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Champagne Week: Conclusion
So, three new Champagne profiles added this week. Champagne is undoubtedly one of my favourite styles, and so it was a pleasure indeed to get these new tasting notes and profiles online, particularly for one of the best quality houses, Pol Roger.
When it comes to my Champagne drinking, the profiles published on The
Winedoctor reveal a familiarity with the grand marques, the great names
of Champagne, such as Ruinart,
Bollinger,
Roederer and more. I must admit I have
little time for those who eschew the wines of these great houses in favour of
smaller growers. This attitude has always seemed to me to be anti-establishment,
rather than one based on a true assessment of the wines. Whatever the quality of
Champagne from smaller growers, who make their own wines from small plots of
family-owned vineyards - or possibly from small quantities of bought-in grapes -
to ignore the wines of the best grand marques is to throw the baby out
with the bathwater.
Nevertheless, I am aware that there are many small grower Champagnes which deliver both quality and value for money. I have some experience of such growers; Pierre Gimonnet (a récoltant-manipulant) and Raymond Boulard (a négociant-manipulant) are two such family firms of which I have personal experience. Both produce some excellent wines. The former family own 26 ha including some Grand Cru sites, and produce a delicious range of wines. I still regret not buying the 1996 Gastronome which I saw in Calais in 2004 for about £10 per bottle - but I did already have a trolley piled high, I suppose. Raymond Boulard is now run by Francis Boulard, and here again the range of wines, of which I have limited experience, is reputed to be very good indeed.
It is this limited experience that I think I should correct. I need a new focus for The Winedoctor, as I'm currently supping my way through various wines of Provence and south-west France, and once the notes and profiles have all been posted the Beautiful South feature will come to an end. I have been thinking that I should turn my attention to RM and NM Champagnes - suggestions of what I should look out for are welcome, as always. I'll investigate this over the next couple of months, once I've completed my move up to Scotland, and provided I can get my hands on a representative range of bottles - something which I haven't checked out yet - I'll start later this year. (18/3/05)
Champagne Week 2005:
A series of new Champagne profiles, with some of my current thoughts on the region.
