Q2 2022 Wine Club: Grower Champagne
The Apt
Tasted Saturday, June 4, 2022 by MC2 Wines with 168 views
Introduction
Champagne wine clubs have been some of my favorites over the years and yet we've never officially done grower so it seemed like we were due for one. Smaller group again (similar to December) although it feels like the COVID concerns are going away. Not sure when we will all get together again as the rest of the year is pretty well jam-packed, but fun to do this one and I'm sure we'll sort out another for the future.
Same penny voting system as always - 5 pennies per person which can be be voted as five in one wine or one in five wines or anything in between. All wines served single blind for those you brought and double blind for the others.
Flight 1 - Core Tasting (8 Notes)
Flight 2 - Bonus Bottles (2 Notes)
Closing
I think someone said it best - 'we didn't really need a blind tasting to tell us we all like Selosse'. Ok, fair. Still - I didn't realize that I liked Mousse Fils that much and it was interesting to try some of the others many of which were new to me. Net-net though I was surprised at how similar all of these seemed to me and how all were generally quite enjoyable. I struggled in voting and I wonder if we ran same wines with same group of ppl if we wouldn't have found a very different outcome.
Final results:
12 pennies
Wine #1: NV Jacques Selosse V.O. Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut
9 pennies
Wine #2: 2016 Moussé Fils Champagne Special Club Les Fortes Terres
7 pennies
Wine #3: 2009 Gonet-Médeville Cuvée Théophile Grand Cru Rosé
5 pennies
Wine #7: 2006 Marc Hébrart Champagne Grand Cru Rive Gauche / Rive Droite Extra Brut
3 pennies
Wine #4: 2010 Marie-Noëlle Ledru Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée du Goulté Blanc de Noirs Brut
Wine #8: 2004 Tarlant Champagne La Vigne d'Antan Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut
1 penny
Wine #5: 2006 Paul Bara Champagne Grand Cru Comtesse Marie de France Bouzy
0 pennies
Wine #6: 2015 Robert Moncuit Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra-Brut Les Chetillons
NV Jacques Selosse V.O. Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Wine #1: I had the benefit of knowing there was a Selosse somewhere in the line-up and with that knowledge this was my guess for where it had ended up. It's a bit of that standard oxidation. Bright and great acid and nice bubbles and just always a bit more interesting. Different style of wine than some of the others. Always tasty. I suspect I might have liked it with more age (this was disgorged in 2018) but beggars can't be choosers and there's not so much Selosse around these days. (12 pennies)
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2016 Famille Moussé Champagne Special Club Les Fortes Terres
France, Champagne
Wine #2: This was another favorite for me in the line-up. Very different to the Selosse. It's softer and a bit more gentle. Ginger and apple and crisp. Still that more interesting style of champagne with layers. Drinks very well. Very young. (9 pennies - the fabulous prize winner)
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2009 Gonet-Médeville Cuvée Théophile Grand Cru Rosé
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Wine #3: The only rose of the line-up which surprised me a bit but so it goes. This was nice, easy drinking, a bit closed down. It's more slightly savory style. If there's red fruits they're almost a hint unripe. Wine though is quite bright. (7 pennies)
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2010 Marie-Noëlle Ledru Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée du Goulté Blanc de Noirs Brut
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Wine #4: A wine that is perhaps now costing more than it really should. I was quite excited to try as I've never had this producer and all of the wines that she will make are out in the world. I suspect if buying this for the price tag it sold out when she was alive it would have been a truly lovely champagne. At this point it's just marked up too much (not terribly far from the Selosse price) and I don't think it holds as well. It's a bit oxidized and a bit nutty and a bit of brioche and again an interesting wine but without quite so many different layers of depth. (3 pennies)
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2006 Paul Bara Champagne Grand Cru Comtesse Marie de France
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Wine #5: Served a bit less cold than the others to start which I thought was ok but I think was offputting for some. I get almost a hint of sweetness to this wine. Maybe some lemon curd. A lighter but lively style. It comes across as quite young. Needs more time. At this stage it feels more like an easy drinker. (1 penny)
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2015 Robert Moncuit Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut Les Chetillons
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Wine #6: Another fresh and bright and slightly tart and maybe a bit of lemon rind and just a hint of bitterness. Would be interesting to try side by side with the PP version as some of the flavoring seems similar but some feels a bit different. I am not entirely sure why this didn't have as much love other than there was a set of wines that I think all of them were good but they didn't differentiate as much as I would have thought. (0 pennies)
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2006 Marc Hébrart Champagne Grand Cru Rive Gauche / Rive Droite Extra Brut
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Wine #7: Bit of sweet and stone fruits and bright in style. It's interesting and generally drinks pretty well. This was one I went back to revisit. Would not have guessed it was one of the older wines. (5 pennies)
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2004 Tarlant Champagne La Vigne d'Antan
France, Champagne
Wine #8: Bit biting and a bit racy and some sour and bitter as well and while none of that sounds that appealing it was actually quite a nice wine. Served warmer originally and even though it was 8th in line when I got to it it hadn't chilled down quite the same as the others. Still tasty though. (3 pennies)
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