Since it gets a lot of attention, I’ll use Ultramarine as an example. It often has gorgeous fruit (which reflects the CA sunshine), great body, wonderful structure, and, for me, top tier bubbles, and off the list, it’s $75 (or maybe slightly higher as of the last release or so). I’m not saying it’s necessarily better than Champagne I can get for around the same price or less, but I think it’s great (even if relatively simple) and just scratches a different itch for me.
I think it’s kind of like saying, why would you buy/drink Montagne de Reims Champagne when Cote des Blancs Champagnes are so great? Or, why buy/drink mature Napa Cab/Cab blends, when there’s great Bordeaux? For me, there’s a time and place (and mood) for most well-made wine.
I am posting it here, because it belongs here. This is the only Champagne alternative I have had of the same quality and character, despite the fact it’s not a traditional method sparkler. I have consumed more bottles of this wine than any other wine on the planet. Huet is one of my earliest discoveries, and the petillant has always been my favorite; the secs are usually not entirely dry and the demi-secs need 20 years. I stopped buying this wine, able to diversify as my income grew, and forgot how good it can be.
This is a full bodied, elegant sparkler with a flinty and stony core. It’s round and creamy, lengthy, and full of Touraine Chenin character. It is still under $30 a bottle, and bests many a champagne at twice the cost. I am betting most of you know this, but maybe you need the reminder, as I did.
All I buy domestically is Roederer Estate, and these days it’s magnums of their Rosé. I can’t get similar quality in Champagne for that price, so it works really well for that not too fancy night when you happen to need a magnum of bubbly, and my daughter’s wedding.
I also don’t see much point in buying expensive US sparkling wine. Roederer Estate L’Ermitage is good but there are lots of good Champagnes in that price range.
This evening a new wine for me from Andre Jacquart. @Kris_Patten and @Jim_Stewart have previously commented here on the Andre Jacquart Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature Mesnil Experience Grand Cru NV, but it seems that more recently this was also (or perhaps instead) produced as an Extra Brut at 4g/l. And this is a very nice aperitif, palate-cleansing wine indeed and good QPR at the ~US$46 that I paid.
This is an excellent, and quite powerful BdB. The nose is complex: perfumed citrus, some minerality, some Bramley apple. On the palate there's a crisp, assertive entry with more of that Bramley and citrus, a lean mid-palate where a saline minerality emerges before a long finish which starts with a more-ish bitterness and fades slowly to lemon-salt.
Overall this is a very nice wine indeed, working well as an aperitif and with some canapes.; it would also be a great palate-cleanser at any time. Decent QPR at the ~US$46 that I paid. (92 points)
2018 Philippe Lancelot Champagne Grand Cru Le Fond Du Bateau Chouilly - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (2/20/2024)
Firs time trying this producer. Bottle #1423 (hand written too) of #4472. Sans soufre, 1 gm of dosage, farmed bio (I think from plots near Mont Aigu but given all the research I did this is the best I can do from within Chouilly). Opened this yesterday, will work through the bottle over 3 days. Today is Day 2, I'm doing this without food and it's recovering from being too cold to a better temp, around 65f. This is more of a juicy, mouthfilling texture. It's got a density yet it doesn't feel heavy. Lemon is the primary fruit, along with some tangerine, maybe some shading of mango, saline and some citrus pith. Having not tried this producer before, I don't know what their usual expression of acidity would be but seems like a moderate acidity level, enough to accentuate the fruit. In terms of complexity, like the acidity, it comes through as moderate to me, aligned with the juicier style as it crosses my palate. Finishes with a nice signature of lemon, with some green apple filling in around the edge and a pastry note. I like the presence this conveys, a restrained kind of richness, plump with some brightness, and to me this seems to be drinking great right at the stage its in. When Saratoga gets the other pre-arrivals of this producer, I'll likely get them all ordered and tried. I like what is here.
I admire your restraint. Champagne left overs are exceedingly rare on day two, happens maybe twice a year, and I couldn’t imagine a scenario where I had the requisite strength of will to leave leftovers for a third day. Do you find the bottles you leave this long continue to evolve positively?
Your Philippe Lancelot is from the Le Fond du Bateau vineyard which is just south of Mont Aigu and borders Cramant where the La Bateau vineyard sits on the Cramant side. Le Fond du Bateau is one of the best sites in Chouilly and is what I would call the Cramant side of Chouilly in comparison to the Cuis/Pierry/Epernay side of the village.
If you are taking the D9 through the Cote des Blancs and turn off at the circle across from the big Moet facility in the direction of Cramant, there is a small portion at the beginning where you are driving right on the border of Chouilly and Cramant. Le Fond du Bateau is to the north and Le Bateau is to the south. There are markings in the vineyards that label both.
I’ll let FMIII comment on progression over multiple days.
I have tasted sparklers on day 3 or 4 or even day 5 and they’re fine but they were usually a taste FMIII was saving for me! I didn’t taste them on day one.
But short term “decanting”, measured in hours, definitely influences the sparkler but it needs to be maintained at a cold temperature otherwise you’ll lose the fizzy stuff.
If you don’t care about fizz then pour some into a large bowl wine stem and let it come up to room temperature. That’s fun and those low dosage growers get a little baby fat on them!
Great info Brad. I was rushing and used the Weinlagen site but forgot to check Larmat. The Larmat shows it just as you described. Thank you again for stepping in to help.
I’m not usually finishing anything on 2 nights by myself so going 3 is pretty common. Some shift in expression, it just depends. I drink a lot of high energy, high acid, EB and BN stuff and I tend to find (my perception) that these wines hold up well over 3 nights.
Yeah, it’s really interesting to observe the transformation when the chill comes of those bone dry bubblies. Completely different wines after a couple hours.
NV Palmer & Co Champagne Rosé Solera
Ordered from a restaurant offering 50% off on Sundays.
Pale pink. Lively and fresh. Enjoyable on its own after dinner. My first Palmer Rosé, and I liked it, although was expecting more mature notes and complexity given the depth and age of the solera. A steal for the restaurant price of $64.
