Grape Wine Journey

Champagne is always symbolic of celebration, but personally it is not a wine I will stock up for my cellar.  I always find it hard to finish a bottle of Champagne for dinner at home, maybe it’s the bubbles.  But I do like to serve Champagne as an aperitif.

The Taste of Champagne was an interesting wine tasting class serving 8 distinct styles of the sparkling juice with a story behind each bottle.  In addition in going through the tasting notes, the instructor also shared the background of each Champagne House.  She always made a point if the Champagne House is still privately owned. 

I agreed with her view if all the Champagne Houses are owned by a few conglomerates, wines will be less interesting.  To preserve the tradition and finding wines from small vineyards is always a treat.

The 8 Champagnes we tasted were:

Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Demi-Serc NV

Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose NV

Pierre Moncuit-Delos Blanc de Blancs Brut NV

Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve Mis en Ciave 2003 NV

Pol Roger Brut Reserve NV

Gosset Brut Grand Millesime 1999

Bollinger Brut La Grande Annee 2000

Krug Grande Cuvee Brut NV

The two most expensive Champagnes were the Bollinger and Krug, with a HK$1,000+ price tag.  But the two Champagnes that left a strong impression on me were the Pierre Moncuit-Delos and Pol Roger.

Pierre Moncuit-Delos is a small vineyard that produces around 1,000 cases a year.  The Blanc de Blancs was made from 100% Chardonnay.  The sparkling wine was high in acidity with citrus and nut on the palate.  A well balanced sparkling wine, that was light and crisp in style. 

The Pol Roger was Winston Churchill’s favorite Champagne.  It is still a family owned Champagne house.  The Brut Reserve NV was a complex sparkling wine.  The nose and palate both showed nut, peach , honey and toast .  I really liked the creamy mousse sensation on the palate.

Many Champagne Houses are owned by the famous luxury brand these days, so we should appreciate the smaller vineyards that are trying hard to keep the tradition in the family.  Well, one of my shopping list this weekend is to stock up some of these Champagnes!