Waiting longer to disgorge a champagne translates to... what changes in a champagne's profile?

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Waiting longer to disgorge a champagne translates to...... - 6/4/2023 9:25:09 AM

Rossodio

Posts: 427
Joined: 7/12/2007
From: USA
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Asking this because the Difford Guide page I found on disgorgement (along with other pages I found through Google) is not very helpful, and I have a wine that I got two separate shipments of that I am wondering about.

The wine in question is NV Charles Heidsieck Champagne Rosé Special Edition. I bought three bottles in 9/2020 and two in 5/2023.

The 9/2020 purchase was "laid in chalk cellars" in 2006, disgorged 2017.
The 5/2023 purchase was "laid in chalk cellars" in 2006, disgorged 2019.

I am not sure why they chose to hold some of their 2006 base to disgorge in 2019, or what exactly the difference would be here.

Description from the back label of this wine:
The Rose Special Edition is a unique champagne due to its:
COMPLEXITY: wild strawberries, spices, and gentle toasted notes.
PRECISION: a careful selection of distinctly expressive lots.
GENEROSITY: 20% reserve wines with an average age of 10 years.
DEPTH: matured for over 3 years in our 2,000 year old chalk cellars.

With a NV champagne that runs somewhere around $50 a bottle, I don't know if this is meant to make a difference or not, but curious as to how the later disgorgement of what I assume is the same wine might affect the flavor profile and ageability of the wine. I wouldn't typically age an NV Rose, but I do have a bottle left of what I purchased in 9/2020 along with the two bottles I recently purchased.

Who knows, I may do a side by side to see if I notice a difference. Just need an excuse to open two bottles at once and serve which shouldn't be too hard to do. Otherwise I would at least like to know if it would be worth hanging on to either for a bit. Not long term of course...

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RE: Waiting longer to disgorge a champagne translates t... - 6/4/2023 7:04:48 PM

Sourdough

Posts: 1883
Joined: 12/23/2013
From: Austin, Texas
Status: offline

From my perspective this scenario has too many undefined variables to speculate about your specific purchases (for example, we’re the wines placed in storage in 2006 truly identical).

However, as a chemical engineer who tends to like wines with extended yeast contact I feel comfortable addressing the concept. Assuming all else is the same, delayed degorging should translate to extended contact with the expired yeast cells/lees, and that should in turn translates to a yeastier, brioche(ier), toastier, and potentially earthier, fuller bodied wine. However I would not expect an increase from 11 years to 13 years of lees contact to have much impact as the rate of change should be diminishing. That said, the longer delayed degorgement should be slightly fuller bodied and yeastier,

I should note that I like white wines and sparklers with extended lees contact - such as some Chardonnays, Muscadet Sevre Maine Sur Lie, and delayed degorgement Champagnes.

Please follow up with a post with your impressions of these wines.

< Message edited by Sourdough -- 6/4/2023 7:05:55 PM >

(in reply to Rossodio)

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