Important Update From the Founder
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Terres et Vins de Champagne 'a Portland
E&R Wine Shop, Portland OR
Tasted May 17, 2013 - May 18, 2013 by David Paris (dbp) with 1,255 views
Introduction
From E&R's email: "Terres et Vins, conceived by the talented (and now quite renown) young wine growers, Raphaël Bérèche and Aurélien Laherte, began as a grassroots response to the omnipresent voice and methodology of the large and powerful brand name houses that have long dominated the market for Champagne. The small growers of Terres et Vins work differently: with an emphasis on their land. In some cases this means working with organic or biodynamic methods, but in all cases it means working in an overall conscious way that allows the land to flourish through the vines and, in turn, making wines that express the vineyards.
"Not-your-average-tasting, Terres et Vins features some of Champagne's most talented and innovative wine growers and acquiring an entry pass has become increasingly difficult since the inaugural event took place in April 2009. We have attended numerous "wine salons" and have not been more impressed by the quality of a line-up or convivial spirit than we were by Terres et Vins. In fact, we were so invigorated by the experience that it inspired us to create our own at-home version of the Terres et Vins event! If you have been following our Champagne route, you may recognize that the group includes a number of our very favorite growers whose wines we have excitedly stood behind for as long as we have been able to obtain them. There are those gems, and there are others."
Flight 1 - Day 1 (20 notes)
Rosé - Sparkling
N.V. Pascal Doquet Champagne Premier Cru Brut Rosé
91 points
Really enjoyed this today. This offered luscious, vibrant spiky sweet minerality on the nose. Quite decedent with that mineral laced sweet fruit aroma. The palate shows a soft, really nice mouse. Creamy and beautifull in texture, offering luscious strawberry and apple. More pleasing fruit flavors on the finish and nicely coating of the palate. Really good. I wonder if I particularly enjoyed this one because it was the first of 40? *shrug*
White - Sparkling
N.V. Pascal Doquet Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut
90 points
Quieter than the rose, showing soft minerality. Nice apple core on the palate with good sweetness of fruit, some gravel notion, and overall fairly pretty. The finish is nice and soft, but gets into some intense minerality as it lingers.
Rosé - Sparkling
N.V. Benoît Lahaye Champagne Rose de Maceration
88 points
This was 2009 base. Soft and creamy aromas, offering some apples. A bit gritty and minerally on the palate, almost a lean metallic notion. The finish is quite metallic again, but this fades after a bit offering some more pleasing flavors.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Benoît Lahaye Champagne Grand Cru Brut Nature
89 points
Nice soft fruit on the nose. Palate is vibrant red fruits with some salty, quartz minerality. Nice. Finish is soft and elegant, offering nice length and minerality.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Marie-Noëlle Ledru Champagne Grand Cru Extra Brut
89 points
Nice apples and general vibrancy on the nose. Really nice, luscious body and flavors, with a pleasing sweetness without too much coating grittyness that can come with Extra Brut wines. More grit on thee finish, but nice vibrancy and a bit cutting rockiness.
White - Sparkling
2008 Marie-Noëlle Ledru Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée du Goulté Blanc de Noirs Brut
90 points
Soft with nice fruit aromas. The palate is really expressive of bright red fruits and offers penetrating depth. Really seamless and elegant, showing some lemon flavors. The finish is pretty with lemon acidity erupting, leaving the mouth puckering. Nice structure here. 90+
White - Sparkling
N.V. Francis Boulard Champagne Les Murgiers Brut Nature
82 points
Really horribly stinky. Smells like manure, soil, and bacteria. Taste is much better, but still offering that earthy flavor, with Worcestershire sauce, general funk, and a bacterial notion. Nasty finish of shit, funk, dirt, and all not in a good way. I like my wine earthy, but this tastes like it had some bacterial contamination flaw. The distributor tried it and assured us it was showing correctly.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Francis Boulard Champagne Grand Cru Brut Nature (Zero) Mailly
89 points
Soft, quiet aroma. Nice body, with light flavor, but pretty. Nice texture. Light finish, but a pleasing cream cheese frosting flavor that I quite like. Even feels that way.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Franck Pascal Champagne Reliance Brut Nature
90 points
Very light aromas. Nice softness on the palate, creamy, showing sweet fruit and cream cheese. Soft and very nice. The finish is creamy and luscious with nice minerality.
White - Sparkling
2004 Franck Pascal Champagne Quinte Essence
90 points
Mineral aromas, but the whole thing is soft and creamy. Really thick palate texture with nice depth. As its held on the palate I feel like I'm exploring down a cavern. Lovely. The finish shows nice creamy lushness. Pleasing stuff that I think will improve from here. 90+
White - Sparkling
N.V. Olivier Horiot Champagne Métisse Noirs et Blancs Extra Brut
81 points
Soft, light nose, not showing much. Really interesting, nice soft palate entry but after just a second or so this begins tasting like stomach acid... like I put too much faith in a burp and got some acid with it. This carries into the finish, which is also puckering and shows lean minerality. The stomach acid component is mild, but completely off putting.
Rosé - Sparkling
N.V. Olivier Horiot Champagne Sève Rosé de Saignée En Barmont Les Riceys
86 points
This was 2006 base. This is pretty funky on the nose, and smells a bit meaty, like chicken on the grill, and then I get a wet dried grass component. Funky palate, like sherry flavors. Definitely is made in an oxidative style. Also tastes of glue. Totally wild finish, and for me tastes a bit too much like bread soaked in sherry.
Rosé - Sparkling
N.V. Jeaunaux-Robin Champagne Brut Rosé
91 points
Perhaps my wine of day one, but unfortunately was unavailable in this market. The aromas were soft but offered nice luscious fruit. The palate is really soft with impressive light yeastiness and a creamy texture. Creamy and elegant finish, with nice minerality and acidity that builds and builds long after swallowing. I was completely unexpecting of that due to the lusciousness on the palate, but after 30 seconds what's left is a really surprising cutting sensation on the tongue. Back to the lusciousness with another sip, and then to the cut at the end. Fun wine.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Jeaunaux-Robin Champagne Selection Extra Brut
90 points
Soft apple aromas. Really fantastic creaminess on the palate again; soft. Really great soft finish with nice minerality again lingering at the end. Very good.
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White - Sparkling
N.V. Roger Pouillon et Fils Champagne Brut Réserve
90 points
Stronger aromas, a bit like a sulfurous match and tart lemons. Very nice, stronger soft flavors on the palate. Yummy lingering finish.
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White - Sparkling
N.V. Roger Pouillon et Fils Champagne Vigneron Brut
89 points
Soft, light minerals and apples on the nose. Very nice mouse on the palate, which is soft and really luscious. Tons of soft bubbles. Feels like cream. Nice minerality and sweet lemon. Good lingering acidity on the finish, but then it kind of dies. Not quite following through on the promise of the palate.
Rosé - Sparkling
N.V. Vincent Couche Champagne Rosé Extra Brut
88 points
Soft aromas. Very nice palate, which is soft and a little cutting with minerals. Finish is cutting, a little creamy at the end, but not much depth.
White - Sparkling
2002 Vincent Couche Champagne Brut Millésimé
90 points
Soft, creamy aromas. Quite lean palate, but very nice, soft and luscious at the same nice. Impressive texture. Nice minerals dial up on the finish, leaving your mouth puckering. Good length, but very tight.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Laherte Frères Champagne Extra Brut Les Empreintes
89 points
Very soft aromas; smelled like everything else tonight. Nice bubbles on the palatee. Creamy, luscious texture offering pleasing meringue texture and lemon flavor. Puckering and lean finish, showing lots of minerals and a cutting grittiness. Very nice with larger slurps.
White - Sparkling
2008 Laherte Frères Champagne Extra Brut Les Vignes d’Autrefois
90 points
Soft and creamy aroma. Really luscious, creamy body. Light and lean in flavor. Luscious and creamy finish that lingers nicely on the senses. Very nice.
Flight 2 - Day 2 (20 notes)
Definitely some nice standouts today. The Bereche et Fils Champagne Reflet d'Antan and 2004 Georges Laval Champagne Cuvée Les Chênes were both reveleations in different ways. And then there were the highly sought after Leclapart wines that just did not make sense to me.
White - Sparkling
2006 Geoffroy Champagne Premier Cru Empreinte
88 points
Nice soft and creamy aroma. Very frothy palate, soft, with some zesty vibrancy of a nice crisp apple. The finish shows lemon juice, tart lemon rind, and decent minerality.
Rosé - Sparkling
N.V. Geoffroy Champagne Premier Cru Rosé de Saignée Brut
89 points
Very light aroma. Some metallic minerality on the palate, with a under ripe strawberry. Nice cutting minerals after its held on the palate. Mellow finish, without the minerality of the palate. Pretty mild.
Rosé - Sparkling
N.V. Chartogne-Taillet Champagne Le Rosé
90 points
Soft and nice lightness on the nose. Some really pleasing fruit on the palate, with impressive under ripe berries showing intensely. Overall very pleasing. Mellow finish; very docile. Light coating in texture.
White - Sparkling
2007 Chartogne-Taillet Champagne Blanc de Blancs Heurtebise
90 points
Mute aroma. The palate is mild, but nice pleasing bubbles emerge with an interesting component of old bubble gum, like those found in a 10 year old pack of Topps baseball cards. Pretty nice and creamy, soft, as its held on the palate. Good dial up, near eruption of minerality at the end. Good soft length.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Bérêche et Fils Champagne Brut Réserve
88 points
2010 base. Funky, zesty apple on the nose. Palate is soft and fairly mellow, with a slight green/red fruit bit. Some minerality on the finish leading to some puckering. Nice lingering notion.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Bérêche et Fils Champagne Reflet d'Antan
92 points
2008 base. This wine was totally wild and unique! 2/3rds of this is 2008 base and the remaining 1/3rd is a solera style, a mix of far older vintages. The aromas again are wild, and complex. Impressive graceful dance of elegance, with a unique melange of aroma more on the earthy side of things. Really rich and impressive depth on the palate. This even tastes like a solera style sherry. Quite different from what I expect in a Champagne. Tastes of fermentation(?). Some minerality on the finish and again playing a nice dance on the finish. Not quite as much depth offered here as the nose and palate. Quite puckering though, with good minerality lingering. I revisited this wine at the end of the tasting and found it much less interesting. It had been sitting in an ice bucket, though.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Marie Courtin Champagne Resonance Extra Brut
85 points
100% Pinot Noir. Pretty soft and quiet aromas. The palate is soft with a nice creaminess and some minerals setting in, but beginning to come across as metallic as its held. The finish shows more of this unpleasant metallic notion. Puckering acids but not very pleasing.
White - Sparkling
2007 Marie Courtin Champagne Efflorescence Extra Brut
Here for tracking purposes, but I really wasn't paying attention to this wine as I was involved in a conversation. I found it quite lean throughout, though a little delicious on the palate. Still, not enough attention was paid.
Rosé - Sparkling
N.V. Tarlant Champagne Rosé Zéro Brut Nature
90 points
85% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Noir. Soft aromas but some powdery minerality is also noted. The palate is mild with nice red berry fruit and mild minerality. Some nice acids and heavy minerals slowly build on the finish. Definitely impressive finish, but the rest of it is a bit lean. It'll probably come around as a whole package shortly.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Tarlant Champagne Zero Brut Nature
89 points
Soft, bready aroma. Very nice minerals and great structure on the palate. Soft lingering finish.
White - Sparkling
2004 Georges Laval Champagne Premier Cru Brut Nature Les Chênes
92 points
Wow, what an impressive, special bottle. This smells like all kinds of funky flowers, like that one that blooms only once ever 20 years, or whatever the folklore is. Really interesting, penetrating aroma. Amazing, more sweetly floral palate flavors that are beautiful, though still a little funky. This is beauty and grace; fantastic! Great funk and intensity keep things interesting on the finish. My wine of the tasting.
White - Sparkling
2006 David Leclapart Champagne Premier Cru L'Artiste Blanc de Blancs Pas Dosé Trépail
90 points
Very soft, pleasing aromas, but really not much there. Again, that soft, light flavor carries into the palate which offers a slight woody notion, but really not much depth. Some better cutting mineral tone on the finish, lingering with nice grace and fun puckering notion after 20 seconds. I find the price of this completely out of line, though.
White - Sparkling
2006 David Leclapart Champagne Premier Cru L'Apôtre Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut
This vineyard was planted in the 1940s and the wine was raised in wood. Yup, again... I just don't get this wine. This was a middle of the road wine even at this tasting, yet this was by far the most expensive bottle, and about 4 times the price of many bottles better than this. There's nothing wrong with this wine, there's just nothing interesting. The aromas are soft and a bit dusty. Quite mellow, but nice. The palate is very soft, with mellow bubbles and nice pretty acidity. Soft. Nice cutting minerality at the finish with decent length. But this wine really doesn't distinguish itself one bit. I don't get the hype...
White - Sparkling
N.V. Hubert Paulet Champagne Premier Cru Cuvée Tradition Brut
90 points
Nice soft luscious body with creamy texture and mild sweetness that's nice. The finish offers decent length with good lingering flavors.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Hubert Paulet Champagne Cuvée Risleus Brut
91 points
Very soft aromas with a nice cream component. Fairly luscious and graceful aromas. Some funk on the palate with really nice texture. Nice flavor of a strawberry dipped into slightly spoiled whipped cream (and I mean that in the best possible way). More similar profile on the finish, with nice funk and some minerality. Good stuff.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Françoise Bedel Champagne Dis, "Vin Secret" Brut
90 points
85% Pinot Meunier. Lots of mild funk on the nose. Interesting flowers; very nice strawberry fruit. Good creaminess on the palate with funky strawberries. Nice. Minerals and a bit of cutting personality at the end. Doesn't quite follow through with the pleasure I get on the palate, which I adore. This should offer a positive evolution over the coming years. 90+
White - Sparkling
N.V. Françoise Bedel Champagne Entre Ciel et Terre
90 points
Another beautiful effort here. 100% Pinot Meunier, offering soft mild fruited aroma. The palate is very intense and rich with fantastic gummy and creamy fruit. Like a gummy bear minus the sweetness. Nice sweetness here with pleasing flowers and fruit, nice balance of minerality. 90+
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White - Sparkling
2004 Henri Goutorbe Champagne Grand Cru Special Club
88 points
Nice bready aroma that's quite beautiful. Nice body, fairly mild, offering some woodsy notion. Soft. Puckering minerality on the finish, which is very cutting and lean. Tart stuff, but really not much interest.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Agrapart Champagne Grand Cru Terroirs Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut
91 points
Very nice and soft aromas that are floral. Mild palate with some funk and moderate texture. Nice cutting nature with minerals that hold nicely on the palate. Really dials up on the finish with impressive depth and tartness. Very good length that coats the mouth. Good stuff!
White - Sparkling
2002 Agrapart Champagne Grand Cru Vénus Brut Nature Blanc de Blancs
91 points
Nice saline aroma here. I want an oyster with this. In fact, it smells a bit like oysters, but a sweet oyster. Wow, really nice lusciousness on the palate; impressive body that's quite rich and thick. Delicious stuff. The finish is a bit funky. It's soft, but then after 10 seconds it gets very cutting and mineral laced. Needs more time still. 91+
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