This was the September tasting for Bacchus Vintage, organised by Graham Tanner.
Sadly, I appear to have lost my notes. I remember the wine of the night was an Argentinian Malbec. I'll see if anyone else has any notes for that evening and will upload them if they do.
Sunday, 8 November 2009
Mumm Champagne, Reims
On the weekend we went into Reims itself. The area where we were staying was not the most beautiful area of town and our opinion of the city was probably not helped by the chaos which was being caused by the building of a new tram system. Also, our car was crashed into by a (presumably drunk) driver from Marseille who then drove off. Luckily, our car was parked outside a cafe where some (also drunk) bored locals rushed outside and wrote down his licence place number. When we arrived a few hours later they were over the moon at their detective work. We then had to go to the police station and fill out forms in triplicate before we were able to go do any Champagne visits.
Luckily, we had a much less punishing schedule of visits in Reims, with only Mumm organised. So this basically just stopped us exploring as much of the town as we would otherwise have done.
The atmosphere at Mumm was very different than at the small producers we had been visiting all week. Here you are definitely on the corporate visit conveyor belt. It's a smooth, well-oiled tourist machine. However, the tour is very well done and the cellars are huge and impressive.
The tour covers the whole champagne method and would be an excellent way for someone who was not sure of all the details to start their Champagne holiday. And if you did this before the small producers then it wouldn't feel so impersonal.
The Wines
1. Mumm de Cramant
Herbaceous, grassy nose. Refined and elegant. Light bodied, soft and fine mousse. Well balanced. Good acid, subtle. Long apple flavoured finish. One of the best blanc de blancs of the holiday (although we were in the PN area).
2. Grand Cru Brut
Quite full bodied. Truffles and mushrooms. Biscuit and lemon. Good length. However, at the very end the finish is a little metallic. This would be very good were it not for that.
3. Mumm Rose
Odd. This had an unpleasant yoghurt sourness to it. The fruit felt fake, almost like sweets. I didn't like this one very much at all.
Price Point
Two out of these three wines were good, one of them very good. However, they were all massively overpriced. It was good to finish our visits on this one because it reminded us how much cheaper the wines from the small producers can be. It's a shame they're not easier to find in the UK.
Luckily, we had a much less punishing schedule of visits in Reims, with only Mumm organised. So this basically just stopped us exploring as much of the town as we would otherwise have done.
The atmosphere at Mumm was very different than at the small producers we had been visiting all week. Here you are definitely on the corporate visit conveyor belt. It's a smooth, well-oiled tourist machine. However, the tour is very well done and the cellars are huge and impressive.
The tour covers the whole champagne method and would be an excellent way for someone who was not sure of all the details to start their Champagne holiday. And if you did this before the small producers then it wouldn't feel so impersonal.
The Wines
1. Mumm de Cramant
Herbaceous, grassy nose. Refined and elegant. Light bodied, soft and fine mousse. Well balanced. Good acid, subtle. Long apple flavoured finish. One of the best blanc de blancs of the holiday (although we were in the PN area).
2. Grand Cru Brut
Quite full bodied. Truffles and mushrooms. Biscuit and lemon. Good length. However, at the very end the finish is a little metallic. This would be very good were it not for that.
3. Mumm Rose
Odd. This had an unpleasant yoghurt sourness to it. The fruit felt fake, almost like sweets. I didn't like this one very much at all.
Price Point
Two out of these three wines were good, one of them very good. However, they were all massively overpriced. It was good to finish our visits on this one because it reminded us how much cheaper the wines from the small producers can be. It's a shame they're not easier to find in the UK.
Champagne Louis de Sacy
Coming from Ployez-Jacquemart to here had me worried that I'd rate the wines less highly than they deserved because I would be comparing them to the excellent wine I'd just had. However, they stood up well.
The Wines
1. Cuvee Nue NV
60%PN, 35% Chardonnay, 5% PM
Zero dosage. Pale colour. Smells very lemony and biscuity. Crisp, acidic but lacks body and the taste dies very quickly once swallowed. This was another true-to-type zero dosage wine. OK, but would be better with non-zero dosage.
2. Brut NV
67%PN, 30% Chardonnay, 3% PM
Smells of dough, lemon and cheese. Good body and length. Intense lemon on palate. Well balanced. Good.
3. Brut Grand Cru
60% PN, 35% Chardonnay, 5% PM
Aged for 3 years on lees. Almost a caramel sweetness on the nose. Smooth and soft. A little unbalanced on the finish. Good, but not great.
4. Brut Grand Cru Rose Saignee
90% PN, 10% PM
Crisp, acidic and a little savoury on the finish. Red fruit and peaches and apricots. Good length and well balanced. Very good. The two saignee method roses we had on this trip were excellent.
5. Grand Soir Vintage 2001 Grand Cru
30 EUR
60% PN, 35% Chardonnay, 5% PM
Interesting bottle shape - almost fluted. Mushrooms, nuts, toast, truffles and earthy notes. Weighty and full bodied. Creamy, rich and smooth. Crisp lemon palate. Quite mineralic. Refreshing and very good.
Champagne Louis de Sacy
Coming from Ployez-Jacquemart to here had me worried that I'd rate the wines less highly than they deserved because I would be comparing them to the excellent wine I'd just had. However, they stood up well.
The Wines
1. Cuvee Nue NV
60%PN, 35% Chardonnay, 5% PM
Zero dosage. Pale colour. Smells very lemony and biscuity. Crisp, acidic but lacks body and the taste dies very quickly once swallowed. This was another true-to-type zero dosage wine. OK, but would be better with non-zero dosage.
2. Brut NV
67%PN, 30% Chardonnay, 3% PM
Smells of dough, lemon and cheese. Good body and length. Intense lemon on palate. Well balanced. Good.
3. Brut Grand Cru
60% PN, 35% Chardonnay, 5% PM
Aged for 3 years on lees. Almost a caramel sweetness on the nose. Smooth and soft. A little unbalanced on the finish. Good, but not great.
4. Brut Grand Cru Rose Saignee
90% PN, 10% PM
Crisp, acidic and a little savoury on the finish. Red fruit and peaches and apricots. Good length and well balanced. Very good. The two saignee method roses we had on this trip were excellent.
5. Grand Soir Vintage 2001 Grand Cru
30 EUR
60% PN, 35% Chardonnay, 5% PM
Interesting bottle shape - almost fluted. Mushrooms, nuts, toast, truffles and earthy notes. Weighty and full bodied. Creamy, rich and smooth. Crisp lemon palate. Quite mineralic. Refreshing and very good.
The Wines
1. Cuvee Nue NV
60%PN, 35% Chardonnay, 5% PM
Zero dosage. Pale colour. Smells very lemony and biscuity. Crisp, acidic but lacks body and the taste dies very quickly once swallowed. This was another true-to-type zero dosage wine. OK, but would be better with non-zero dosage.
2. Brut NV
67%PN, 30% Chardonnay, 3% PM
Smells of dough, lemon and cheese. Good body and length. Intense lemon on palate. Well balanced. Good.
3. Brut Grand Cru
60% PN, 35% Chardonnay, 5% PM
Aged for 3 years on lees. Almost a caramel sweetness on the nose. Smooth and soft. A little unbalanced on the finish. Good, but not great.
4. Brut Grand Cru Rose Saignee
90% PN, 10% PM
Crisp, acidic and a little savoury on the finish. Red fruit and peaches and apricots. Good length and well balanced. Very good. The two saignee method roses we had on this trip were excellent.
5. Grand Soir Vintage 2001 Grand Cru
30 EUR
60% PN, 35% Chardonnay, 5% PM
Interesting bottle shape - almost fluted. Mushrooms, nuts, toast, truffles and earthy notes. Weighty and full bodied. Creamy, rich and smooth. Crisp lemon palate. Quite mineralic. Refreshing and very good.
Champagne Ployez-Jacquemart
This was definitely the visit of the holiday. We ended up staying at their guest house on the Thursday night and then coming for a tasting on Friday afternoon. So on Thursday night we did not know what a gold-mine of champagne we were sleeping on top of.
For future reference, the "mini-bar" at the guest house is simply a fridge full of the Ployez-Jacquemart champagnes all sold at cellar-door prices. Tragically, this minibar went untroubled by our group on the Thursday night.
Ployez-Jacquemart are Negociants, buying in at least some of their grapes. However, the production is quite small at around 130k bottles per year. Most of the base wine undergoes MALO with exception of the Special Cuvee (Cuvee Liesse d'Harbonville). This special cuvee is aged in oak barrels which have been used 3 times before in Burgundy. The base wine spends 3-months in barrel and then the champagne is aged for 10-years in the cellar. Not undergoing MALO produces champagnes which require more age before drinking well. Dosage is low too at around 3-5 g of sugar per litre of wine.
Since the special cuvee ages for a long time before release, the wines are riddled a few years prior to release and the wines are stored sur-pointe. This minimizes the contact between the dead yeast and the wine allowing the wine to age without the yeast autolysis flavour overwhelming the other flavours in the wine.
Visit
This was a great visit. They have quite extensive cellars and gave a very informative and interesting tour. A combination of the quality of the wine (see below) and the excellent tour mean that I'd definitely recommend this place to anyone.
The Wine
1. Selection Rose
Delicate pink colour. No bitterness (a common complaint of mine about rose). Fine mousse with intense red fruit. Good length with a savoury finish. The red wine spent a year in oak before assemblage. Well balanced. This is the best rose so far. Very good.
2. 2000 Vintage
No oak. Very refined but still expressive and exuberant. Lemon, creamy truffle nose. Something almost cheesy. Full bodied on the palate. Intense lemon curd and biscuit flavour. Great length. Best wine so far.
3. Cuvee Liesse d'Harbonville 1998
The 2000 vintage rapidly lost the crown of best wine so far to this, the very next wine tasted. This was a truly impressive Champagne. This has such intensity of flavour and length that after just one sip it is possible to clearly taste it for a long time afterwards.
The aromas start off being quite earthy and become more lemony with time in the glass. Full bodied and very intense flavour on the palate. Great balance. The oak influence is subtle and well integrated. This would be an excellent champagne to pair with food. It's so powerful that it is what I imagine a great white burgundy would taste like were it a sparkling wine. The base wine did not undergo MALO but the wine still tastes quite creamy.
I really, really liked this one. Fantastic.
For future reference, the "mini-bar" at the guest house is simply a fridge full of the Ployez-Jacquemart champagnes all sold at cellar-door prices. Tragically, this minibar went untroubled by our group on the Thursday night.
Ployez-Jacquemart are Negociants, buying in at least some of their grapes. However, the production is quite small at around 130k bottles per year. Most of the base wine undergoes MALO with exception of the Special Cuvee (Cuvee Liesse d'Harbonville). This special cuvee is aged in oak barrels which have been used 3 times before in Burgundy. The base wine spends 3-months in barrel and then the champagne is aged for 10-years in the cellar. Not undergoing MALO produces champagnes which require more age before drinking well. Dosage is low too at around 3-5 g of sugar per litre of wine.
Since the special cuvee ages for a long time before release, the wines are riddled a few years prior to release and the wines are stored sur-pointe. This minimizes the contact between the dead yeast and the wine allowing the wine to age without the yeast autolysis flavour overwhelming the other flavours in the wine.
Visit
This was a great visit. They have quite extensive cellars and gave a very informative and interesting tour. A combination of the quality of the wine (see below) and the excellent tour mean that I'd definitely recommend this place to anyone.
The Wine
1. Selection Rose
Delicate pink colour. No bitterness (a common complaint of mine about rose). Fine mousse with intense red fruit. Good length with a savoury finish. The red wine spent a year in oak before assemblage. Well balanced. This is the best rose so far. Very good.
2. 2000 Vintage
No oak. Very refined but still expressive and exuberant. Lemon, creamy truffle nose. Something almost cheesy. Full bodied on the palate. Intense lemon curd and biscuit flavour. Great length. Best wine so far.
3. Cuvee Liesse d'Harbonville 1998
The 2000 vintage rapidly lost the crown of best wine so far to this, the very next wine tasted. This was a truly impressive Champagne. This has such intensity of flavour and length that after just one sip it is possible to clearly taste it for a long time afterwards.
The aromas start off being quite earthy and become more lemony with time in the glass. Full bodied and very intense flavour on the palate. Great balance. The oak influence is subtle and well integrated. This would be an excellent champagne to pair with food. It's so powerful that it is what I imagine a great white burgundy would taste like were it a sparkling wine. The base wine did not undergo MALO but the wine still tastes quite creamy.
I really, really liked this one. Fantastic.
Champagne Arnould
Rather entertainingly, their website says:
"The whole family await you at the farm to share a moment of conviviality"
which is not how we found it at all. The meeting we got was decidedly frosty. However, once they realised that we were taking things seriously and not just a bunch of drunk tourists then they were much more friendly.
1. Extra Brut
100% PN, zero dosage.
This confirmed my existing prejudice about zero dosage champagnes. This was OK, but it just lacked a little body. The Brut Tradition (number 3) was so much better to my taste.
Very tart and dry. The overall impression is that the wine is missing something - particularly on the finish.
2. Carte d'Or
50% PN, 50% Chardonnay from old vines
Very pale. Dry, but not zero dosage. Crisp lemon acid. Some peach, some biscuit and plenty of lime on the finish. Sort of reminiscent of a key lime pie. Good.
3.Brut Tradition NV
100% PN
Strong biscuity aroma. Smooth, fine mousse. Silky mouthfeel. Quite full bodied. Well balanced. Would work well with food. This one is very good.
"The whole family await you at the farm to share a moment of conviviality"
which is not how we found it at all. The meeting we got was decidedly frosty. However, once they realised that we were taking things seriously and not just a bunch of drunk tourists then they were much more friendly.
1. Extra Brut
100% PN, zero dosage.
This confirmed my existing prejudice about zero dosage champagnes. This was OK, but it just lacked a little body. The Brut Tradition (number 3) was so much better to my taste.
Very tart and dry. The overall impression is that the wine is missing something - particularly on the finish.
2. Carte d'Or
50% PN, 50% Chardonnay from old vines
Very pale. Dry, but not zero dosage. Crisp lemon acid. Some peach, some biscuit and plenty of lime on the finish. Sort of reminiscent of a key lime pie. Good.
3.Brut Tradition NV
100% PN
Strong biscuity aroma. Smooth, fine mousse. Silky mouthfeel. Quite full bodied. Well balanced. Would work well with food. This one is very good.
Champagne Marguet
This is a producer based in Ambonnay. We got slightly lost on the way there having taken a wrong turn (twice!) on our way through Bouzy. I'm glad that we finally made it there though since the wines were very good.
The Wines
1. Cuvee Tradition Blanc de Noirs
15 EUR. Premier Cru grapes
Pale coloured with med-low intensity lemon and biscuit aromas. Strawberry on the palate. Dry, crisp and well balanced. Long and very good. Excellent for the price. An aperitif champers.
2. Cuvee Reserve Grand Cru
Medium-high intensity aromas of biscuits, bread, apple and saffron. Complex and intense palate (one of my tasting notes is apple crumble). Soft, well balanced and silky mouthfeel. Very intense fruit character all the way to the finish. This is good stuff.
3. Cuvee Vintage Rose 2003
Grand Cru grapes again. 60% PN and 40% Chardonnay. The 60% PN includes the fact that 17% of the blend is red wine.
Strawberry pink colour. Spicy nose. Explodes into foam in the mouth. Medium bodied with good length. Good.
4. Ratafia
Fragrent, floral and red fruit nose. Not too sweet and a good balance between acidity and sweetness.
5. Maxine Marguet 2000 (from Magnum)
We bought a magnum of this and drank it one evening later in the holiday. This was excellent. Complex flavour profile of lemon, ginger, lime and peaches. Smooth and complex. Very high quality.
The Wines
1. Cuvee Tradition Blanc de Noirs
15 EUR. Premier Cru grapes
Pale coloured with med-low intensity lemon and biscuit aromas. Strawberry on the palate. Dry, crisp and well balanced. Long and very good. Excellent for the price. An aperitif champers.
2. Cuvee Reserve Grand Cru
Medium-high intensity aromas of biscuits, bread, apple and saffron. Complex and intense palate (one of my tasting notes is apple crumble). Soft, well balanced and silky mouthfeel. Very intense fruit character all the way to the finish. This is good stuff.
3. Cuvee Vintage Rose 2003
Grand Cru grapes again. 60% PN and 40% Chardonnay. The 60% PN includes the fact that 17% of the blend is red wine.
Strawberry pink colour. Spicy nose. Explodes into foam in the mouth. Medium bodied with good length. Good.
4. Ratafia
Fragrent, floral and red fruit nose. Not too sweet and a good balance between acidity and sweetness.
5. Maxine Marguet 2000 (from Magnum)
We bought a magnum of this and drank it one evening later in the holiday. This was excellent. Complex flavour profile of lemon, ginger, lime and peaches. Smooth and complex. Very high quality.
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