I reveived an interesting little news article the other day from Decanter magazine and very informative it was too.
It presented 10 champagnes recommended for Mothers' Day. Quite why or how a champagne to be drunk on Mothers' Day needs to be any different to a champagne for any other day I'm not sure, but let's not be churlish. It was an imaginative list and I was particularly pleased to see that it included a few champagnes from smaller growers, which as I've always said, bring a welcome variation to the standard fare of big brands that tends to be dished ad nauseam up to an uninformed public.
You can see the list by going to this link and do look out for the champagnes mentioned
http://www.decanter.com/recommendations/subrecommendation.php?rid=535&sid=1634
However, this got me thinking back to when I was more regularly involved in wine fairs and awards. I always thought then and still do now, that rather that asking which wine had won the award, it was important to ask which wines didn't even enter the competition ?
If the selection of entries is limited then the wines that enter year in, year out, obviously have a greater chance of winning than the wines that never even enter. So you get the impression that the regular winners must be the best - but the best of what? Could it just be the best of a bad lot ?
To illustrate the point here's a clear case of a champagne that is not on the radar here and certainly not on any recommended lists, but which deserves to be: Champagne De Sousa
Never heard of it? Well I'm not surprised. It's not a large producer but, in my opinion, it's well worth you trying.
De Sousa wasn't mentioned in Decanter's Mothers' Day list but that doesn't mean to say it not any good - quite the opposite in fact. De Sousa have recently been highly praised by one of the world's best sommeliers, Andreas Larsson, who considers De Sousa to be one the great little champagne houses.
Even if I hadn't known about De Sousa before, that sort of recommendation is good enough for me.
The moral of the story is that although medals and lists are a useful indication of quality, they are not the whole story and please don't think that the wines on a particular list are the only ones worth drinking.
Finally here's another litle gem for you to consider:
Champagne Pierson Whitaker Réserve, Premier Cru
For U.K. stockists try
That's it for now and do keep your spirits up with the occasional glass of the real bubbly stuff
Jiles Halling
Comments