The link used to be live on eRobertParker.com, but it seems as though they’ve taken it down. I have an old copy in my email that I will paste below, but you will see that the tables are lost in the voting tallies. Hopefully this helps.
Grower Champagnes vs. The Big Boys
Wine importer Terry Theise has been a long-time friend of EWS, someone we admire and respect. Terry, in case you don’t know, specializes in German wines, Austrian wines, and Grower Champagnes. In the last category, Terry is a leading advocate for Grower Champagnes, and passionately argues that they are superior to the large “factory” Champagnes made by the big houses.
Certainly there’s been a changing of the guard for Champagne in recent years as small production Grower Champagne has gained in sales and popularity. The argument is being made by Terry and others that artisanal, hand-crafted Grower Champagnes as a group are better made than Champagnes from the large, centuries-old firms whose production is significantly larger.
It was Terry who first suggested to us the theme of pitting Grower Champagnes against “The Big Boys,” i.e. Champagnes from the larger, world famous houses. It was Terry’s contention that such a blind tasting would prove that small production Grower Champagnes were preferred over The Big Boys. Sounded like a good idea to us, so we decided to put it to the test.
We gathered seven high quality Grower Champagnes for a David vs. Goliath type competition against six famous “Big Boy” Champagnes. All were non-vintage “house” Champagnes. Terry Theise imported five of the seven Grower Champagnes. The other two, Egly-Ouriet and Ployez-Jacquemart, have been cult favorites in the American market since the days when Bob Parker was the sole critic for The Wine Advocate.
As it turned out, The Big Boys slapped the Grower Champagnes around and Terry might be embarrassed by the results. The top three Champagnes in the voting were all Big Boys: Laurent-Perrier, Pol Roger, and Mumm! This somewhat surprising result reminds us why we love blind tastings!
Don’t get us wrong, the Grower Champagnes as a group accounted for themselves very well. Terry has nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, there were no losers in this tasting as we found admirable qualities in all 13 contestants. But the significance of the results is a restored faith that the big houses are still making fabulous Champagnes – no matter what Terry might say to the contrary.
The following are consensus tasting notes, written to share commentary, descriptors, and convey the overall impression our group had for each Champagne. Rating reflects the quality of the Champagne and the enthusiasm (or lack thereof) displayed by participants during our in-depth discussions. Voting results are more indicative of “here and now” quality rather than future development.
Wines were poured in three flights from numbered bags (1 - 13) and are listed below in the order they were poured. Participants were asked to vote (by number) for their three favorite Champagnes. We award three points for every first place vote, two for every second place vote, and one point for every third, allowing for ties. Data is based on 20 voters. Voting tallies: 1st/2nd/3rd
Wine (20 voters) 1st
Place 2nd
Place 3rd
Place Total
Points
13 Laurent-Perrier Brut 10 3 2 38
12 Pol Roger “Brut Reserve” 3 6 3 24
9 G. H. Mumm Brut “Cordon Rouge 2 4 3 17
6 Jean Lallement Brut 2 4 1 15
4 Louis Roederer “Brut Premier” 1 2 4 11
11 Egly-Ouriet “Brut Tradition” 3 0 0 9
5 Ployez-Jacquemart “Extra Quality Brut” 0 0 4 4
2 Veuve Clicquot Brut “Yellow Label” 0 1 1 3
1 Pierre Peters Blanc de Blancs Brut “Cuvée Réservé” 0 0 1 1
3 Gaston Chiquet “Brut Tradition” 0 0 0 0
7 Bollinger Brut “Special Cuvée” 0 0 0 0
8 Marc Hébrart “Cuvée de Réservé” 0 0 0 0
10 A. Margaine “Le Brut” 0 0 0 0
Here is the Blind Tasting Winner, receiving 10 First Place Votes out of 20 voters – Very impressive indeed!
- Laurent-Perrier Brut - $45 - (10/3/2) - 95 rating
Light straw color. Subtle, though very attractive bouquet picks up in intensity with each return to the glass. Fresh scents of mint and eucalyptus fill the nostrils in the most pleasurable way. This is a lively, complex, “classy” Champagne that also shows Chardonnay traits. It’s light on its feet with a juicy fruit gum flavor. There’s a lot going on here. Great length to a finish that is both consistent and totally delicious. Everyone in the room loved it!