Debate a Bubble - Champagne News and Reviews

BIO DYNAMIC ROSE CHAMPAGNE TASTING

Last week a friend of mine at Henry George Wines Ltd sent me three bottles of bio-dynamic rosé champagne to try - what nice friends I have!

Henry George Wines specialises in organic and bio-dynamic wines and since I had heard a lot about bio-dynamic wines in general I was keen to taste the three new arrivals.

For  a brief moment I did consider opening them all and tasting them on my own, but much as I love champagne it didn't take more that just a moment's reflection to realise that I wouldn't drink more than just a fraction of each bottle and that this would be a bit of a waste. Fortunately a much better idea sprang to mind.

Last Thursday I was hosting a champagne tasting for one of my corporate clients. It was due to finish at 8 p.m. and we'd already tried a few excellent champagnes and had a good couple of hours fun and entertainment, but when eight o'clock came around it was obvious that there were several people who would have been happy to carry on. So I simply asked if there were any volunteers to stay on and help me taste the the bio-dynamic rosé champagnes - needless to say there were  quite a few takers.

In the end there were 10 us us who setled down to taste

Champagne Franck Pascal Rosé

Champagne Christophe Mignon Rosé

(pictured)

and

Champagne Piolllot Rosé

The first thing you may be asking yourselves is

" What are Bio-Dynamic Champagnes?" ( or wines for that matter.)

In a nutshell they are wines produced using methods that go even further than Organic in terms of protection of the environment and, in particular, the inclusion of a spiritual aspect to viticulture.

This very brief explanation doesn't do justice to the concept, so for a little more detail follow this link

http://bit.ly/BioDynamicChampagne

Suffice it to say, I was expecting some intense fruit flavours and something quite out of the ordinary. Was I right or not ?........

Well, it was a mixed bag really

Here's what we all thought:

Franck Pascal Rosé
The colour was what I would call onion skin: pale pink with more than a hint
of brown. The relatively pale colour gave the impression that the nose and flavours
might also be a little thin, but nothing could have been further from the truth.

The first sensation on the nose was of full-on citrus,with orange springing to my mind.
This was quite rich and deep, more like rich chunky orange marmalade than
freshly squeezed orange.

There was something else slightly yeasty and toasty, or even slightly burnt that I couldn't put
my finger until someone said 'crème brulée' - that was it; definitely more than a
hint of exactly that sort of toasted caramel.

The finish was fairly long and we particularly enjoyed the way that this champagne developed
in the glass and revealed different facets at every taste or niff - just the sort of complexity I enjoy most in well-made champagne.

Overall it was an impressive champagne that comfortably came out top of our list.  

Next to Champagne Piollot

This was the odd one out in that it is a rosé de saignée and, most likely as a
result of this,the colour was a rich cherry-red; quite the most luscious looking and
tempting of the three.

We were all disappointed however to find that there was not much more to shout about
There was a distinct astringency to this rosé verging on bitterness.

The nose was described by one taster as reminiscent of burning break pads and a finish
that was not very persistent, meant that this was our least favourite of the three by
some margin

Last but not least was the Christophe Mignon

First of all I liked the packaging - perhaps not a very " winey" observation, but everything
that forms your impression of a wine is important in one way or another and I thought
the label was extremely elegant and right from the word go I was expecting great things
of this rosé

Was I disappointed - well, no I couldn't say that, but equally I was not blown away either

Colour-wise this was between the two previous rosés - a classic rosé colour you might say.

The aromas were fresh and fruity; full of apples and pears from the high Meunier content and
there was that hint of mintiness which you often get with rosé champagne - one reason why they
go well with red fruit desserts garnished with a few sprigs of mint.

There was also a not unpleasant smokey/tobacco-ey nose too but also a lingering hint of alcohol
which I could have done without.

All in all though, a good champagne with plenty of flavour in the mouth.

So, our verdict was that the Franck Pascal Rosé is definitely worth you trying and why not add a bottle or two of the Christophe Mignon as well?

I have to tell you that Henry George Wines are offering some great deal on these rosés at the moment and you may like to check them out http://www.henrygeorgewines.com/

I didn't  go for the Piollot however and this just serves to underline the difficulty of producing a really good rosé de saignée.

Still, I'll keep looking - tough job but someone has to do it.

Let me know if you come across any rosé champagne that really impress you

Jiles

 

Champagne Prices

If you are a regular reader of my blog or the newspapers you'll remember that  few weeks ago there were a lot of rumours flying around about champagne prices falling to £10 in the U.K. by Christmas.

http://tinyurl.com/yz3jwcv

At the time I was definitely not in agreement with those who were forecasting such a drop in prices, but after spending a few days in Champagne last week, I'm not so sure and here's why.....

On the first day I was there I went for a stroll in the vineyards and the first thing that struck me was that there were an awful lot of grapes still left uncut on the vines

 There are some grapes left uncut every year but this year there were more than I'd seen since 1996 when I first went to live there.

What's more there were even more grapes that had been cut and left to lie on the ground. This may seem a criminal waste to you but once the maximum yield has been fixed, the pickers aren't allowed to pick any more grapes .

The next thing that got me thinking was going to the Leclerc supermarket just outside Epernay and seeing champagne on sale at only 8.95 euros.

It was called Marie de Bissey and was clearly a cheap and cheerful line, but heck, 8.95 euros is cheaper than I've ever seen and is indicative of what's going on in Champagne.

There are an awful lot of champagne makers who are so desperate for cash that they have to sell at almost any price.

The smaller growers ( the RM ) are actually not so badly off as some of the larger brands because sales in France, where many of the small growers sell most of their bottles, are holding up relatively well. However it's not always them who are in charge.

Chatting to my next door neighbour I understood why...

My neighbour, Christophe Corbeaux, is mayor of the village and also runs his family champagne company. They're holding their own, but as he explained, they're holding their breath to see what the bigger brands do.

If the bigger brands start dropping their prices, the little players won't have any choice but to drop their prices too, because they can't compete with the better-known brands if they're the same price.

I still can't see prices in the U.K. coming down to £10, but £15 certainly seems on the cards, so keep your eyes open for bargains, particularly in the supermarkets.

What the quality will be is another issue, but if you're just looking for the word Champagne on the label, then you could be in for some pleasant surprises. 

Let me know the lowest prices you find in your local store.

Jiles