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Champagne
Dreams & Caviar Wishes
©
Michael Vaughan 2006
National Post
Weekly Wine & Spirits Columnist
Saturday,
December 9, 2006
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It's that time of year to think about putting a sparkling spin on the holiday season. Today's Vintages' "Brilliant Bubbly" release features 19 Champagnes (including two hidden in-store discoveries) and 10 other sparklers. For the casual observer, all the bubblies seem to look terrific. And why not? As Winston Churchill said of Champagne, "In victory we deserve it, in defeat we need it." Indeed, victorious athletes shower in it, '30s movie stars bathed in it, new ships are christened with it and almost everyone loves it.
Of course, while there is a huge number of Champagnes out there, only a fraction are found at the LCBO. To get a real feeling for what it is all about, get a copy of Nevertheless, a search of "Champagne" on the LCBO website produces 103 items, 73 of which are found in Vintages. One is surprised to discover that seven "Champagnes" are locally produced by Brights and Andres, which leaves a potential 96 bottles of the real thing. As a number of brands are repeated in different sizes and gift packages, the actual selection is significantly smaller.
Now I wish I could tell you that I have tasted every one, but sadly that hasn't been the case. Also, there are numerous stylistic differences between various brands available and the one you like best will always be related to your own palate. Ironically, I find that some of the biggest "grande marque" names, such as Roederer Cristal Brut which fetches $229.95, to be underwhelming especially when compared to the best vintage-dated Champagnes that go for a fraction of the price. Some of the big houses work hard to make sure that their top Champagnes will not offend anyone by having too much flavour.
For
the curious, the ultimate guide to sparkling wines is the 2003-edition of
the Christie's World Encyclopedia Of Champagne
& Sparkling Wine by Tom Stevenson,
which lists at $82.50 and is still available on the Chapters website for
$51.73 (to see click
here). Those wanting an update might take a look at the
newly released, recommended soft cover Wine
Report 2007 at $20, also by Stevenson (to see click
here).
At
the top end, my destination bubbly is the ever-reliable Krug
Grande Cuvée Brut Champagne (349688) at
$244.95. Made with older wines fermented in small oak cask, it has a
complex, toasty hazelnut purée nose with creme brulée and lemon meringue
pie notes. It is dry but not austere with very well structured, ripe
lemon-melon, buttery, warm brioche flavours. Unfortunately, the price has
jumped by 31% over the past two years!
Moving down the price mountain, I tasted a pair of Veuve Clicquot releases that simply didn't deliver. The 1999 Vintage "Rich" Champagne at $84.95 had slightly honeyed, modestly effervescent, slightly sweet, ripe lemon flavours with a crisp finish. Meanwhile, I was downright disappointed with the dusty-malic notes of their Veuve Clicquot 1999 Vintage Réserve Brut at $79.95. What a difference a year makes: last December I recommended very fine 1998 Vintage Réserve Brut at $74.95.
One
of the highlights of the release not presented to the wine writers was Piper
Heidsieck 1998 Brut Millésimé Champagne (8391)
at $74.95. The 1995 vintage was my best buy Champagne of 2004. Sadly due
to a severe shortage only 50 six-packs are available. You can take a
chance on this one with its consistent, delicious, smooth, rich, warm,
buttery, brioche flavours.
Another
classic is Pol
Roger 1998 Brut Extra Cuvée de Réserve Champagne
(989137) at $74.95, which gives their much pricier, vintage-dated Cuvée
Winston Churchill a good run for the money. This toasty,
well-structured, harmonious, dry but not austere, ripe lemon-melon
flavoured bubbly is a ready to drink, wide appeal style. It is tastier
than when last released almost a year ago at $69.95.
Taking
a great bow is my release favourite, the complex, toasty Charles
Heidsieck Brut Réserve Champagne (653634) a
steal at $54.95. With only 200 six-packs hitting the shelves, it simply
doesn't get much better than this in terms of value. This is consistently
the best value Champagne money can buy (also ranked #1 by expert Tom
Stevenson in his list of 10 top best-value producers). The nose is gently
toasty with ripe lemon, lees-tinged, buttery, warm brioche notes. Dry,
very bright and medium bodied the, toasty, ripe lemon-melon flavours go on
and on. The "Mise en Cave 2001" date appears on the back label
along with the date of degorgement (2005) on the neck tag meaning that it
spent 4 years on the lees.
An
interesting Vintages in-store-discovery is de
Meric Blanc de Blancs Sous Bois Grand Cru Brut Champagne
(15156) at $57.95. Frederic Brouca of Hexagon
Wines who presented the wine explained that, like Krug, the Chardonnay
wine was fermented in oak. It is quite delicate with slightly spicy,
fairly rounded, ripe melon-lemon flavours.
In
terms of value, one of my favourites is Lanson
Black Label Brut Champagne (41889) at $44.95. It
has a gently honeyed, spicy, slightly toasty, orange citrus nose and very
dry, effervescent, bright, ripe lemon flavours.
It
is interesting to discover that some non-Champagne sparklers can in some
instances taste better than their French counterparts. Close to home, Henry
of Pelham Cuvée Catharine Brut (616441) at
$29.95 is most worthy. This VQA Chardonnay-Pinot Noir blend is made in the
"traditional method" and has dry, bright, nicely structured,
medium, zesty ripe lemon-melon with hints of apple on the lingering
finish.
If
a rosé is on your mind, the best deal at Vintages is the delicious ruby
grapefruit flavoured Domaine
Chandon Blanc de Noirs (100693) at $21.95. This
California methode traditionnelle blend of 79% Pinot Noir,14% Pinot
Meunier and 7% Chardonnay has a lovely, fresh, nose aromas and terrific,
mouthfilling mousse with very bright, charming, ripe strawberry-plum
flavours.
National Post readers can access the full list of sparkling wines tasted for this release (to see click here).
Pick of the Week
Looking
for the ultimate gift pack at a reasonable price, don't miss this best buy
sparkling duo from Spain. Both these wines were Vintages recommendations
earlier this year and together are priced at only $29.95 (6379) including
the gift packaging. The dry, crisp, ripe lemon-melon flavoured Codorniu
Cava Raventos Brut and the dry, gently plummy,
strawberry-cherry flavoured Codorniu
Cava Pinot Noir Rosé Brut are perfect for the
holidays and will sell out quickly.
2001-2002-2003-2004-2005-2006
Tasting Note Database
Our
tasting note database from December 31, 2000 to October 2006, covers every
Vintages release product for the past 69 months. There are more than 13,000 notes in the database data. Just enter the name of the product,
supplier name or CSPC number. Or you can search by type of wine, country
of origin, even wine agent! Nothing could be easier. Also you can get information on the agent by clicking on the
agent’s name, as well as current LCBO store inventory by clicking on
"Check
LCBO Availability", which will automatically tell you the
number of bottles at LCBO as of last night.
To
use our Tasting
Notes Database: click
here
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Copyright Food & Beverage Testing Institute of Canada
2006
Prior written permission is required for any form of reproduction
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Contact Michael Vaughan at
mbv@total.net