An unrepresentative sample of grower champagnes
tasted at the London International Wine Fair, 20-22 May 2008
Champagne Bourgeois-Diaz
Bourgeois-Diaz
are a propriétaire-récoltant based in Crouttes sur Marne, about an hour’s drive
west of
NV Cuvée Distinguée
brut, Champagne Bourgeois-Diaz
This is a blend of 40% pinot meunier, 40% pinot noir and 20% chardonnay. It has a very nice black fruits nose with
some blackberry leaf. Very nice, fruity
palate. This is a very nice wine, and
very wine-like for a
NV Cuvée Distinguée
rosé, Champagne Bourgeois-Diaz
This cuvee is a blend of 40% pinot meunier, 40% chardonnay and 20% pinot noir,
18% of which is still red wine from
2003
This comes from a blend of 50% chardonnay and 50% pinot noir. It has a pretty refined, delicate nose. Really quite forward on the palate, but it
also has an attractive cleanness all the way through. There’s also a nice lightness and freshness
on the finish. They seem to have pretty
much tamed 2003. 88/100
NV Cuvée du Fils,
This is a blend of 40% pinot meunier, 30% pinot noir and 30% chardonnay; half of
which is aged in oak. The current
release is mainly from the 2004 vintage.
The nose is quite gentle with a touch of strawberry fruit. The oak is hardly detectable, other than
through the roundness it provides on the palate. 89/100
Champagne RoberDelph
Champagne
RoberDelph is based in Charly sur Marne in the south west of
NV Brut Tradition,
Champagne RoberDelph,
12%
Roberdelph’s Brut Tradition is very high in pinot meunier (70%), with 15%
chardonnay and 15% pinot noir, usually blending wines from three different
years, in the case of this particular bottle from 2002, 2003 and 2004. It has a crisp, minerally, black fruit
nose. Fairly light on the attack, but it
opens up in the mouth and is quite biscuitty and full. Yet it remains remarkably light on fruit and
pinot meunier character, given the high meunier content. 87/100
NV Grande Réserve,
Champagne RoberDelph,
12%
This, as the name suggests, is aged for three more years than the Brut
Tradition: currently 61% of the base wines come from 2001, all pinot meunier,
with the remainder coming from 1998, 1999 and 2000; overall the blend is 71%
pinot meunier and 29% chardonnay. This
feels much better than the Brut Tradition, with a good round, open palate, with
lots of interest. There’s good
minerality on the finish too. 91/100
2002 Cuvée Prestige,
Champagne RoberDelph,
12%
Curiously, the label doesn’t mention the vintage on the bottles I saw of this
blend of 61% pinot meunier, 14% pinot noir and 25% chardonnay from old
vines. It has a very clean, elegant
nose. Crisp and clean on the palate,
this has a nice elegance, yet is also very rounded. There are some good stone fruit flvours on
the finish, especially after. Huge
length too. 91/100
Champagne
Napoléon
The House of
NV Blanc de Blancs Brut, Champagne Napoléon
The base wine in this bottle is the 2003.
It has quite an evolved nose.
Good palate, showing a nice age.
There’s quite a winey feel to both the nose and the palate, but also a
freshness and some elegance. 87/100
NV Tradition Brut,
This is a blend of 50% chardonnay and 50% pinot noir, and the base wine in this
bottle was the 2001. It has a nice zesty
nose with peach and nuts. Feeling quite
evolved on the palate, this is in a very relaxed style, with a lovely winey
note. 90/100
1996 Grand
Again, a blend of 50% chardonnay and 50% pinot noir. This has a gorgeous nose with a nice
nuttiness. It’s a lovely, evolved
palate, feeling nicely mature but still with a good fresh note. Very long after with lovely fresh
flavours. This is less winey than the
non-vintage wines, but it’s still got an obvious house style. 92-93/100
NV Rosé Brut,
Made from 45% chardonnay and 55% pinot noir, this is a blended rosé (15% pinot
noir red wine is added). It is a bit
muted on the nose – maybe there’s some soft red fruit. Not as impressive as the other Napoleon
champagnes: it doesn’t quite sit as well in itself. 84/100
Champagne
Montaudon
Champagne Montaudon was established in 1891 and
is still owned by the same family. They
have 45 hectares of vineyards, mainly in the south of the champagne region, and
their own production facilities, including a 17th century
‘vendangeoir’ (pressing room). Annual
production is in the region of 30,000 bottles.
NV Réserve Première Brut,
This is a blend of 50% pinot noir, 20% pinot meunier and 30% chardonnay.
On both nose and palate, this shows itself crisp, fresh, clean. Very elegant.
Though, it also feels a touch anonymous.
87/100
NV Chardonnay Premier Cru Brut, Champagne Montaudon
The chardonnay grapes which make up this wine come from two grand cru vineyards
and two premier cru in the Côte des Blancs.
It has some lovely stone fruit on the nose.
It has a very fine balance on the palate and a very nice character. Very attractive. Quite a winey champagne. 91/100
NV Classe M,
This is a 50:50 blend of pinot noir and chardonnay, presented in a bottle,
unique to Montaudon, based on an early 19th century bottle, with a
subtle fluting at the top (the unkind might call them stretch marks). The Classe M was first produced for the
millennium. The fruit comes from a mix
of grand cru and premier cru vineyards and the finished wine undergoes six
years ageing before release.
It has a very elegant, refined nose with some peach and pear fruit. Excellent palate. It has huge balance with nice structure, nice
fruit and a nice acidity. Very long
indeed. 93/100
2000 Brut
This is also a 50:50 blend of pinot noir and chardonnay. It has a very slight nose, that’s quite
minerally with slight citrus hints. On
the palate, it has a lovely fruit character, with some peach, but overall it
feels a bit ordinary. 87/100
NV Grande Rosé Brut, Champagne Montaudon
Again, a blend of 50:50 pinot noir and chardonnay, this time with 15% of red
wine from Bouzy. It has a light crisp
nose with a touch of red fruit. Better
on the palate than the nose. Very
balanced with some lovely gentle fruit flavours. 89/100
Champagne
Jules Bonnet
Champagne Jules Bonnet has been in the same
family for six generations. All their
wines are Premier Cru Chamey and cellared for a minimum of three years before
release.
NV Brut,
A blackcurrant nose with a certain grapiness.
This has a nice style and has a definite fruit character on the
palate. It has quite a wine-y feel to
it. 91/100
NV Brut Rosé, Champagne Jules Bonnet
There are nice gentle red fruits on the nose.
Good palate, though a bit straightforward and lacking the
distinctiveness of the plain Brut. But
still very good. 86/100
2003 Blanc de Noirs Brut,
Pinot noir, fermented in barrel. It has
a very elegant, crisp nose with a little blackberry fruit. Very nice on the palate, it is creamy and has
a nice richness, alongside side a good firm flavour of black fruits and crisp
apples. 91/100
2001 Cuvée Spéciale Brut,
90% chardonnay and 10% pinot noir, this spends six years in their cellars
before release. It has quite a rich nose
– very elegant, and slightly peachy.
Lovely palate, and I think it’s starting to show some nice age, though
they think it’s now too old. 93/100
2003 Cuvée
A crisp, fresh nose with some elegant gentle fruit somewhere between black and
stone fruit. Very nice, clean palate
with some nice blackberry fruit characters showing through. This only had five years ageing, not the six
that previous vintages underwent, because – I was told – of the need to meet demand
for the wine. 89/100
And finally a couple of Fronton wines from the same family:
2006 Château Bonnet Tradition, AC Fronton,
12.5%
10% syrah, 60% negrette, 30%
cabernet sauvignon. It has bright, rich,
black plummy fruit on the nose, with a hint of a floral character. Very, very young in the mouth. There are soft fruits, with quite a fresh
feel. There’s also, however, some
astringency which resolves into a firm tannic structure towards the
finish. Pleasant. 85/100
2006 Château Bonnet Cuvée Confidentielle, AC Fronton,
13.5%
55% syrah and 45% old vine
negrette. It has plummy black fruit on the nose with an elegant, slightly
scented lift. This has a rather tamer
nose than the tradition, and the palate too is also much tamer. This is rather more enjoyable and less
challenging. There’s good fruit and a
nice acidity. Very balanced. It finishes with a fair tannic
structure. 89/100
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Last updated: 27 April 2009