Champagne Education with Kit and Brenna

We brought a bottle of 1996 Pol Roger Winston Churchill over to Kit and Brenna's house to help celebrate the holidays. We got into a discussion about Champagne styles, and realized that when we discussed "full bodied" vs "lighter" styled champagnes, our observations didn't seem to jibe with Karen McNeal's in her wine bible. This prompted us to want to educate ourselves further on Champagne attributes, to better appreciate Sir Winston. We decided to Purchase a bottle or Tattinger's NV and a bottle of Roederer's NV to compare and contrast a lighter style champagne against a fuller style.

Comparing a Light vs Full Bodied Champagne, as defined my Karen McNeal's Wine Bible

• NV Taittinger Champagne Brut Réserve / La Française

  France, Champagne

  The Tattinger was chosen as our representative of a "lighter" style of champagne, and indeed the wine had a clean, crisp feel with a bracing acidity. When drunk alone, all four of us tended to prefer the more full-bodied Roederer NV. However, when we tried our crackers with salmon dip, duck liver pate, or rich goat's cheese, the Tattinger's crisp acidity made a MUCH better match to these rich foods, to the point that the Roederer was nearly neglected. The general consensus was that Tattinger is a more versatile food wine than Roederer.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• NV Louis Roederer Champagne Brut Premier

  France, Champagne

  The Roederer champagne was our representative full-bodied wine in the tasting, and indeed it had a richer (almost viscous) mouth-feel when compared to the crisp feel of the Tattinger. It had a somewhat more toasty feel, but nowhere near a Krug or Bolly. We all generally preferred this to the Tattinger when drunk on its own, but found the Roederer did not pair well with any of the rich, fatty hors d'ouevres on our table (pate, salmon dip, goat cheese). We did discover that the Roederer paired well with green apples and chocolate, neither of which responded to the Tattinger well.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

A mid-bodied Champagne in the toasty British style.

• 1996 Pol Roger Champagne Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill

  France, Champagne

  This was really a profound and wonderful champagne. When drunk on the heels of the Tattinger and Roederer, it exhibited a medium-bodied mouth-feel with a rich toastiness, but balanced by a good dose of acidity. From a pairing standpoint, this wine seemed fairly versatile, benefitting from its good acidity. The Pol Roger had more in common with the lighter-styled Tattinger in terms of its pairing matches (great with goat cheese, pate, etc), despite its rich toasty flavor profile.
  
  Amanda and I would put this wine up against any champagne we've had, including DP, Pommery, and many bottles of Krug's NV and Vintage incarnations.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Our tasting of the three wines seemed to illustrate that we were confusing a rich, leesy, toastiness of flavor with a full-bodied mouthfeel. While bready, rich wines are also frequently full-bodied, these are two separate attributes. Our tasting also suggests that the body of a Champagne may have as much to do with its pairing success as its flavor.