Yesterday we went over to our friends' house, and we took over a splendid bottle of champagne to congratulate them on the birth of their firstborn, and to view said offspring. The champagne was a non-vintage Grand Cru Brut Rose, from Varnier-Fanniere, a grower, made from a blend of GC Chardonnay grapes from the village of Avize (90%), and GC Pinot Noir grapes from Ay (10%). The wine looked to colourblind me like it was a striking pink/amber colour, and had good amounts of red fruit on the nose for a wine that is mainly Chardonnay. On the palate it was very fresh and racy, with good fruit, a little bread, and excellent minerality. It was very a very focused and precise wine, with smallish bubbles, overall extremely well-balanced, and it went very well with the tuna salad nicoise we consumed with it. The more I drink these grower champagnes, the more I realise that they have so much more character than most of the big negocient-produced wines. These are the ones to look out for people, look for a very small RM on the front label, and you know they are grower-produced.
I'm not sure that young Sadie appreciated that we were drinking fine champagne in her honour, but until she gets older, less is definitely very much more...
Thursday, 4 February 2010
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Could'nt agree more old boy RM producers are definately the way forward - offer far more character at far lower prices - the big houses are just magnificent lessons in marketing - even the better ones I rate Gosset, Ruinart, Bollinger, Taittenger etc really are just variations on a theme (their NVs at any rate) and you're paying for the brand - not to mention things like Moet and Veuve which are CRAP - I have'nt come across the house you mention but I'll look out for it - on a quick note here are some of the other lesser known houses of late i've come across which are quite exciting and I'll try and knock up some tasting notes for them asap
ReplyDeleteHenri Giraud
Bereche et Fils
Chartogne Taillet
Dosnon&Leparge
Egliy Ouriet
Drappier
Moutard Pere et Fils
Larmandier-Bernier
On another note will be signing off for a few days as off to the wild and lawless area of the Jura for the Parcee de Vin Jaune this weekend - a wine festival in Arbois to celebrate the current release of the local wine - minimum aged for 7 years - which I am most looking forward to - I intend to eat and drink my way through as much of the local produce and report back forthwith - Laters
Another guy who does an amazing Blanc de Blancs is Pierre Gimonnet
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