CWG Tasting - Big Brand vs Grower Champagne
Mullineux & Leeu Cellar
Tasted Thursday, July 18, 2024 by rikipedia with 22 views
Introduction
Champagne's two identities sit side by side in the first flight tonight: Moët & Chandon, which fills roughly thirty million bottles a year under LVMH's ownership, poured next to Dhondt-Grellet, a family estate on six hectares of Grand and Premier Cru vineyard in the Côte des Blancs, producing just fifty thousand bottles. Same appellation, same NV format, a six-hundred-fold difference in scale.
The category as a whole runs to around 320 million bottles annually, and nearly half of that never leaves France — the domestic market alone absorbs some 138 million bottles a year, more than five times what reaches Britain, the next-largest market at 25.5 million. South Africa sits a long way further down the list, the twentieth-largest market in the world at 1.1 million bottles. Within Champagne itself, the imbalance is just as stark: 16,200 growers hold roughly 90% of the region's 34,200 hectares, yet the 390 Champagne houses sell up to 70% of everything produced. Most growers' holdings are tiny — 2.05 hectares on average, on land now worth up to €2.5 million a hectare — and of the 16,200, fewer than 5,000 vinify anything themselves. More than half of those hand their grapes or base wine to a cooperative to be made on their behalf. That leaves around 2,000 producers who both grow and make their own Champagne: the true growers, as distinct from the brands.
The "Grande Marques" tag that the big houses still trade on has a shakier history than the label suggests. The Syndicat was founded in Reims in 1882 under Florens Walbaum of Heidsieck, swelled to 61 member houses within two years, then contracted as lesser names fell away, and the survivors began styling themselves the elite. In 1997, pressed by British critics to define what "Grande Marque" quality actually meant, the member houses couldn't agree on a criterion, and the syndicate dissolved rather than commit to one — yet the same 24 names (Moët, Bollinger, Krug, Louis Roederer and Charles Heidsieck among them, all poured tonight) still circulate as shorthand for Champagne's aristocracy. The grower side found its voice later and more slowly: the Récoltant-Manipulant designation was formalised only with the 1936 AOC rules, and it took until the 1980s, and importers such as Terry Theise building a market for RM Champagne abroad, for growers to be taken seriously as something other than a house's fruit supplier.
The three main varieties chase different ground, and ripen in a different order to match it. Pinot Noir is Champagne's earliest-ripening grape and, with Chardonnay, favours the region's chalk — Pinot Noir on the Montagne de Reims, Chardonnay on the purer chalk of the Côte des Blancs, where it ripens latest of the three and keeps the acidity a Blanc de Blancs needs. Meunier sits between them: it buds late, which lets it dodge the spring frosts the Vallée de la Marne is prone to, then ripens quickly on that valley's clay and marl. The four "ancient" varieties that sit alongside these three owe their modern survival largely to one grower family: Aubry, in Jouy-lès-Reims, spent the late 1980s tracking down and replanting Arbanne, Petit Meslier and Fromenteau (Pinot Gris) ahead of their 1991 bicentenary, and in 1994 brought in the first harvest of all seven permitted varieties together, a milestone crystallised in their cuvée Le Nombre d'Or. Drappier, founded in Urville in 1808 and still 70% planted to Pinot Noir, picked up that same thread in the Aube — geologically nearer Chablis than Reims — where the family has spent twenty-plus years replanting Arbanne, Petit Meslier and Blanc Vrai, which now make up a quarter each of tonight's Quattuor alongside Chardonnay. In 2023 Drappier went further still, becoming the first house to plant all eight permitted Champagne grapes, including Voltis — a disease-resistant PIWI hybrid admitted to the appellation on a ten-year trial in 2021, the first fungus-resistant variety ever written into a French AOC, with a final verdict due in 2033. Old varieties and experimental ones, in other words, both belong to the same instinct: a grower's willingness to answer to the vineyard rather than the brand.
The first flight mixes house and grower outright, through the Blanc de Blancs and into three prestige cuvées, to see whether the gap between the two shows up in the glass, or only on the label.
NV Moët & Chandon Champagne Brut Impérial 88 Points
France, Champagne
(Tasted Blind) Pale gold, bordering on straw, with a relatively steady, creamy mousse.
Green apple, lemon, chilled pear and toast subtly brush the nose - feels restrained and correct.
A rounded, easy-going entry with a vibrant acidity dotted with lemony edges and apple pulp, with that toastiness carrying through. There is a creaminess to the texture that gives a softer, sweeter edge as this medium-bodied wine slips to a pleasant, if brief, finish. I caught a hint of chemical note on the tail, along with a dab of linden honey, but this is undeniably a crowd-pleaser, even if it fails to excite.
A traditional blend of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, and Chardonnay. Around 7g/L dosage,
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NV Jacquesson & Fils Champagne Cuvée No. 745 Extra Brut 92 Points
France, Champagne
(Tasted Blind) Pale to mid gold with an intense, brioche-laden nose featuring burnt pastry, brown bread dough, yeast extract, and hints of hazelnut - all clear evidence of extended lees contact.
The palate is acid-driven, giving an upright, tense frame that holds Granny Smith apple purée, tart citrus, peeled Forelle pears, oyster shell with a touch of aldehydic/volatile lift that is noticeable but not out of place.
Layers of chalk and a nutty complexity unfold, and the wine has a vibrant effervescence throughout, lending energy and seemingly low in dosage - very little RS picked up, and the wine is persistent with a grippy finish. I loved the tension and purity.
The 745 is built on the 2017 vintage, with 30% reserves, and is Extra Brut (<1 g/L dosage). Made from 66% Pinot Noir/Meunier (Aÿ, Dizy, Hautvillers), 34% Chardonnay (Avize, Oiry). It is matured on lees in oak with a minimum of 4 years sur lattes, disgorged Feb 2022. Up until 1999; in 2000: moved to use of reserve wines coming in. Started with 728, 2001: 729
The numerals refer to the year from 2000 and add each year.
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NV Dhondt-Grellet Champagne Roc Solare 95 Points
France, Champagne
(Tasted Blind) Mid-straw to pale gold in colour, with fragrant aromas of jasmine and gardenia alongside ripe apple, lemon, and nectarine. These are complemented by toasted croissant, sourdough, toasted pine nuts, and hazelnut, all underpinned by a subtle oxidative character and a super fine, continuous stream of bubbles.
The entry is elegant and sculpted with a pulsating acidity that elevates the wine, whilst the creaminess from the lees adds richness. There is exceptional mid‑palate complexity revealing a fleshy core of apple puree, nectarine pulp and chilled grapefruit. Distinct floral infusions further enhance the layers of flavour along with a lactic edge and an aldehydic note that is present but not intrusive. Further along, pulverised hazelnut echoes through a long, grippy, chalk-tinged finish. Wow, this is drinking beautifully, and I love its seemingly full-bodied richness (from barrel fermentation) yet acidic floral balance that lends tightness. Very drinkable!
The grapes are sourced from the Côteaux du Sézannais vineyards planted on deep clay-pebble soils with silex. The blend is mostly Chardonnay (about 90%) with Pinot Noir making up the remainder. It includes some older vines planted in the 1970s. The winemaker studied in Burgundy and ferments spontaneously using high solids to enhance more phenolics, aiming for a more earthier style. Approximately one-third of the wine is matured in neutral oak barrels with no malolactic fermentation. A perpetual reserve system is used, incorporating about 30% of reserve wines dating back to 1986. Dosage is very low (~1–3 g/l Extra Brut) and the wine spends around four years on lees.
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NV Bollinger Champagne Special Cuvée Brut 90 Points
France, Champagne
(Tasted Blind) Pale yellow-gold with a fine, consistent mousse. A bright and fruity opening with strawberries and cream and green apple, enhanced by bread dough and a touch of cinnamon, adding a subtle spiciness.
The palate has notable power and richness—creamy in texture with a broad mid-palate and a vibrant acidity. There is a more substantial feel compared to some NVs, whilst the core has that balance of sweeter berry and orchard fruit set against a healthy dose of baking spices, with cinnamon prominent - possibly indicating higher dosage?
Overall, this is a well-proportioned and smooth wine that leads to a long, integrated finish. While it is very enjoyable, it tends to offer more surface-level pleasure rather than profound depth, making it feel somewhat generic.
A blend of 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, and 15% Pinot Meunier, barrel-fermented and aged on lees, with reserve wines held in a perpetual solera system.
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