Champagne Gaston Collard

This was a tiny producer (1.75 ha) which was located on the same street as our gite. We popped in whilst walking past to see whether we could get a tasting. At the time we went in they were busy bottling some wines so the producer asked if we could come back later that afternoon. Later, whilst we were walking back to our gite the producer saw us and ran down the road after us to offer us a tasting. Unusual dedication! (particularly given the rather lacklustre attitude of some other producers on the same road e.g. Fromentin-Laclepart, who just couldn't be bothered to offer a tasting when we came to visit!). This producer was the only one we visited that day which made noticeable use of MALO. Really interesting to see the difference it makes after a day of so much wine without it.

Unlike almost all the other producers whose English was pretty rudimentary (although, clearly, much better than my French!) excellent English was spoken here. The producer has recently taken over from his father. From his comments it appears that he has different ideas about how the wines should be made... so these tasting notes might end up being out of date pretty soon (many of these wines were from vintages where his father was still in charge).

Since this place is so tiny it has no real marketing and totally relies on word of mouth. It was really good and some of it was ridiculously good value. So, I can strongly recommend this place.

1. Brut
90% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay. 10g of sugar/litre.

Lots of apple on the nose. Soft mouthfeel. Soft mousse. Some bready notes. This is perhaps a little simple, but very effective. This has length without the taste changing - no sourness on the finish, it just stays good until the end. At 13.50 EUR it's just ridiculously good value.

2. Rose
90% White wine, 10% red wine. 10g of sugar/litre.

Very pale salmon colour. Crisp acid, explosive mousse. A simple, but good, rose.

3. Grand Cru, Prestige Cuvee
Only made from old-vine grapes. 6g of sugar/litre. I'm a bit vague as to whether this was a vintage or not. I've got 2008 written down, but maybe that was year it was blended..?

Really fruity - cooked apple most noticeable. Honey, nuts. Like a wine that happens to be sparkling rather than a usual sparkling wine. Very powerful. This was very recently disgorged (not actually released yet) so the liqueur is a little noticeable - perhaps a little more viscous than it normally would be. Should be fully integrated soon. Excellent stuff.

4. Bouzy Rouge
We tried two wines here. One was made in the years when his father was in charge, but was one where he had convinced his father not to filter the wine. The other was a more recent vintage where he was fully in control.

The wines were mainly of academic interest... much in the same way that reds from Alsace are. Very good still pinot noir for the region, but even so it's not really my cup of tea.