Institute of Masters of Wine Annual Champagne Tasting

Ferry Building, San Francisco
Tasted Monday, September 22, 2008 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 1,570 views

Introduction

This is a great annual event. Not only is there the opportunity to taste a wide variety of current Champagne releases in a lovely setting, but one does the pouring oneself (i.e., no need to listen to a distributor's details on wines that you're not that interested in, and no lines waiting for tasters to stop chatting with the pourer). To make it even more enjoyable, at least a quarter of the people tasting were tasting buddies (including many good friends) that I know from a lot of other events, so there were plenty of people whose palates I know to exchange perceptions with. To completely top it off, this year the event fell on my birthday, and my best friend in L.A. (who loves Champagne) was in town to spend the day with me and attend the tasting. All in all, it made for a particularly memorable wine-filled birthday.

What follows are quick impressions and speed ratings on a total of 66 Champagnes in 3 hours:
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L to R: Christine, me, Doug, Christianne and Sharon

Flight 1 - Vintage Champagne (Blends) (14 Notes)

Naturally, I went for the expensive vintage Champagnes first, as those are generally the first to run out. The '98 Pol Roger Winston Churchill was my favorite of this class, and ended up as my top wine of the tasting. The Delbeck and the Gatinois (first Gatinois I've tried) were also impressive.
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Flight 2 - Rose Champagne (16 Notes)

Next to the Rose tables, which included more vintage selections. Again the Delbeck, not a house I'm very familiar with, impressed, as did the '96 Ruinart and a usual favorite, the Heidsieck. But the most memorable of this flight was the '85 Veuve Clicquot Rare. A number were much weaker than I expected, and weaker on the whole than the prior year.
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Flight 3 - Blanc de Blancs Champagne (11 Notes)

On to the Blanc de Blancs, including more vintage samples. The '98 Taittinger, Andre Jacquart Brut Experience and '95 Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millenaires were the standouts for me in this group, although I've rated the last higher in a more relaxed setting, over dinner. I thought this was a pretty strong group overall, with the exception of the Jean Milan and the Varnier-Fanniere.
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Flight 4 - Other Non-Vintage Champagne (15 Notes)

Down to the other NVs, which is usually a pretty mixed bag. This group contained our only Krug in the tasting, which, along with Geoffroy 1er Cru, was the clear standout of this flight. The Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve was also, as usual, a reliably good value.
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Flight 5 - Dose Champagne (3 Notes)

Finally the sweet stuff. Not usually my Champagne cup of tea, and these did not impress.

Closing

All in all, an enjoyable event, and one that I highly recommend. This year, though, lacked some of the highs (vintage Krug, late disgorged rarities) of last year, and gave me an overall sense that current releases of Roses and NVs are weaker this year than last. I will see if this impression holds in the few upcoming Champagne events.

My dear friend Traci, from L.A., snacking on some emergency caviar and creme fraiche:
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