Friday 22.02.2013 Tasting Session: Champagne

Friday 22.02.2013 Tasting Session: 

Champagne

We tasted 2 small growers from Champagne:

Photo courtesy of www.thewinecollective.com until I post mine. 

1)  Jose Michel & Fils Champagne Brut Pinot Meunier Recoltant Manipulant (RM) a Moussy - Epernay

When pouring the mousse was a bit fat and soapy. However the bubbles in the glass were quite small, fast and numerous. The nose offered aromas of yellow fruit intermingled with yeasty, "briochées", buttery, toasted notes. No real floral or mineral notes as far as I could smell. The palate was rather light and not quite in harmony. The mousse was a bit soapy and fat (here again). Flat at first on the attack, it then developed slowly toward the mid-palate, with unfortunately bitter notes and pink unripe grapefruit like flavors (slightly puckering). Also flat, the finish faded rapidly due to lack of acidity to pick it up. This bottle even presented slight corkiness and metallic nuances that I could not detect until the end of the first sip. Shame, I will have really like to love this Pinot Peunier a bit more than that. The slight corkiness may indicates a bad bottle, maybe. But in terms of Champagne, I never give up, meaning that I will give another chance to this producer before finalizing my verdict. I need to say that I tasted better champagnes from this particular house.  

2)  Paul Bara Chamapagne Brut Reserve Recoltant Manipulant (RM) a Bouzy 

On pouring, the mousse was thinner than the first one. Paler than the first one, it showed really pale yellow-white nuances and multiple really "petite" bubbles. Yeasty with enjoyable toasted, brioche notes mixed with yeallow fruit, apple and pear aromas on the nose. The touch of minarilty and freshness with slight floral nuances were a brizz of fresh air compared to the previous champagne. The fresh, light, bright and crispy palate sparkled with predominant flavors of lime and lemon, very zesty. Well balanced and nicely crafted overall with a twisted lemon skin attitude from beginning to the end. Refreshing as an aperitif or / and with light hors d'oeuvres based with shellfish like fresh oyster. Quite long as I could still taste the finish as I was writing these lines while I had my last sip a few minutes ago. Gentle and easy to drink, this 100% Pinot Noir is not the most complex champagne but it is definitely refined, very enjoyable and easy to come back to, but this is only my opinion, as some of you might prefer a richer and bolder taste. However, I need to admit that I prefer my champagne zesty, fresh and delicate, like a ballerina gently hovering on your taste buds, rather than a fat, buttery and oaky, overly built bubbly.

Enjoy,

LeDom du Vin

To be continued...