November WCWC Pack 4 - Champagne R1200/pack

 

Colmant	Brut Tradition	Franschhoek	NV	R113
Gran Castellflorit	Cava Brut	Penedes, Spain	NV	R75
Tribaut	Brut	Champagne	NV	R255
Le Mesnil	Grand Cru Blanc de Blanc	Champagne	NV	R340
Simonsig	Brut Rose	Stellenbosch	2007	R100
Marguet	D'Ambonnay Grand Cru Brut	Champagne	2002	R430

 

More details on the WCWC

 

With the festive season on our doorstep, we couldn't help but make our fourth instalment of our Wine Club dedicated to Champagne! Along with three of the world's most celebratory drinks, we have included a Cava from Spain as well as two exceptional local offerings for comparison. These six offer the major stylistic differences Champagne and sparkling wine can offer: Brut, MCC, Spanish, Blanc de Blanc, Rose and Vintage.

 

Whilst still wines are based more on fruit ripeness, winemaking techniques and vineyard expression; sparkling wine involves the skill of blending different base wines and then aging them. Wines made in the Champagne style, or Methode Cap Classique, all involve a secondary fermentation in the bottle. This is the foremost factor in classifying sparkling wines. Once the base wine has been made from young grapes, yeast and sugar are added into the bottle. This further fermentation doesn't produce alcohol but rather carbon dioxide and richness. Once the yeast cells have done their job to the full, they die off and lie at the bottle of the bottle. This is named the 'lees', and the longer the wine spends on this lees, invariably the greater the quality of the resultant wine. In Champagne, the minimum for lees maturation in the bottle is three years.

After aging, the lees is riddled off and a small amount of sweetener is added to balance the wine named the dosage. This aids the balance of the final wine.

 

Champagne is France's northern most fine wine region a few hours east of Paris. The marginal climate and chalky soil is excellent for acidic sparkling wines which result in Champagne's freshness and longevity. Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay are blended; Chardonnay for the limey backbone, Pinot Meunier for the floral edge and Pinot Noir for the fruit and texture.  

 

The important questions to remember with Champagne are:

-- were all the grapes all derived from the same vintage? ie NV or vintage

- what varieties of grapes were used?

- what was the classification of the grapes?. ie village or premier cru or grand cru status

- how long did the wine spend aging on the lees.

- what sort of dosage was added. Champagnes are produced in drier styles of extra brut to sec (sweet) levels. 

 

If tasting these in a comparison format, taste the first three as a flight and then the last three as a flight.

 

Colmant Brut Tradition NV

For our money, this is the best MCC NV made in the country. It is made by the Colmant family who concentrate only on sparkling wines. It is also styled more closely to Champagne than any other. It is a blend of 52% Pinot Noir and 48% Chardonnay  from Franschhoek, Robertson, Elgin, Somerset-West and Stellenbosch respectively. 10% of the blend is made of reserve wine from the previous vintage and 12% of the base wine is barrel fermented and ages for 24 months on the lees. There is a gentle toastiness with a lemony yeasty perfume followed by more mature fruit. There is plenty of freshness on the palate and along with the structure offers opportunity for further maturation. .

 

Gran Castellflorit Cava Brut NV

Cava, a wine from the Penedes region near Barcelona, can be considered one of the best value sparkling wines in the world. Also made in the secondary fermentation method, it uses the native grapes of Xarello and Paraleda. In comparison to the MCC and Champagne, you can expect more earthy aromas, a coarser bubble and texture in between the minerality of the Champagne and fruitiness of the MCC.

 

Tribaut Brut Tradition NV

If one was to make a comparison with the Cava and MCC, the Tribaut is classically styled and offers excellent value for money in terms of Champagne. The inflated prices of the larger houses of Champagne are derived from huge advertising and marketing budgets. The lesser known growers (of which there are 20,000 in Champagne) and producers therefore provide far better value for money. This is a blend of Chardonnay 30%, Pinot Noir 40% and Pinot Meunier 30%. 30% of the blend is made with reserve wine from previous vintages and it spends 36 months on the lees. Fruity and floral notes on the nose lead to a fresh and lively palate. Both fine and delicate it has hints of dried fruit and apricot. A very 'clean' Champagne with a nice balance and a long finish.

 

 

Le Mesnil Grand Cru Blanc de Blanc Champagne NV R340

The second comparison starts off with a Blanc de Blanc, made only from Chardonnay grapes and in this case all classified as Grand Cru. Most of cooperative Le Mesnil's production is acquired by the large Champagne houses such as Taittinger and Laurent-Perrier. Therefore this is the 'cream of the crop'. It is a sprightly, mineral and limey champagne which is fresh and toasty now but will age further developing honey and nutty notes. 

 

 

Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel Brut Rose Stellenbosch 2007

Methode Cap Classique was pioneered in South Africa by Frans Malan, founder of Simonsig and father of current winemaker Johan. It seems fitting that Simonsig is still one of the finest producers of MCC and Kaapse Vonkel regularly wins local and international awards . This rose is actually made from 90% Pinotage and 10% Pinot Noir from the cooler 2007 vintage, proving excellent conditions for sparkling wines. This wine is exceptionally fresh and dry with a residual Sugar of 6 g/l. Try it with strawberries or smoked Salmon.

 

 

 

 

Marguet D'Ambonnay Grand Cru Brut 2002

The highest quality champagnes are usually produced from one single highly regarded vintage. 2002 fits this mold perfectly, regarded as being in the league of the fine vintages of 1990 and 1996. This is a blend of 70% Chardonnay & 30% Pinot Noir from old Grand Cru vines in the Cote des Blancs and the Montagne de Reims. It spends 5 years aging in bottle where it picks up extra richness and length. More powerful and stately than a NV it has more depth and definition. Expect this to age well for a decade - if you happen to forget it in the cellar.

 

 

Bordeaux Pack 1

Burgundy Pack 2

South of France Pack 3

From more info on the WCWC!