The Beautiful Sound of a Mistake…POP!

Christian profusely apologized for the opening of the bottle of Bollinger Grand Anee 2000 Brut Champagne with a loud Pop. I reminded him that my mouth was salivating in anticipation from a seemingly Pavlov experiment. “Music to my ears” I said. I don’t think there is another experience quite like Champagne. From sight to the occasional Sound, it scintillates the palate, mind and mood. For those that say, “Champagne gives me headaches.” I say you are not drinking the right Champagne. I have had the occasional pounding of the temples from Sparkling or so called Champagne, but never from a top tier Champagne house (i.e. Bollinger, Jean Vesselle, Krug, Louis Roederer, Jean Milan, Andre Clouet, Alain Robert, Comte de Dampierre, Taittinger & more.) I did not include Veuve or Moet & Chandon, I believe that the top tier wine from these houses is still on par with excellence but the White Star and Yellow Label are more and more tasting like bulk production sparkling wines and aren’t made at the same standards as they were in the past.




Driving through the Champagne region towards Epernay, it was amazing to see the vineyards on top of the hillsides. You could see in some areas the chalk, which according to Christian from Bollinger, what makes Champagne the greatest region for growing Sparkling wines. It helps feed the vines water and provides an environment that keeps acidity high while the grapes reach mature flavors. In the Ay region of Champagne, Bollinger gets predominately Grand Cru Pinot Noir grapes for their blend. Bollinger house believes that Pinot Noir makes the best Champagne. The house style of Champagne is more of a full-bodied profile using at minimum of 60% of the Pinot Noir grape. Using 85% of Grand Cru and Premiere grapes, Bollinger uses and pays a premium for the grapes that they use to make their Champagne.

Another fact that differentiates Bollinger compared to other Champagne houses, is they hold thousands of bottles of Reserve wine that they blend into their wines giving them complete control of the blends to make their house style. They sit in individual bottles taking up to 200 meters in the underground cellars. Everything at Bollinger is Hand riddled by a riddler (the quarter turn of a bottle of Champagne promoting the eventual flow of the lees and sediment in the bottles that are going into secondary fermentation) who can quarter turn over 50,000 bottles in a normal work day. Bollinger uses Cork all the way through the secondary fermentation process instead of Bottle caps which is what most Champagne Houses use today. They only use Bottle caps on Special Cuvee NV blends.




Now to the best part, Barrel fermentation, the REAL difference between Bollinger and the rest. Very few Champagne producers use Barrel fermentation to make sparkling wine. Just with any wine, if you don’t have really good grapes (especially in Champagne) the Champagne will fall flat or muted by the Oak fermentation. Krug and Bollinger have really mastered barrel fermentation and Champagne. All you have to do to see that is just look at the wine ratings. When you drink a bottle of GREAT Champagne, you know it. Bollinger uses 5 year used plus White Burgundy Barrrels mostly from Puligny-Montrachet. They boast about the fact they have the largest collection of barrels at over 3,000 for a Champagne producer.



There is no question when you taste a Bollinger Grand Annee or Krug Vintage Champagne, you know that you are drinking some of the best sparkling on the planet. The complexity of the barrel fermentation adds great flavors almonds, nuts, but mostly gives the wine an incredible elegance and softens the acidity making the Champagne seem less abrasive, more full-bodied and creamy. I personally love to drink Champagne, and I do drink Champagne on just about every occasion that I can. I believe no great meal starts without a bottle of fantastic bubbly. Sometimes they begin, continue and end with bottles of Champagne.



The Champagne industry has struggled as the Euro has pushed the wines past what Americans are used to spending on Champagne. Even Christian mentioned that the Bollinger House was extremely worried about its future with the American market due to a decline in sales here. I told Christian to let me sell Bollinger Champagne for $30 a bottle on the shelf in the US and we both had a good laugh. We sampled through some of the House Champagne’s.

Bollinger Special Cuvee NV – This Champagne remains one of my favorite NV’s in the Texas Market. Sure Krug NV is also really special, but Krug at $150 a bottle, Bollinger at $80. I think they both have a place in your cellar. At this level I like the fact that Bollinger uses more Pinot Noir.



Bollinger Special Cuvee Rose NV – It is a very well made Rose but I think the Special Cuvee Brut is their Forte. Dried Cherries, Raspberries flavors, on a toasty palate with a long red fruit finish.



Bollinger Grand Annee 2000 – Great weight, texture, complexity, plenty of minerals, toast, grilled bread, nuts, flowers, hints of citrus rinds, delicate yet robust. Absolutely gorgeous Champagne, it is one that needs to be at anyone’s next special occasion.



Bollinger R.D. Grand Annee Champagne 1997 – More Leesy and toasty than the Grand Annee 2000, you can tell this Champagne really developed more plump weight with the extra bottle age before disgorgement. It is far more creamy, with vanilla tones. For the bigger is better fan, it is disgorged at a lower dosage level (sugar added before bottling) yet the extra time on the lees really gives it a more creamy texture. Another big hit from Bollinger, it shouldn’t be a surprise at this point. They have only been making great Champagne since 1826.



Recently, Bollinger purchased another Champagne house called Ayala, which is literally right over a hill from Bollinger in Ay. This Champagne house began production on 1860, but fell of the map over the past 20 years and now Bollinger is attempting to recreate it. I was very appreciative to have a short visit with Herve Augustin, who I believe is the President of Operations. Herve used to be with Bollinger and has been put in charge of making a Champagne that does not compete with Bollinger, yet would complement the Bollinger portfolio.

Herve has decided to focus on Zero Dosage or Brut Nature Champagne. As we head to tasting room, I can’t help but notice a smell of Horse or Barnyard. I must say I was quite concerned about the Champagne I was about to taste. Remember it had been raining for the past few days, and continued to rain the entire time I was in Champagne. Thankfully the tasting room did not have the same smell and the Champagne was clean from any wet animal smell. The Champagne’s were good, not the same level as Bollinger but definitely something that I will interested to see how they develop the brand. I am not sure of the price points in the US, but I will send a follow up when I get back the States next week.

The Winner from Ayala:

Ayala Brut Blanc de Blanc 2000 – This Champagne made me forget about the lack of personality from Herve. It is truly exceptional Champagne and should be great vintage Champagne that should retail less than $100 in Dallas, but we will see what import costs are.



Special Thanks to Terlato Imports, Christian Dennis & Herve Augustin.



Well I welcome the Sun as a sit typing this Blog from the patio overlooking the lake in Desenzano, Italy. Next Stop VinItaly..Arrivederci …



Ciao,



Amier

More and More Bordeaux

Sometimes it seems as if there is an endless supply of Bordeaux. I guess when you have over 3,000 producers it can be almost a reality. Then you take into account that many of these producers produce 2 - 3 wines. AY!

What started as a pretty laid back day, became a full-throttle marathon before Lunch. In 2 hours, I sampled over 150 wines from Petite Chateaux, 2nd Vins de Grand Cru Classe, Older Classified Growth wines. One of the most impressive sites to be seen is the negociant at Chateau Rauzan-Segla and there inventory of over 1.2 Million Bottles of Classified Growths to Cru Borgeois. I have never seen something like it, truely awe inspiring. Then when you do the math on the Petrus, Chateau Margaux, Lafite Rothschild (2000, 2005, 1982, 1989, you name it just palates and palates of it sitting in temperature storage.) I have never felt like such a kid in a candy store, all I kept asking was do you have any Lynch Bages 1989 (My Wife and I's Special Wine) which is getting harder and harder to find.

Some of the winners from the Day:

Clos du Marquis 2001
Lacoste Borie Pauillac 2006
Croix de Beaucaillou St. Julien 2006
Vray Croix de Gay Pomerol 2009
La Gravette de Certan Pomerol 2007
Chateau Leoville Poyferre St Julien 2007
Sarget de Gruaud Larose St Julien 2007
Chateau Clerc Milon Pauillac 2009 (Yes I Know it's that good that I had to taste it again)
Chateau Beaumont Haut-Medoc 2009
Chateau D'Issan Margaux 2009
Clos Demoiselles Listrac-Medoc 2003


Most of these wines will retail under $60 a bottle and are fantastic. I will have a complete list with tasting notes and prices once I get back to the states.

It was a fantastic day of tasting and tomorrow is a day of one appointment. Only it's in Champagne, a 7.5 Hour drive from here. However, I am a sucker for Champagne. A good Champagne is worth almost whatever it takes to ger it. Bollinger is up there with one of the best Champagne houses. When you ask the Chateau Estate owners what they like to drink from Champagne, it's almost always Bollinger.

If you haven't been to Bodega in a while, we are pouring Montaudon Champagne by the glass for $12 a glass. It's affordable and delicious. I am signing out from Bordeaux, next time you hear from me will be from Champagne.

Cheers,

Amier