Discovering the Hidden Pleasures of the Wine World

Happy New Year! I hope and pray that 2016 turns out truly awesome for you on all fronts- including plenty of good wines to root. 

As I look forward to sharing much more than ever on wine and spirits this year, let us start the journey with some interesting wines that I came across in the preceding period.

The year 2015 concluded for me with a famed Premier Grand Cru wine, that too in double magnum measure. My previous post made on the Christmas of 2015 narrates the experience.  The wine was brought in by a good friend living in Singapore, whom I do not get to meet so often. It also made me ponder on the nature of Grand Cru and equivalent wines (let's call them prestige wines) being similar to such good friends. One would like to meet them often, if it were not for the existential constraints.

However there are other good friends who are situated closer to us and whom we keep meeting regularly. Extending our analogy, these are  the wines that we enjoy on a day-to-day basis. There are also some wines which may not be our regular ones but nostalgic one time ‘acquaintances’ whom we hope to 'meet' again. These wines are generally not available through regular channels-  rather picked up during travel, gifted by somebody and likewise. 

A true friend of wine must look beyond prestige wines if he wants to discover the hidden pleasures of the wine world. It is akin to finding a multitude of orchids in the wild rather than sticking to what the florist has to offer.

For me, one such wine was a  Shiraz from the Clare valley, Australia which was sent to me by the producer for an honest opinion on how this wine would probably fare in India. Not talking of price points for now, I found this wine to be delicious and very much suitable for a country with a rich cuisine like India.

Another interesting wine I came across was from Ethiopia that I procured from an unusual source- an auction by the Customs department. Most wine lovers would be surprised to know of  a wine from Ethiopia since the country is  not particularly famous for its wines in the current day. Nevertheless, it has a centuries old  history of winemaking.  The wine called ‘Dukam’ was a generic blend of red varietals. Not expecting much from it, I was delighted to find it to be an unpretentious and well made wine pleasing to the senses.

Then there was a Bulgarian wine that I showcased at one of the wine dinners. The wine was offered to me by the Bulgarian embassy in New Delhi urging me to pair it with the main course of the contemporary Indian spread. Amid other better known wines, it turned out to be the hero wine of the day.

During my trip to the Champagne vineyards I tasted a lot of Grandes Marques Champagnes. But there was this utterly beautiful bottle of a Rosé Champagne from a boutique winemaker called Edouard Brun which was gifted to me by a French friend.  I couldn't probably have found this wine otherwise due to its limited production and relatively localized market. Ferrying it back to India, I shared it with my close friends- who  haven't stopped raving about it till now!

The  final wine that I would like to share in this space is a sweet wine from Romania that arrived directly from the producer. I initially wanted to pair it with dessert at a wine dinner but dropped the idea owing to its light body. Wondering the next day at breakfast, I had a Eureka moment,realising that the Indian breakfast of kandha poha (water soaked flattened rice flakes, pan fried in mustard oil with onions and Indian condiments)  would be an ideal accompaniment for this wine. And indeed, it turned out so.

Domeniile Vinju Mare Tamaioasa Romaneasca paired with Kandha Poha

There are many more wines that I would like to share in this post, but for the space constraints. Uncommon wines particularly from the Czech Republic, Malta, Georgia and Greece surprised  me with their quality and value for money  in the year gone by.

But the year has just started, hasn't it? 

Cheers!

When Wine becomes a Magic Potion!

 Asterix fans would probably recall a particular issue of the famed comic series in which Getafix, the village druid- who makes the Gauls superhumans with his magic potion- embarks on an annual druids conference. The next few pages in the issue depict Getafix having a ball with his druid chums each of whom is accomplished in his own right. The druids also enter their inventions to compete for the coveted 'Golden Menhir" that Getafix ultimately ends up winning.

From: Asterix and the Goths (publishers- Hodder Dargaud)

Before you wonder if this post is about the Asterix series (which I  love to revisit endlessly) let me shift the focus back to our good old 'magic potion' viz. wine. Recently when a sommelier friend came visiting at Delhi, I approached a couple of close wine friends for a BYOB (Bring Your Own Bottle) gathering and the Gaulish druids conference was the first thing that came to my mind. Only here, we had different professionals  connected to the wine trade bringing in their unique experiences- and of course a cherished wine from their respecive personal collection. 

The visitor was Kamal Malik, currently the Head Sommelier of  the prestigious hotel Conrad Maldives Rangali Island. Kamal has been a close friend ever since the two of us embarked on a scholarship trip to Champagne. Hitting it off well, we kept in contact thereafter - exchanging wine notes and meeting up whenever the opportunity arose. And this was one such opportunity albeit a better planned one.

Apart from the two of us, the other vinos were Rajiv Singhal, the Ambassador of Champagne in India (under whose tutelage we had undertaken the Champagne trip),  Arjun Sachar, a young wine professional with a French cooperage and  the husband-wife team of Sumit and Chiquita Gulati  who own a wine savvy restaurant called Gulati Spice Market in the heart of New Delhi (also our venue for the evening). Our kitty for the proposed rendezvous was quite inspiring , with  a Champagne, a Burgundy Premier Cru, two Bordeaux Grands Crus and a Spanish dessert wine.

The wines (less the "Golden Menhir")

Came D day and we scrambled with pre chilled wine bottles to the venue. This was a meeting where no instructions had to be passed- the  importance of chilling, decanting and sequencing being a matter of unsaid wine propriety. The venue owners being on our side, we were good on the food front too. And so the indulgence commenced:

Champagne Alfred Gratien Cuvée Paradis

This was the first cork to be popped for the day. Being a worthy guardian of his protégé, Rajiv initially suggested that we serve the Champagne at number two after the Burgundy, but Kamal was able to convince him for serving the Champagne au début.

Alfred Gratien is an Epernay based producer widely known as an artisanal winemaker with a distinctly vinous wine style. Cuvée Paradis is their prestige offering with a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. A delightful Champagne, it poured with a luxuriant mousse, thereafter retaining the visual appeal with a persistent bead of fine bubbles. Its complexity could be sensed right from the nose which expressed layered aromas of red and dried fruits. A lush and medium bodied palate followed by a lingering finish completed the experience.We were served an assortment of cheeses, dips and crackers and mildly flavoured tapas that made the match more than ideal. We couldn't have expected lesser from an  Ambassadeur du Champagne. Could we?

Château de Blagny Meursault 2006 by Louis Latour

 When Arjun Sachar discussed this wine with me before finalising it for our rendezvous, he was on better side of caution, given the wine’s vintage- being a white. However both of us decided to include it solely on its pedigree. After all it was from the famed limestone soils of  Côte  de Beaune! The wine did not disappoint either. Initially appearing as “over the hill”, it had us all discussing as to how good it must have been in its prime. The next sip and we were humbled because the aromas and flavours arrived as if from thin air. This was a delicately perfumed wine redolent of white flowers, peaches and melons. Nutty/ oxidative aromas lent it a pleasant complexity. The wine retained its acidity admirably well rendering it a good balance. Arjun received a well deserved pat on the back for deciding to open this wine just in time.

Château Giscours Grand Cru 2000 and 2009

A wine that was received by me as a gift  two years back, Giscours 2000 was preserved just for an occasion like this. What I didn’t  anticipate was that Rajiv would offer another vintage of this Troisième Grand Cru  to enable a mini vertical tasting. These two wines were undoubtedly the stars of the evening. Each of them decanted for an hour plus, they offered an entirely different spectrum of aromas/flavours that beautifully demonstrated the evolution of a high quality wine with time. While Giscours 2000 had gamey, meaty and tobacco aromas followed by a savoury palate of , bacon, chocolate and spice, Giscours 2009 was more sophisticated with characteristics of blackberries, vanilla, cassis  and berry compote.  Nothing could have matched the rustic Indian preparations of Burrah Kabab (Char grilled lamb ribs) and Galouti Kababs on Sheermal ( Finely minced pan fried lamb kababs over baked sweetened bread) better.

Up and close with the wines. Notice the corks of both Grands Crus with darker one (left)  of Giscours 2000 indicating higher tannin pigmentation

The decadent food pairings by Sumit and Chiquita Gulati

Our "Golden Menhir"

Torres Floralis-Moscatel Oro

Apart from playing generous hosts for this eclectic outing, Sumit and Chiquita Gulati also pitched in with this wine to round off the experience. Hence this surprise inclusion was no less than the "Golden Menhir" for all of us. Torres Floralis-Moscatel Oro  has a radiant golden colour with aromas of white flowers spice and honey. It has a luxuriant palate of honey, licorice, dried fruits and white pepper. The Moong Dal Cigar with Rabri dip (Cooked lentils in sugar syrup stuffed in filo pastry  and served with thickened milk dip) matched the voluptuous wine rather well.

From: Asterix and the Goths (publishers- Hodder Dargaud)

Thus concluded our "druids conference" where all of us felt like winners. More than anything, this was a rendezvous  about friends meeting on a common platform of wine passion and ‘letting the hair down’ without bothering about taking notes or pouring pre defined measures. 

After all  wine is no less than Getafix's magic potion! Isn't it?

Top (L-R) Rajiv Singhal, Kamal Malik, Arjun Sachar, Sumit and Chiquita Gulati, Me

Bottom (L) Rajiv doing the honours with the Champagne.

Bottom (R) Once a Sommelier- always one- Kamal Malik instinctively taking to wine service

What they teach you in a Champagne Masterclass

Having six Champagne glasses in   front of you with  corresponding bottles to be poured in distant vision is a proposition most of us would call fit for a dream. Add a tasting sheet in the foreground and the context changes from pure indulgence to a surrounding rim of onerous responsibility - a responsibility to objectively and platonically dwell into the virtues of Champagne- a fine beverage, subordinate only to the life sustaining aqua.

My side of the table 

The tasting line up

As Thibaut Le Mailloux, Director of Communication at Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC)  gave finishing touches to his Champagne Masterclass presentation and  the perfectionist Rajiv Singhal, Ambassador of Champagne in India  deftly stroked the final touches at JW Marriott, Aerocity, New Delhi this November, I greeted them with “Bonjour- Vous allez bien?” and saw Thibaut’s face light up with instant recognition. I had met Thibaut  in Epernay, in 2012 during my scholarship trip to CIVC in Rajiv’s company and it looked that the bond had just rekindled.

(L-R) Thibaut, self, Rajiv and Ankur Chawla (Beverages Manager JW Marriott)

The Champagne Masterclass, which is held regularly across the globe by CIVC aims at reinforcing the simple fact- that Champagne comes only from Champagne, with the historical perspective thrown in to emphasize the beverage’s centuries old tradition through the crests and troughs of  time. But besides the veritable history, it  dives deep  into various styles of Champagnes, peculiarities of different regions within the arrondissement  (department) and different styles of Champagne – to name a few.

The Masterclass in progress

 Beverages managers from different star properties (for whom the masterclass was meant) had their skills polished by Thibaut in this rendezvous, and their exuberance was quite palpable by the type of questions coming in- from dosage issues to simple but relevant ones like which Champagne out of the six for the day was Thibaut’s favourite? The seasoned professional but naturally, handled all the volleys with élan.

Coming to the Champagnes, these depicted the amount of brain racking that must have gone into their selection to emphasize each style. The table below amplifies the sequence:

The beauty  of the session was that it did not solely depend on sampling wines but to create the right perspective before the first verre was lifted. For hospitality industry it becomes absolutely essential to understand the evolution of iconic beverages like Champagne, to be able to present them better to their valuable clients for driving home the value derived. To that effect I think that the session achieved that and much more within a third of a day’s proceedings.

Some random  ‘ Pearls of Wisdom’ gathered from the session were :

• The Champagne viticultural practices are  highly environment focused with advanced R&D being incorporated at all stages of production. One  such measure is ‘Sexual Confusion’ wherein plastic capsules containing phermones are located strategically within vineyards. These phermones emit same sex perfume for pests, deterring them from reproducing and hence pesticides are not required for their control.

• The Champagne Appellation has faced brand infringement issues not only for sparkling wine producers but also global luxury brands making perfumes, shampoos, cigarettes  et al. It has successfully contested many such cases in the courts. 14 Champagne Bureaus located in top 10 export markets as well as BRIC countries  act as Champagne’s vanguards. In India the bureau  is headed by Rajiv Singhal.

•  No Champagne bottle across the world  is available without a proper label indicating its provenance. If one is lured by a purported Champagne without label  at a bargain price- it would most certainly be a fake.

• 83% of Champagne sales are consumed within 10000 km radius of the region. This is due to ease of geographical access as well as taxation issues.

• Out of the 11 mn € of wine and spirits exports of France, two thirds is wine and out of this, two thirds is Champagne.

•  Many Champagne houses have interesting stories  to their names. For example, Drappier Champagne comes from a family enterprise, which started its business with bed linen several centuries back and switched over to Champagne production when it started becoming popular in early nineteenth century. In French language Draps means Bed sheets and hence the name. 

The session concluded with a photo for posterity

My French Wine Odyssey: Champagne Bollinger

Pour Bollinger- Le Monde ne Suffit Pas!

(For Bollinger: The World is not Enough!)

To see the poster of a James Bond film in French language and that too with a bottle of Champagne of

the house I was visiting was a typical Bond like start to my visit to maison Bollinger. And sure enough, it proceeded with the glamour element associated with the suave fictional spy! So what exactly spurs a well recognised  Champagne house to align with  a famous film franchise? That Britain happens to be the largest consumer of Champagne in the world is one consideration, but according to Matthieu Kaufmann (then Chef de Cave at Bollinger),  it is the long standing association of Bollinger with the British starting with the conferring of  the Royal warrant on the brand in 1884 and of course the universal appeal that James Bond has when it comes to the best in taste and style!

But there is more to Bollinger than just Bond. Established in 1829 at Aÿ, Champagne, this house is known for its heavy inclination towards the Pinot Noir grape varietal as also for its consistency of wine style over the centuries, that is facilitated by  sourcing 60 % of grapes from its own vineyards and  the rest from trustworthy growers since long back. Another major contributor to this consistency is its Reserve wines sourced entirely from Grands Crus and Premiers Crus vineyards amounting to around 6,00,000 magnum bottles at a given time that are aged from 5-15 years, and used to blend the annual releases.

Our visit started from the labyrinthine cellars located under their office space and two adjoining small vineyards that produce their famous pre-phylloxera (a pest that destroyed vineyards across Europe in late nineteenth century)  era wine. The cellars understandably were quite cold, full of ageing magnum bottles of reserve wines covered with thick mold and bottles that were in the process of riddling.  Christian Dennis, our host for the afternoon informed us that these cellars having centuries old mold on the roof and walls, provide optimum environment for the wines to mature by maintaining the right temperature and humidity levels, and we couldn’t agree more.

From the cellars, we went to the house Cooperage  where a dedicated Cooper maintains 3000 odd barrels for fermenting/ ageing wines and to the winery where we could get an insight into the intricacies of wine-making in barrels as well as steel tanks. Coming to the wines, Bollinger has an interesting portfolio with each wine groomed on the premise of a distinct  USP. The portfolio is described towards the end of this post.

As we finished with the visits, it was dusk, and  time for our rendezvous with the man behind crafting the wines, Mathieu Kauffmann. Christian escorted us to the  iconic house of Madame Lily  Bollinger, the most popular figure of the house till date, who was charge d’affaires   from 1941 to 1977. The first Champagne of the day, Bollinger Rosé was poured soon enough with Mathieu Kauffmann arriving simultaneously.  In-depth discussions followed with lots of technical inquisitiveness on our part, and continued at the dining table where a meticulously paired fare awaited us:

The enchanting Chez Madame Bollinger

First Champagne of the day being poured out  from a Magnum

Mathieu Kauffmann elaborating on the wine making process 

Food	Paired Wine
Homard Bleu à la Truffe d’Été  (Blue Lobster with Summer truffle)	Bollinger Special Cuvée Light gold with fine bubbles. Complex aromas of ripe fruits and roasted apple compote. A good structure, length and liveliness on the palate.
Pièce de Veau jus à la Noisette (Piece of Veal in Hazelnut juice)	Bollinger La Grande Année Rosé 2004 Salmon pink with orange highlights. Fruity, spicy and nutty on the nose. Surprisingly vinous on the palate accompanied by a delightful freshness.
Comté de Réserve Franche Comté (A hard cheese from the Franche Comté region in eastern France)	Bollinger La Grande Année 2002 Antique gold colour with aromas of rhubarb, stone fruits and spice. Well structured on the palate with a long finish.
Déclinaison de Verrines aux Fruits rouges  (Red fruits served in tilting glasses).	Bollinger Rosé Light pink with bronze tints. Aromas of red currant, cherry and wild strawberry. Pleasant tannins and fruity  with lots of berries on the palate.

Around  dinner, Mathieu highlighted the USPs of the wines in tandem with the sips relished, that are described below. As we bade adieu, he also presented to us a wonderful book charting the history of the House and loads of information on specific wines for posterity.

The bubbles of the effervescent rendezvous continue to permeate our minds ever since.

The Bollinger Portfolio

Bollinger Special Cuvée

USP: Consistency

About the wine
To sustain its USP, this wine has the major assemblage as Reserve wines. 85% of the wine is from Grands/Premiers Crus and it is aged twice as long as stipulated by the Champagne Appellation (i.e. 30 months as compared to 15). The grape constitution in the blend is 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier.

(Special Cuvée retails in New Delhi at Rs. 6380.00)

Bollinger Rosé

USP: The tinting red component comes entirely from Grands Crus hence making for a complex character.

About the wine 
This Rosé is created by blending the Special Cuvée with powerful red wine from plots in Grands Crus. The blend is 62% Pinot Noir, 24% Chardonnay and 14% Pinot Meunier.

Bollinger La Grande Année Brut/ Rosé

USP

• Fermentation entirely in barrels, promoting micro-oxygenation and therefore the ageing potential.
• James Bond’s wine ( Vintage 1999 featured in Quantum of Solace and 2002 in Skyfall)

About the wine
The vintage champagne from the house, La Grande Année is produced 100% from grapes sourced from Grands and Premiers Cru vineyards. This wine too is aged in the cellars twice as long than required by regulation. It is riddled and disgorged entirely by hand and sealed with natural cork. The Rosé version is blended with red wine from the Côte aux Enfants parcel (see below) reserved exclusively for this wine.

Blend:      La Grande Année Brut- 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay

                La Grande Année Rosé- 68% Pinot Noir, 32 % Chardonnay

(La Grande Année Brut 1998 retails in New Delhi at Rs.17900.00)

Bollinger La Côte aux Enfants

USP

A Still Red wine from Champagne region produced from a small plot of less than one hectare that is entirely planted with Pinot Noir

About the wine

Legend has it that the origin of the Land’s name comes from its steep slopes where only children could work in older days. These slopes have excellent exposure to Sun resulting in the grapes ripening sufficiently for red wine production, which is unique for the cold region that Champagne is. It is a 100% Pinot Noir based wine that is appreciated for its closeness to the Burgundy style, yet maintaining a distinct identity.

Bollinger RD

USP

• Prestige Cuvée of the house reserved for exceptional vintage years.
• James Bond's favourire wine (Moonraker, Octopussy, The Living Daylights, License to Kill).

About the Wine

The jewel in Bollinger’s crown, this wine , apart from having most of the attributes similar to the Grande Année above. In addition, it is aged thrice as long and is administered a very low dosage to make it Extra Brut. Further, it has the disgorgement date set close to the release, to give the consumer choice of choosing between the freshness and liveliness or for maturing the wine more for extra complexity.

Bollinger Vieilles Vignes Françaises

USP: Wine from two attached small vineyards to the house and a walled vineyard called Le Clos des Chaudes Terres literally meaning "The closed vineyard with hot earth" (emphasizing on its warm aspect for grapes ripening. that have ungrafted vines from the pre-phylloxera era. All of these are Grands Crus.

About the wine

 The only wine that can provide a taste of the pre phylloxera era, it is cultivated using the traditional method called “en foule” or “in shoals” implying the shallow depth. It is because, two of the vineyards are situated right on top of the cellars and this is believed to be the reason that the deadly pest that affected all vineyards across Europe, miraculously spared these two.

The wine itself is a Blanc de Noirs with the other virtues similar to La Grande Année.

La Grande Année 2002 Limited Edition to celebrate 50 years of Bond-Bollinger Partnership

(Content Courtesy: www.jamesbondlifestyle.com)

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of 007’s appearance on screen and the Bollinger / James Bond partnership, Champagne Bollinger launched a limited edition special presentation box. The box includes a bottle of Bollinger La Grande Année 2002. The presentation box, in the shape of a Walther PPK silencer, opens by aligning the three figures 007 and by clicking on the gun logo button, revealing a bottle of Bollinger La Grande Année 2002, the most exceptional vintage in the last decade according to Bollinger.

The bottle, adorned in shiny black and hot stamped silver, is a collector’s item in itself, an elegant celebration of the 50th anniversary of James Bond on screen. The guilloche pattern on the label and the cap is repeated on the box, a veiled reference to the grip of the pistol.

My French Wine Odyssey: Champagne Michel Gonet

 Beauty lies in the eye of beholder and so every individual has  personal preferences. Maybe this is the reason some people prefer a wine that is complex and long lived, while others go for  an easy drinking  version that could be consumed soon after bottling. This theory of preferences crossed my mind as I entered the beautiful maison of the Champagne house Michel Gonet that takes a lot of pride in its specialisation of Blancs de Blancs- and has a definite loyal clientele for that. Located astride the celebrated Avenue de Champagne in Epernay that is dotted on both sides with famous names from the world of Champagne,  Michel Gonet undoubtedly has its position of pride in the milieu.

The Champagne house  established in 1802 by Charles Gonet has  40 hectares of  vineyards – majority of them being in the  Grands Crus of Cotes des Blancs region known for its affinity to the Chardonnay grape varietal. The house also grows around 20% of their total production as Pinot Noir (red grape varietal) that is used for tinting their Rosé Champagne and also to produce a vintage cuvée. Apart from Champagne, the Gonet family owns nine wine estates in Bordeaux that produces different styles of Red and White still wines in varying styles and are managed by the other siblings of the current Gonet generation.

The lovely interiors of Maison Gonet

 Coming to our visit, it was a pleasing sight as we entered the typical French villa beset with large and ethereal glass windows and wooden flooring, shod with luxurious carpets at the right places. There were colourful Champagne bottles adorning the visitors’ lounge that we clicked for posterity while waiting for Madame Sophie Signolle, daughter of Michel Gonet and the Charge d'Affaires at the Champagne house. Soon enough, we were escorted to the adjoining dégustation room where the first wine for tasting was already resting in the chilling bucket. 

The tasting proceeded as under:

Michel Gonet Millésimé  1998 Grand Cru Brut

Grapes: 100% Chardonnay

Alcohol : 12%

This wine won the Medaille d'Or (Gold Medal) in Concours d'Epernay 2003- an annual competition of Champagne wines. It was great to start our tasting with this wine as it was a delicately flavoured luxurious wine with a fruity nose and a creamy palate. The lingering finish lent it an extra edge and versatility to be used as an aperitif as well as a gourmet wine.

Michel Gonet Grand Cru Brut

Grapes: 100% Chardonnay

Alcohol : 12.5%

This pale gold wine with green tints conveyed its youthful nature from the outset. It was confirmed on the nose and palate as well, with its mineral and floral aromas and fresh fruity flavours. An excellent accompaniment with sea food!

Michel Gonet Brut Reserve

Grapes: 50% each Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

Alcohol : 12%

The only  wine from MG stable other than Rosé  to contain a Pinot Noir blend. It was but natural for me to like this one because of my strong inclination towards Blanc de Noirs and its blends. The wine poured with a restrained but powerful mousse and a discreet ring that was a treat to watch. It had a complex nose of citrus fruits, red berries and toasted bread. The palate was tremendously fruity with excellent structure and a smooth lingering finish. A powerful Champagne that can very well stand up to robust food like  roasted lamb while at the same time gentle enough to handle sea food.

Mme Sophie Signolle presenting the
Cuvée Prestige 2001

Michel Gonet Cuvée Prestige 2001 Brut

Grapes: 100% Chardonnay

Alcohol : 12%

Greenish gold in colour with an abundant mousse and fine persistent bubbles. The pedigree of being a prestige cuvée showed with a powerful, fruity and honeyed nose. On the palate it was refreshing with flavours of plums, honey and nuts. A delectable wine you can sip  as an aperitif to light up the occasion!

Michel Gonet Cuvée Prestige 2004 Extra Brut

Grapes: 100% Chardonnay

Alcohol : 12%

Extra Brut is drier than Brut- in that the residual sugar content in the wine is much lesser.This wine received the Silver Medal at  the Chardonnay du Monde 2010 competition- an annual fixture to judge best Chardonnay based wines .

The wine was medium gold in colour with a very expressive nose of ripe pears, dried fruits and bread crust. On the palate it was mouth filling and creamy with good acidity to balance the fruit. A decent long finish makes it a good gourmet wine.

The Oak aged Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru

Thus concluded the wonderful tasting session led by the passionate winemaker in Mme Sophie Signolle who highlighted the Champagne house's emphasis on the traditional way of wine making yet adapting to modern technology, to produce high quality artisanal wines. They have also embraced a pesticide free organic ecosystem to retain the naturally fresh character of their wines.
Sure enough, we found the  wines to be fresh, minerally, pleasingly complex and some of the best Blancs de Blancs we tasted during our Champagne stay.

The traditional shellac sealed closure 

We could however not get to taste their oaked Blanc de Blancs with a traditional shellac sealed bottle closure due to only one bottle being available at that point of time, and Sophie needing to preserve it for further showcasing during the day. I however took  photos of the bottle since it was interesting to note how Dom Pérignon- the inventor of Champagne would have sealed the 'stars' he tasted in  the wine way back in the 17th century.

And the sparkle  has stayed on since then.