Dinner at Mike and Cathy's place

Wellington, New Zealand
Tasted Monday, May 19, 2014 by HowardNZ with 468 views

Introduction

M. Moutard was in town so I went to see him for a tasting and picked up a couple of his Champagnes. The Moutard family has apparently been in Champagne since 1642.

I took them to an impromptu dinner at Mike and Cathy's place on Friday to watch the rugby. The dinner was great, the wines interesting, but sadly the Hurricanes lost ...

All wines served blind ...

Flight 1 (10 Notes)

  • 2004 G. H. Mumm & Cie Champagne Brut Millésimé 89 Points

    France, Champagne

    Colour light lemon. Good persistent mousse. A mealy nose but bright, with quite primary yellow fruit notes. Crisp and fresh on the palate showing nice ripe fruit. Fairly sweet showing (presumably) a relatively high dosage. A nice silky texture with good acidity. However, for a vintage Champagne a little "generic" and less complex on than the palate than you would like. Still, very drinkable, with good QPR for a vintage Champagne. Years ahead of it but I'm not sure it would become more profound with time.

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  • NV Moutard Père et Fils Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée 91 Points

    France, Champagne

    Colour pale yellow. Fine beaded mousse. A bouquet of stone fruit: peach, apricot and some pear. Also a yeasty autolysis element with some steely minerality. Fresh and focused in the mouth with good, vibrant acids. The flavours are of citrus and orchard stonefruit, with a bit of mealiness and brioche, finishing dry, on some minerality. Good mid palate fruit weight. Good value, but would benefit from greater complexity. I understand from M. Moutard this is 10 g/l dosage.

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  • 2006 Moutard Père et Fils Champagne Cuvée des 6 Cépages Brut 92 Points

    France, Champagne

    Colour deep gold, a real contrast with the NV. Also, more persistent mousse than the NV. A contrast on bouquet too. A rich, mealy, complex nose showing some autolysis character with notes of yellow peach, nectarine and a savoury element. In the mouth, this Champagne is much more about structure than the first two, with good dry extract and power. Rich, complex and seemingly with some age (everyone was picking this as older, 2002 and or from the 1990s), but still focused with balanced acids. Flavours of pineapple, mandarins and marmalade, with a zesty, dry finish. Would be interesting to cellar. M. Moutard explained that the Champagne is unusual in using six of the permitted varieties: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Blanc, Petit Meslier and Arbanne.

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  • 1990 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain 94 Points

    France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru

    Colour deep gold. A gorgeous, expressive, perfumed bouquet, that takes me straight to old Alsatian pinot gris. Complex, multi-layered aromas of spice, glycerol, honey, blanched almonds, honeysuckle, pineapple, at times fresh, then savoury. Revisiting it after ninety minutes in the glass, the nose is now more Turkish delight and ginger. In the mouth, there is a lovely texture, all unctuous and viscous. It needs some air to open and is clearly evolved and a little oxidised, but it is still very pure and shows good acidity. Carries its (14%) alcohol well. There is serious fruit weight, depth and power with layers of complex flavours: spice, honey, pineapple, passionfruit, marmalade, toffee, with mushroomy, savoury elements. Very long, finishes dry and notes of honey and spice. Right in its prime now but should have at least another 10 years in its window. Thanks to Mike and Cathy for this - they saw it on a restaurant list in Singapore and brought it home!

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  • 2003 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Charmes 94 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

    Colour light gold, showing some evolution. Initially on the nose, spice, lemon and brioche, with some vanilla oak. Once the bouquet fully opens it is packed full of beautiful, bright fruit, but with elegance. In the mouth, the good body on this wine has Thierry straight away suggesting Meursault. Pure, gorgeous sweetness, particularly on entry. Still fairly primary, with a big fruit structure, but not tropical fruit flavours, quite elegant. Luscious volume, with layers of flavour including spice, zesty citrus, rock melon, almonds and croissant. Lovely oily texture. Round and generous, with no hint of oxidation, lower acid but beautiful phenolics and great precision and focus. There is oak here but it’s in proportion, well integrated. Grand Cru fruit weight, it finishes clean and balanced. This wine could stand up to bigger food eg a chicken dish. Drink now or in the next 6-8 years. My WOTN.

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  • 1994 Neudorf Pinot Noir Moutere 89 Points

    New Zealand, South Island, Nelson, Moutere

    Under cork. Colour deep ruby, with hints of brown. A funky, slightly feral nose, secondary in character showing sous bois, mushrooms and a strong lactic component. Clearly old Pinot Noir with the secondary development over a core of developed red berry aromas. On palate, mushroom and funky on entry showing that secondary character, again with a core of preserved or dried red fruits. A nice, silky texture, with good fruit weight, but a little vegetal or under-ripe, pulling up a bit short. An interesting wine, still drinkable, but on the downward slide.

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  • 2007 Dry River Pinot Noir 89 Points

    New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough

    Under cork. Colour primary purple. A bouquet of bright red fruits, including licquered and a little confected. Aromas of raspberry, kirsch, red cherry and crème de cassis. In the mouth, very ripe and tangy. Quite primary, very bright and pretty. Depending on one’s perspective, this could be interpreted as over-extracted and very worked. To me, not varietal, more Syrah-like than Pinot Noir and not complex or interesting enough. But the wine shows no fault, is well made and would be very much enjoyed by others who like this style. Years ahead of this wine, in this style. Hard for me to objectively score.

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  • 2007 Nicolas Rossignol Volnay 1er Cru Taillepieds 92 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru

    Colour primary red, traces of purple. Nose of raspberries, red cherries, damp earth, sous bois, surrounding red cherry. On palate, this wine is not a stereotypical 2007 red Burgundy (I’m guessing 2002 or 2006, from the acid profile). Very good fruit weight, concentration and power, with a nice spine of bright acids. The flavours are tart sour cherries and other red fruit with savoury aspects, showing suave tannins. Good structure. Drink now or hold for 6-8 years.

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  • 1996 Alain Hudelot-Noëllat Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Malconsorts 93 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

    Primary ruby Pinot Noir colour. A perfumed bouquet of spicy red fruit, underbrush and damp soil. On the palate this wine is still very primary. Fresh and refreshing, the acids give the first impression and make me think first of 2008 Burgundy and then of 1996. A large scaled wine with big structure and big dry extract. The acids are prominent but not too much so, the wine is well balanced in terms of acids, fruit and tannins. Quite fleshy for a 1996, with nicely integrated tannins. The flavours are red fruited, sous bois and secondary. Drinking well now but ideally this wine needs more time in the cellar.

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  • 2005 Château Rieussec 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Colour deep gold. Bouquet of honey, apricot, peaches, butterscotch, candied lemon peel and spice. A lovely, expressive nose. In the mouth, unctuous and oily with excellent fruit weight and structure. Not a high acid Sauternes, but with enough to provide precision and focus. Very rich, sweet and powerful with flavours of pineapple, honey, burnt toffee and apricot. Some oak on the palate, but not off-putting. Long. Drink now or cellar long term.

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