand Cru Selection: much richer style, deeper palate not as fresh and acidic as the previous two, aged 5 years.
NV HDV “Cuvée Manon”: while technically a NV this was largely made from the 2007 vintage. This wine was more white peach and yellow pear a much fruitier expression.
NV HDV “Elegance”: a blend of grapes from 2002-2012. For me this was the wine of the line up. Rich and deep with a good acidic backbone to balance everything out. A downright bargain at only 21 euros.
NV HDV “Cuvée Louis”: this is his no dosage wine. I was expecting it to be a bit more bracing but this was rich and toasty and showed a touch of age. This confused me a bit.
The birthday girls wanted to end the day at Vueve Clicquot. While I tried to talk them out of it, my wife reminded me that it was their celebration. Upon arriving it felt like one giant marketing machine. I found myself wondering how the Dom experience could feel so different. Anyhow, after taking the tour we finished with a glass of 2004 La Grande Dame. This is made in such a soft style to the point of be flabby. Not much of a finish to speak of, to me this wine is not worth it.
Overall, a great first visit to Champagne, would love to return and indulge a bit more of my geek side! It was cool to see the stark contrast between the large houses and the small family operations. We also had a fantastic time sharing time with a great group of friends. Next stop Burgundy…