Veuve Clicquot Champagne Tasting with winemaker Gaelle Goossens

People don't realize it, but no one lives that rock and roll life 24-7. They think it's hundreds of bottles of champagne flowing and private jets and money. But there's a lot of time when you're traveling - time to think, time to be lonely. Sometimes it gets to you.

Lenny Kravitz

Thank god I'm not a rock star! But I do drink like one...

Leroy and DRC tonight…

Screaming Eagle, Harlan Estate and a dozen other California Cult wines tomorrow night…

And a full line-up for next week including the winemaker from the most popular Champagne house in the world Gaelle Goossens from Champagne Veuve Clicquot will be here on Thursday, October 12th.

Veuve Clicquot is one of the hottest names in Champagne today, the "Yellow Label" brut has surpassed Moet & Chandon's now defunct "White Star" as the most recognized brand in the U.S. market.

Join us as we break bread with Gaelle at one of Fort Lauderdale's newest hot spots- the Wine Watch Wine Bar.  The fee for this tasting is $95 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com

Veuve Clicquot Tasting with Gaelle Goossens at WWWB
Thursday, October 12th
7:30 pm

Veuve Clicquot Rose Brut Champagne NV
Price: $76.50       Sale $67.32

This non-vintage Rose is the end result of a desire to create a Rose champagne with a delightfully luscious, fruit-based charm. Jacques Peters, the cellarmaster, and his team wanted a champagne that would be accessible and naturally engaging while conserving Veuve Clicquot's essential values in terms of style.

The wine has a luminous color with attractive pink glints. The nose is generous and elegant, with initial aromas of fresh red fruit (raspberry, wild strawberry, cherry, blackberry), leading to biscuity notes of dried fruits and Viennese pastries (almonds, apricots and brioche).

The fresh attack is followed by a fruity harmonious sensation on the palate. The wine is perfectly balanced in the best Veuve Clicquot style of pink champagnes, combining elegance and flair. The wine works its magic—this delectably full champagne can be enjoyed as a true delicacy. A deliciously fruity wine in earlybloom, this is a wonderful aperitif to be shared as a twosome or simply with friends.

Made using 50 to 60 different crus, the cuvee is based on Brut Yellow Label's traditional blend: 50 to 55% Pinot Noir, 15 to 20% Pinot Meunier, and 28 to 33% Chardonnay.

Veuve Clicquot Vintage Brut Champagne 2008
Price: $82.25       Sale $72.38

Its clear, brilliant, gold color lights up in the delicate tumult of fine bubbles produced by its persistent and remarkable effervescence. The nose is fresh, refined and elegant. Fragrances of citrus fruit and stone fruits (peach, apricot) appear first, which are then enriched by delicate, warm notes of sweet pastries, (almonds, Mirabelle plum tart): a subtle alliance of freshness and fullness. On the palate, the frank lively and pure attack moves into a powerful, structured palate, delicately chiseled from the minerality of Champagnes' chalky terroir. The generosity of the Pinot Noir's fruitiness resonates harmoniously with the freshness of the light candied citrus fruit aromas (lemon) which are embellished in the finish with delicate hints of toasted notes and dried fruit (apricots). Vintage 2008 is the perfect combination of power, freshness and finesse, and ends with an incredibly long finish.

Veuve Clicquot Vintage Rose Brut Champagne 2008
Price: $93.50       Sale $82.28

A bright pink color with light copper hues. A gentle and persistent string of very delicate bubbles forms, exploding on the surface. The nose is frank, fine and pure. It begins first with the aromas of fresh red fruits (strawberry, raspberry, cherry) combined with citrus fruit fragrances (grapefruit) that match perfectly with the lightly spiced notes of cinnamon and vanilla revealed once allowed to breathe. Finally, dried fruit and brioche notes delicately add to the richness and complexity of its aromas. The clear, taut attack moves into a more full-bodied, structured and energetic palate. A perfect reflection of the nose, its minerality reveals generous red fruit aromas from the Pinot Noir (Morello cherry) combined with notes of slightly candied citrus fruit from the Chardonnay. Hints of sweet pastries point to the wine's long and slow maturation on less. Lastly, marrying with the juicy freshness of the fruit, the power of the tannins is perfectly balanced, leading to a delicate and silky finish of surprising length.

Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame Brut Champagne 2006
Price: $187.50    Sale $165.00      

Veuve Clicquot's Prestige Cuvee, La Grande Dame, is a beautiful wine which pays homage to the "grande dame de la Champagne," Madame Clicquot. The incomparable finesse of this cuvée results from a blend of eight of the House's traditional Grands Crus.

La Grande Dame 2006 is an exclusive blend of Pinot Noir and Chardoonnay from eight classic Grands Crus. In line with the style of the house, which is Pinot Noir dominant, the blend is 53% Pinot Noir and 47% Chardonnay. The wine has intense color with golden glints and very fine sparkling bubbles. Each cuvée of La Grande Dame has exceptional aging potential. The current vintage 2006 can be enjoyed now until 2025.

Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame Rose Brut Champagne 2006
Price: $375.00    Sale $330.00

Intense color with copper glints. Very small, sparkling bubbles. The initial nose reveals a saline, mineral background, then notes of red fruits (Morello cherry, wild strawberry, redcurrant) and some more toasted notes of hazelnut, cocoa bean and sweet spices. When agitated, these empyreumatic characteristics are accentuated, while the aromatic complexity of the great Pinot Noirs is ever-present. In the mouth, it is plump and full of substance. The texture is crisp and silky. The tannins are still present, calling for a cuisine with texture to bring out the best in this wine. The finish is long and coats the palate. The tannins are already very well integrated and can be expected to blend in still further over the coming years.

Menu
Caviar Pie with Domestic Sturgeon Roe
White Tuna Belly Tartar with Siracha Aioli
Strawberry glazed Pork Belly on with Minted Orange Couscous

The fee for this tasting is $95 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com

A bit about Champagne Veuve Clicquot:

Veuve Clicquot was founded by Philippe Clicquot in 1772; he was a Reims banker and a woolen merchant who received vineyard land as part of his wife's dowry.  Shortly after the marriage, he began producing Champagne.  His only son Francois assumed control of the family enterprises in 1801 and sold off the other interests in 1804 to devote full energy to the prospering Champagne business.  In 1799, Francois, married Nicole Barbe Ponsardin, daughter of a rich textile manufacturer.  Early in 1806, at the age of 30, Francois was stricken with a fever and was dead a fortnight later.  The senior Clicquot, himself quite sick, drew up letters announcing the Champagne firm's liquidation.  However, he did not take into account the strong-willed personality of his daughter-in-law.  Within four months she revived the company and set about making Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin one of the grandes marques of Champagne.  Perspicacious to the last and revered throughout the region as "La Grande Dame", the uncrowned Queen of Champagne, the widow Clicquot died on the 29th of July, 1866, at the age of 89.  Today the firm owns 265 hectares of vineyards, the third largest holding in the region; and of these, 160 now have a 100% Grand Cru rating.  Only Champagne's elite vineyards attain the 100% Grand Cru rating, and these vineyards supply the grapes for most of the prestige cuvées.  In an average year, the company vineyards account for about 30% of its requirements.  The remainder is bought from 400 or so vineyard owners whose properties are equally well located, giving Veuve Clicquot an exceptionally high overall grape rating of 97%.  With an average annual production of almost 7,000,000 bottles, Veuve Clicquot is Champagne's third largest producer; only Mumm and the behemoth, Moët & Chandon, produce more.  Clicquot went public in 1955, and the firm has since expanded and diversified.  Since 1987 Veuve Clicquot has been part of the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy group of luxury brands.  For such a large turnover of wine, the standard of quality at Veuve Clicquot has been remarkable.

Like most major Champagne houses, Veuve Clicquot produces a wide range of Champagnes.  The firm launched a prestige cuvée - naturally called La Grande Dame - in 1972, the bicentennial year.  The wine is usually about 70% pinot noir and 30% Chardonnay; it comes exclusively from vineyards once owned by Madame Clicquot herself.  It is made only with "cuvée" wine (the first pressing) and is almost always an exceptional Champagne in an elite category where excellence is the norm.  The 1979 (one of our all time favorites), the 1983, the 1985, and the 1988 La Grande Dame (rated a "Taster's Choice" (95) in The Wine News in December of 1995) are big, rich, toasty styles of Champagne that are top class.  Veuve Clicquot also makes an excellent vintage Champagne and a superb vintage Rosé Champagne that is quite dry and austere. Veuve Clicquot owns almost 30% of the acreage - and old vines at that - in Bouzy, the source of pinot noir for Champagne's great rosés.  Veuve Clicquot Champagnes  - due to the preponderance of pinot noir in the blend - can be characterized as rather full-bodied, creamy, large scaled wines that can age well.

Of course, any firm's bread and butter Champagne is the non-vintage Brut; and Veuve Clicquot currently has one of the very best on the market.  The non-vintage is often referred to as the "Yellow Label"; we are not quite sure why.  The label is orange!!