2004 Moët & Chandon Champagne Grand Vintage
Community Tasting Note
Mr Squiggles Does not like this wine:
79 Points
Friday, November 1, 2013 - Served in an overlong flute, this was an austere teardrop of bone white chill. It has been suggested the blend is almost 40% chardonnay, which I can believe as all I could taste on the first mouthful was lemon and the frost in my frontal lobe.
The big marques make champagne for the globalised world: inoffensive, mass-marketable, in Duty Free everywhere. And this, despite being a vintage year, fulfilled the criteria. Even after the glass warmed I was hard pressed to identify much more than some mean apple and unripe pear. And the chardonnay, of course. Plenty of that.
But in a way, it was the perfect aperitif. It cleansed, stripped, neutralised the ground for the meal to come.
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Comment posted by Champagneinhand:
11/1/2013 9:13:00 AM - I almost never drink vintage champagne from a flute, unless at a party or a champagne event. I find them much more pleasurable in a oversized chardonnay glass. I also age my vintage wines, I see much more pleasure from patiently holding them. Many of them I have had in their youth and very few seemed like they were really open for business. Krug Grand Cuvee is a MV example of this. I think you either like the M&C style or you don't. I do like it.
I was curious on the 79, were their flaws in the wine, or just not your favorite style. Just wondering as a score below 80 usually implies there are flaws in the making of the wine. I had a similar bottle that was very tight and lemony, 2 actually that I drank to early. A 1998 Taittinger CDC BdB, like full acid grapefruit and a 2002 Drappier Grand Senderre, Just acids and citrus. Time will smooth them out, just not good at release. My fault for popping the corks. The 2004 Moet Rose may be more up your alley as it was much more strawberries, red cherry and creamier in texture. Not as yeasty of a beast. Much more elegant, of course a slightly higher tariff. I tasted the entire line up a couple months back and their NV is from '08,'09 and '10 and really tasted much better for serving now. a touch sweeter, more like an extra Dry, but very good.
With 5 different champagne house LVMH likes to cover all of their bases. I personally like Clicquot better or Ruinart for BdB.
Comment posted by Mr Squiggles:
11/6/2013 6:58:00 AM - Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Champagneinhand. I think you may have hit upon a very relevant point namely this champagne is still several years off its prime drinking potential. Tight and lemony indeed. The score arises from the CellarTracker Wine Rating Assistant where 70-79 marks a wine that is ‘below average to average’, and 80-85 is ‘good’. I couldn’t in all honesty put it in that higher category.
I do rail at my perception of the uniformity of Grande Marque houses (although I profess a weakness for a toasty Laurent Perrier Ultra Brut). For choice, the smaller houses of Joly and Devaux are more to my taste. I just find their champagnes more flavoursome, often with less weighting on the chardonnay and more creative use of meunier.
Comment posted by Champagneinhand:
11/6/2013 7:16:00 AM - I don't mind Laurent & Perrier either. They do have more of a spicy orchard fruit style than the full throttle citrus, mineral and bread dough you find in so many young champagne. Aging them really tones that down some, and florals come out after a few years, then the fruit seem to take on a different aspect, where it is more noticeable and more ripe. I was just writing a friend on the forum requesting NV info, and M&C NV is '08-'10 juice and has a touch of sweetness that is appealing. But for the real experience of the orchard stuff Perrier & Jouet and La Grande Dame with age seem really good. The '96 DP, I have downstairs is more like a sparkling Gran Cru Montrachet. I don't know if it will ever age enough to show anything other than its really racy side, compared with '90. I've been told that you buy '04 to cellar and '05 to drink now, as it is similar to '03 and more accessible for the fruits. Let me know if you find something in one of the hotel's BTG poutings as I am always looking for new Vintage stuff to grab up, especially with the lower pricing….compared with DP/Cristal/Selosse
I would avoid Taittinger CdC BdB as it is usually so acidic, it reminds me of carbonated grapefruit juice. Thought a young 98 would take the enamel right of my teeth. I have heard they get better and less caustic with aging, so a couple in the cellar, as well as Drappier La Grande Senderre, but the 2002 I opened last year was very abrasive in the acid department, even though mostly Pinot. Drappier seems to age forever and has such a good price point. If you can find their Charles e Galle cuvee it is a blanc brut and all pinot. Cheers.