Ran out of time, and had to go into service, so here is the remainder of my champagne selection for WBW. (http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/2006/08/lovely-jubbly-bubbly.html)
L Aubry fils, Brut Tradition, Premier Cru de Jouy-les-Reims, NV.
Meunier dominated champagne from a pair of twins, Pierre and Phillipe Aubry. They used to sell the majority of their fruit to Veuve Clicquot before branching out into their own production. They are fortunate to be in a position of farming vineyards planted to several little known varieties that due to vagaries in the Champagne AOC regs are still legal, such as Arbanne, Petit Meslier, Pinot Gris (known locally as Fromonteau). While the Champenois have shunned these varieties in favour of the more noble Chardonnay, Meunier and Pinot Noir, the brothers feel that they must have been grown for a reason, and that they contribute immeasurably to the overall blend of the wine.
Anyway I digress, for this wine is a blend of 40% Meunier and 30% each of Pinot Noir and chardonnay. The wine has a rich golden yellow colour to it, with a persistence of fine bubbles, and an impressive mousse. Very herbaceous on the nose with rye grass, cereal grains and germanic pumpernickel bread, followed by more fruity aromas. There are subtle aromas of whitecurrants and greengages with a hint of a floral character that I just can't pin down. These flavours are quite evident on the palate with a crisp green apple acidity that makes this a great aperitif wine. I would even be tempted to decant the wine, because it improves with opening, and the flavours become more pronounced and integrated with time in the glass. A great grower champagne for a few quid less than a grand marque!! We are selling this for £13.50 a flute at the moment, and the response has been very positive. I find this accents the flavours of a goats cheese tarte fine with roasted fig dressing quite well. (sorry no food porn to go with this. The files we have are enormous (5mb+ professional shots).
They do a wine which has the previously mentioned rarer varieties, which is called Le Nombre d'Or - Campanae Veteres Vites - which roughly translates as the Old vines of the country. It's a fantastic wine, that should be experienced at least once by anyone who loves champagne.
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2 comments:
I have never heard of decanting champagne before - what an interesting notion. Thank you for sharing not one, but two, entries for this edition of WBW. The round up will be posted shortly.
Sam
Good champagne is much like any fine wine, and in a few cases, more so with vintage champagne, if the wine seems closed in and tight then decanting it will really open up the flavours. The downside is that you do lose some of the fizz, but as long as you are planning to drink it all up, thats not really a problem. A few months ago I had sold a couple of bottles of 1980 Philipponnat Clos des Goisses which needed decanting to open it out (Alas this revelation came to me with my 20/20 hindsight!!).
Garry
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