Chablis and Champagne 19-22.09.2011
Tasted Monday, September 19, 2011 - Thursday, September 22, 2011 by honest bob with 1,108 views
Flight 1 - Champagne Diebolt-Vallois, Cramant (5 Notes)
A small, family concern, which attracted high praise and intense attention some 10 years ago, but subsequently appears to have dropped off the radar. These are very serious wines, and my ratings are deliberately conservative; I think mid-term cellaring may well add 2 points across the board.
Flight 2 - Champagne Lamiable, Tours-sur-Marne (2 Notes)
An old favourite, on excellent form with the 2006 Pinot Noir vintage. The Chardonnay remains, alas, thin, neutral and disappointing (bringing down the quality level of the blends...)
Flight 3 - William Fèvre, Chablis (9 Notes)
Making an appointment by email at 10 days notice required five messages to and fro, but it worked out in the end. Pleasant tasting room. Slightly grumpy reception (in French), awkward start to the tasting (in German), but after about 10 minutes and the arrival of a Swedish couple who refused to take no for an answer our host switched to (fluent, charming) English and the ice finally broke. Not only did he turn out not only to know Fèvres wines present and past in impressive detail, but proved knowledgable, interesting and open-minded on a wide range of other topics, including bottle closures and a wide range of other Chablis producers, none of whom he badmouthed. (He was quick to praise (Vincent) Dauvissat and Raveneau, but also had kind things to say about several other conscientious producers including the La Chablisiene co-op, reserving gentle disparagement for those evidently letting the side down). In short, we had a good time, learned a lot and hardly noticed 2 hours passing.
Fèvre vinify partly in oak barrels, mainly 1-7 years old, and only use 1% new oak. The terroir differences between wines from neighboring plots with similar vinification from the same vintage are striking; the overall level of quality is exemplary, and justifies quite high prices (70-100% higher than those displayed by run-of-the-mill smaller producers at the cellar door).
Flight 4 - Domaine Laroche, Chablis (5 Notes)
We paid €10 each for a pleasant hour in the company of a charming hostess, who walked us over to the Obédiencerie and its 9th Century cellars, and generously allowed us to go inside to see (and hear) the fermentation taking place in barrel and to look at the vault where the remains of St. Martin of Tours were once interred. This was not on the cards, as fermentation was in full process and yellow signs warned of the danger of asphyxiation from inhaling CO2. It smelled wonderful, and we emerged entirely unaspyhxiated. Back in the tasting room we got down to business. All the wines cost a multiple of practically anything else on sale from Chablis except Fèvre, and the top bottle, a super-cuvée from Grand Cru Blanchots called, appropriately enough, Obédiencerie is priced at a whacking €82 for 75cl, well over double many producers' rates for Les Clos and nearly four times as expensive as Bessin's Grand Cru Valmur! Laroche bottles everything under screwcap, which would normally win my complete and undivided loyalty, but unfortunately the deeply complacent, fat, bourgeois wines we tasted here were the least inspiring of our visit to Chablis. We bought some expensive Vaillons and Les Clos (and were a little surprised to be charged extra for the tasting). This is the only place in Chablis where we saw laminated recipe cards (the perfect match for the "perfect" wine...); the glossy image brochures are, I suppose, just part of the branding exercise. Laroche seems to be aspiring to resemble a good Chassagne Montrachet producer made over by Robert Mondavi and Gucci; unfortunately their winemakers are starting with juice which cries out to be treated (and, we both felt, marketed) in a profoundly different way.
Flight 5 - Jean-Claude Bessin, Chablis (4 Notes)
M. Bessin is reticent, perhaps a little shy, but even though we simply went up and rang the doorbell of his house in town, he generously agreed to allow us to taste in his cellar (out of town) later the same afternoon. Once he saw we genuinely liked his wines and were keen to learn he turned out to be a (reserved, cautious, gentlemanly) mine of information about Chablis and its terroir. Evidently a meticulous winemaker who makes the very best out of his plots, he emphasized his belief in minimal technical intervention during the winemaking process. His premises are simple but spick and span - he has clearly invested generously but prudently in the right equipment yet still manages to maintain remarkably civil prices.
Flight 6 - Champagne Gallimard, Les Riceys (5 Notes)
A warm welcome here: our hostess was a fountain of information about her own wines, the Aube in particular and Champagne in general. Gallimard have been picking up medals regularly at the Chardonnay du Monde competition and Brussels exhibition, and are one of the very few Les Riceys producers not to sell their juice on to the Grandes Marques. Robert Parker has suggested that the future of the Aube/Côte du Bar may well be in producing Chardonnay - the chalky soil is evidently more appropriate for this variety than for Pinot Noir, but it seems most growers are happy to take the money and send their unexciting PN juice up to Reims and Épernay to disappear into a big.name NV blend. Gallimard's PN is as rustic and un-aromatic as any I have tasted from the region, but the Chardonnay is excellent, and in my opinion demonstrates that Parker has a point.
Flight 7 - Various restaurant meals (4 Notes)
We didn't eat as well on this trip as on previous visits to the region. This trip could be summarized as: don't believe everything you read on Trip Advisor... In Tonnerre we stayed and ate at the Ferme de Fosse Dionne, a very mixed experience. Food mainly microwaved. In Chablis we ate at the Bistrot des Grands Crus, very basic fare, served with a smile at a reasonable price, but way under the standard of decent home cooking (Monsieur Microwave has moved in here too). The Syracuse Restaurant in Chablis had slightly better food at about twice the price, but abysmal service (culminating in a long wait for the bill while the randy waiter disappeared into a back room with the couple he had been flirting with all evening. You couldn't make this stuff up if you tried...) In Les Riceys we stayed at the nicest hotel, Le Marius, but made the mistake of eating their deep-frozen fare (Monsieur Microwave again); wine-wise we did very well with our Fèvre GC Bougros, but the restaurant has evidently signed a contract with an inferior Les Riceys Champagne house (who shall remain nameless here for the sake of charity); their soapy products are all that is on offer on Le Marius' fizz list, a scandal in this town and this region... Last year we stayed and ate at Le Magny on the other side of town (hotel drab, but good, honest freshly cooked food and a choice of at least a dozen local Champagnes) We'll go back there next time.
NV Diebolt-Vallois Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 86 Points
France, Champagne
(9/19/2011)
A blend from various villages, all on the Côte de Blancs. Reticent grilled bread scent, reserved entry with pleasant sweetness. Very short on the finish. Impeccably pure; lovely, fine, gentle mousse, but hardly exciting. 86(-87)P
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NV Diebolt-Vallois Champagne Cuvée Prestige Blanc de Blancs 88 Points
France, Champagne
(9/19/2011)
100% Cramant juice, assembled in 2009 from the 2006, 2007 and 2008 vintages. Rich yeasty, bready scent; fruity, juicy, lifted entry develops well in mouth to a rich (almost mirabelle/apricot) mid-palate. Medium finish. May be very good after a year or two in bottle. €24 au chai. 87(-90?)
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2005 Diebolt-Vallois Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Millésimé 88 Points
France, Champagne
(9/19/2011)
8g/l dosage. Massive yeasty scent, heavy and impressive. Entry dramatically acidic, promises more than the decrescendo of taste delivers, the finish is thin, almost sour. Perhaps this just needs a year or three in the cellar? €25 au chai. 87(-89)P
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1999 Diebolt-Vallois Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Millésimé 88 Points
France, Champagne
(9/19/2011)
Bottled 2000, disgorged 2010. Darker parchment colour, touch of honey on the nose; ripe and rather heavy Chardonnay entry, hinting at butter, toffee, substantial but rapidly fading finish. €35 au chai. 88(-89)P
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2005 Diebolt-Vallois Champagne Fleur de Passion Brut 90 Points
France, Champagne
(9/19/2011)
From 65 year old vines, vinified and matured in small oak casks, no malolactic fermentation. Lip-smacking, intense acidity, perfectly ripe green fruits on the spectrum between apple and greengage. Rich, "warm" and very clean. Needs at least 5 years in the cellar. €52 au chai. 90(+?)
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