Grower Champagne, Pomerol and Barolo Tasting at Wine Watch

Burgundy makes you think of silly things, Bordeaux makes you talk of them and Champagne makes you do them. -- Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

I often get asked what my favorite wine is and this question is hard to answer as I love a lot of different wines but if I only had three to choose from at my last supper they would be Champagne, Barolo and Pomerol.  

These are the three wines that I enjoy the most and this is the last tasting of my B-Day month.  Wine Watch Catering’s Toni Lampasone will be making a special three course menu for this event and the fee for this tasting is $125+ tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.

Grower Champagne, Pomerol and Barolo Tasting at Wine Watch
Friday, March 18th
7pm

2010 Marc Hebrart Special Club Brut Champagne   
Price: $89.00  Sale $78.32  Case $908

Jean-Paul Hébrart makes one of our favorite Rosé Champagnes, which we bring back around the holidays. In the meanwhile, we think you should try the 2010 Special Club. In case you are unfamiliar with this term, 'Special Club' is a classification of ultra high quality determined by a handpicked group of growers. Comprised of 28 artisan winemakers in Champagne, including Jean-Paul and his father Marc at one time, the Club Trésors de Champagne doesn't confer the 'Special Club' classification to just any bubbly. They impose the strictest of standards to the members' wine. For instance: all fruit must be estate-grown on specific plots expressing terroir clearly; the wines must be aged for at least three years; before the wine is finally put into the Club's designated squat bottles, it is tasted again after disgorgement. The 2010 is a Vallée de la Marne, Coeur de Cuvée (heart of the free-run) blend of 35% old vines Pinot Noir from Mareuil, 20% Pinot from Aÿ, 25% old-vines Chardonnay from Mareuil, and 20% Chard from Oiry and Chouilly. Disgorged July 2014.

Flavor Profile: "I must again speculate that there’s a tiny tip of the pyramid in 2010 that will give sensational wines in an otherwise 'meh' vintage that tends to run lean. Otherwise I can scarcely comprehend how this wine can be so amazingly good. It only indicates the vintage by being ever-so-slightly airy in the finish. But what precedes that has many of the virtues of the supernal 2008... the chalk is a powdery quilt of richness." Terry Theise, Importer

2007 Champagne Gaston Chiquet Special Club Grand Cru Brut Millesime   
Price $80.75  Sale $71.06  Case $824

For more than twenty years, a group of winegrowers representing the most renowned crus of the region have come together as the Club Trésors de Champagne.  The principle aim of this group is to uphold three principles – authenticity, originality and meticulousness – and to increase knowledge of their very best Champagnes through the “Special Club” cuvées.  Each member uses grapes harvested on their own land to ensure typicity and character rather than a common product. A selection of blends is submitted to the rigorous regulations and standards of oœnologues and winemakers expert in the Champagne tradition. Only those that pass the test are deemed worthy of the Club Trésors label and presented in the Club’s elegant, exclusive bottle.

A Blend of 70% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir from Vineyards around the villages of Hautvillers, Dizy and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. The soils are clay and limestone on belemnita quadrata chalk. This chalk variety stores and radiates solar heat, maximizes drainage of excess water and retains humidity in summer. It stores the principal minerals that give the grapes their high ester content.

The vines are an average age of 27 years, they are planted to 8,300 to 10,000 vines by hectare, pruned according to “Chablis” and “Cordon de Royat” methods.

Vinification is by parcel. Static settling 15 to 20 hours. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentation, tartaric stabilization in small-volume, temperature-controlled tanks. Bottled 4 to 7 months after harvest. Aged on lees a minimum of 7 years on average. 

Tasting Notes:  Golden yellow hue with a hint of green, Fine mousse. Fine nose: fresh, elegant, floral.  Fresh and balanced palate; hazelnut, quince paste in the long finish. An elegant vintage

2005 Henri Goutorbe Special Club Brut Champagne   
Price: $95.00    Sale $83.60  Case $969

Yellow. Ripe, rather exotic aromas of mango, musky citrus pith and cherry pit. Then sappy and fruit-driven on the palate, with pineapple and cherry flavors lifted by zesty minerality. Offers a suave combination of density and freshness. Finishes with a slight bitterness but very good cut and smoky length.

1986 Chateau L'Eglise Clinet Pomerol   
Price: $205.00    Sale $180.40  Case $2091

(90 Points) This wine has become a bit more attenuated with cellaring, and yet while it tastes young and capable of lasting another two decades, I am not quite as enthusiastic about it as I once was. Nevertheless, it is an outstanding effort and certainly one of Pomerol’s top performers in this vintage that favored the Medoc. Still deep, dense ruby with some purple, the aromatics require coaxing from the glass. Notes of cedar, sweet plum, Christmas fruitcake, and black cherries and berries finally emerge with a hint of licorice and mushroom. The wine has excellent concentration, a medium to full-bodied, layered mid-section, and moderately high tannins in the finish. It was the relatively dry, hard tannins in the finish which lowered my score over previous tastings. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2020. Last tasted, 5/02.

1986 Vieux Chateau Certain Pomerol   
Price: $250.00  Sale $220.00  Case $2550

93 points Wine Spectator: "Big, generous and concentrated, supple in texture underneath the firm tannins, with distinctive black cherry, vanilla and smoke aromas and flavors that hold their own against a strong background of wood. This will age a long time; hold until at least 1995." (06/89)

2000 Chateau Gombaude Guillot Pomerol   
Price $77.50    Sale $68.20  Case $791

In the heart of the Pomerol plateau, on the Right Bank of Bordeaux, the vineyards of Château Gombaude-Guillot have been a family property for so long that the current generation doesn’t even know when they were first acquired. The Bélevier family was already well established as vignerons in Pomerol and Néac when this property was passed down to Marie Bélevier as a dowry in 1868. The “château” itself, which was originally a café where the locals would gather for a drink after church services, was added to the property in 1922. Today, Claire Laval, Marie’s great-granddaughter, runs the estate. Claire started her career as an agronomist, specializing in soils best suited for cattle, and had no formal training in viticulture. It is through viticulture, though, that she has refined her expertise in soil management, learning from her own work in the vineyards. Though the estate is already certified organic, she is now pursuing the more stringent requirements of biodynamics. Her dedication to the environment even extends to using local oak for the wines’ élevage. Claire’s reputation among her peers also speaks volumes of her capabilities and work ethic: in 1991, she and only one other woman were inducted into the Confrerie des Hospitaliers de Pomerol, a first in this traditionally all-male wine fraternity.

As a recently discovered jewel in the crown of Bordeaux, Pomerol does not have an official classification system, yet the standards set for the vignerons here are high. The château’s vineyards are comprised of glacial gravel deposits and clay, and vineyard work is focused around soil health, low yields, and maximizing ripeness. Cover crops are planted between vineyard rows to encourage microbiological activity in the soil. No chemical or synthetic herbicides or fungicides are used, and Claire is also careful not to eliminate vineyard pests entirely, citing their importance to the vineyard’s ecosystem. The vines average forty years of age and give naturally low yields. The wines of Gombaude-Guillot are classic reflections of Pomerol: rich and supple, with a deep gravel mineral structure. This vin de garde has all of the grace and finesse for which the appellation is known, without any of the highbrow pretention or price.

1982 Borgogno Barolo Riserva   
Price: $285.00    Sale $250.80  Case $2907

80% blend of grapes from various vineyards in the town of Barolo, including Liste, San Pietro delle Viole, Brunate, Cannubi and Cannubi-Boschis 20% of grapes are purchased from local grape growers (mostly La Morra and Barolo)Garnet red in color, this wine has a complex and fruit forward nose layered with aromas of wood, spices, resin, tobacco and a hint of smoke. Full-bodied with the warmth of alcohol, it has a smooth, silky finish. A strong and very pleasant wine, it has great structure and an enormous potential for ageing.

2000 Oddero Barolo Rocche Rivera   
Price: $90.00    Sale $79.20  Case $918

"Since the late 19th century, efforts have been made to identify which vineyards in the Barolo zones produces the highest quality of wine. Inspired by the prestige and high prices charged for Grand cru bottlings of Burgundy wine, Barolo producers began separating their holdings into individual vineyard lots and labeling the wines with these single vineyard designations. The practice became so extensive that some producers were doing single vineyard bottlings and charging high prices on all their holdings, regardless of whether the particular vineyard quality merited such a practice.

Led by prominent wine critic Luigi Veronelli, there was a push to have the vineyards of Barolo classified according to the quality of their produce. Winemaker Renato Ratti conducted an extensive study of the soils, geography and produce of vineyards throughout the area and mapped out individual plots based on their quality potential. The "Ratti Map" is still widely used by producers and negociants today. ---A. Domine (ed) Wine pg 360-361 Ullmann Publishing 2008 via Wikipedia

" While there is no official designation of cru vineyard in the Barolo zone, both oral tradition and the history of high prices paid by negociants has elevated some vineyards to "cru" status in Barolo. In the commune of Barolo the Cannubi and Sarmassa are considered "cru" class as well as the Brunate vineyard shared with the commune of La Morra. Also in La Morra is the highly esteemed Cerequio and Rocche vineyards. In Castiglione Falletto is the Monprivato and Villero vineyards. The commune of Serralunga d'Alba is home to the esteemed vineyards of Lazzarito and Vigna Rionda while the commune of Monforte d'Alba is home to the Bussia, Ginestra and Santo Stefano di Perno vineyards."

-J. Robinson (ed) "The Oxford Companion to Wine" Third Edition pg 63-65 Oxford University Press 2006 via Wikipedia

2005 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Brunate Le Coste   
Price: $168.00    Sale $147.84  Case $1714

The 2005 Barolo Brunate/Le Coste presents a darker shade of red fruit along with a more muscular, dense personality. This too is a relatively soft style for Rinaldi, and while some of the complexity of the finest vintages appears to be lacking, the wine nevertheless offers compelling balance and harmony. 92 pts Galloni

Menu

Chicken Kiev Pot Pie

Grilled portabella Carpaccio with fine herbs and shaved Reggiano Parmesan

Steak Tartar Ravioli with Sundried cherry brown butter

The fee for this tasting is $125+ tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.