Champagne part V – de Sousa, Clouet, Diebolt, Peters
Thursday was to be a huge day: de Sousa, then Clouet, Diebolt-Vallois, Pierre Peters followed by a huge dinner with the patrons of the last two.
de Sousa
We started very early (for France) at de Sousa in Avize.
We commenced the tasting with the Brut Tradition (50% Ch, 40% P, 10% M), an assemblage of 2002, 2003 and 2004. The nose through up peach, brioche and some toasty lees character. The palate was well balanced, refreshing (a stated goal of the house), with a long honeyed finish. The dosage could be dialed back a little to my taste but it is probably idea for the market.
The Brut Reserve is a blanc de blancs wine, made entirely from grand cru fruit. It was tight at first but began to unwind, revealing a voluptuous wine, like a Chassagne-Montrachet. It is made from 40 year old vines. With even more are it took on a strong citrus over tone, which our host attributed to the marly soil the wines grow on. The wine sees 6 months in oak and it needs, for me, just a few more years to fully integrate. Again, the same assemblage of years as the previous wine.
The Cuvée des Caudalies Blanc de Blancs. the wine is sourced from older vines, 50 years and over. The bottle we had was 50% 2005 with the rest coming from older reserve wine from 1995 to 2004 inclusive. I really enjoyed the mix of the old and new fruit in this wine. The structure of the palate was also excellent, I was struck by the sheer refinement of the wine. The lower dosage, 3.5 grams, gave a lightness to the wine which I had looked for but not found in the previous wines. (I should note that I tasted this wine blind a week later and liked it much less.)
The reserve wine for this cuvée is kept in a solera style system, like that of Selosse — who’s winery is just a few hundred meters away. The word caudalie is a unit of measurement for the persistence of a wine in the mouth. Basically, one caudalie is one second of persistence after the wine is swallowed.
The de Sousa 2002 (50% Ch from Avize, 50% Pinot Noir from Aÿ) was another striking wine. Each sniff, each taste revealed the character of both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. My first impression was lots of wild red berry fruit, then a bread/brioche note, then burnt lemon. The bead, very fine and luxurious. The finish was dry and slightly tannic. The vinification in oak has given a roundness which will benefit from further aging. I think this bottle will improve with at least two more years in the cellar.
We finished with the Rosé, and assemblage of 2003 and 2002 fruit. At first, a little reduction which blew off after 5 minutes, so no big deal. After this, I hit by a big whack of oak and then raw, almost wild pinot noir aromas. In mouth, it was pleasant, but the oakiness persisted. The Pinot Noir component of the wine saw one year of new oak and the Chardonnay six. Everything else about the wine said early consumption. Not being a huge fan of oaky flavours, I cannot see why the wine was produced in such a way.
Henri Clouet
After a quick, light lunch we headed for Clouet in Bouzy. Jean-François Clouet is hilarious: scatter brained, a bit of an ego manic, a womaniser, very French. I found this (admittedly poorly made) interview with him:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdFCRuVITnE
In the film, he’s standing in his recently planted clos, head on the grounds on the winery. He hasn’t named the clos yet — he politely turned down Clos Gav.
Clos ________
Jean-François lead us through the chais (winery) as just about all vignerons want to do. Of course, they all look basically the same. What was interesting was that he saw a whole bunch of barrels from Doisy-Daëne in Barsac (near Sauternes). Jean-François has started buying second hand barrels from them after discussing the idea of aging Champagne in such barrels. Interesting…
Jean-François is a bit of a showman, a bit over the top (I got along with him well). He outlined to us his company’s growth: over the last few years they’ve gone from 50,000 bottles a year to 250,000. He believes quality has been increased, rather than decreased, at the same time. Their Champagne is big in diplomatic and royal circles: it is the wine of choice amongst the Swedish royal family and, on the Monday when we dropped in to say hello before visiting Benoît Lehay, we were quickly ushered out, before the Malaysian Foreign Minister arrived (also remember: Malaysia is a muslim country). So, it was no surprise that Jean-François has a few more plans up his sleeve. He detailed one for us, nothing other than: Clouet World. Yes, an amusement park, near Bouzy, for Champagne enthusiasts. It would include a huge hotel facility, every room having views of the vines; a seven story tower (the only build bigger than two stories in the tiny town of Bouzy is the church) from which one will be able to pick out the various vineyards of Bouzy; a blending facility where amateurs can choose to blend wines taken from different parcels; and more. How do you respond to that? I think one of us said ‘Can we taste the wine now?’
Ian the old fashion label and foil of the Clouet 1911.
Jean-François sees 1911 as a significant year personally and has tried to recreate the feel of the time with this bottle and wine, the Clouet 1911. The wine is matured in the Doisy Daëne barrels, is 100% Pinot Noir and made up of older wine. This bottle was an assemblage of 1999, 2000 and older reserve wine. There was 5 grams residual sugar. The wine had a very vigorous bead. The nose through up that distinct aroma sound in Bouzy: the cooking of red fruits into jam. The palate showed good structure, fine raspberry like acidity but the fruit was almost overwhelming. Bouzy can get very ripe by Champagne standards and for me, this wine was just a little too ripe, too powerful.
The Brut also showed a vigorous bead and, interestingly, some oaky oxidative influence. Again, I felt this to be too ripe, too powerfully vinous but it’s clear that this style is really not for me. The wine is a blend of 2003, 2002 and 2001.
I wanted to like these wines because they were made by such a character. Alas, they are not for me at this time. They clearly have a following though and are very popular in Scandinavia and the USA.
Diebolt-Vallois – Cremant
Jacques Diebolt is your classic little Frenchman: excited, energetic, wants to show you every wine he has, extremely knowledgeable and just fun to be around. As he was quite short, he chose to use a hose, which he would suck on to get the flow going, instead of a pipette.
We tasted just about every vin clair he had, including all the 2007 plus the reserve wine. We must have done this for two hours. The 2007s look good, the Fleur de Passion in particular will be very good.
Not for the first time, it struck me that wine making must be full of sadness: the wine is constantly evolving and changes week on week. It’s about four months since the wines at Diobolt would have finished fermenting. The Fleur de Passion, having been put in older oak barrels, has stabilised quickly and has not taken on too much oakiness. The addition of a little fine lees has lifted the wine up and giving it flavours and aromas rarely seen in finished wine. It’s impossible to describe but it just seems, some times, a shame that one cannot capture that freshness and purity in a bottle.
We went on to taste a 2002 Fleur de Passion. Quite simply, this is a superb wine. Unfortunately, Jacques knows it. He’s held it back from the usual release date and is looking to almost double the price to 40 euros whole sale, it seems. That doesn’t detract from its obvious refinement though: the nose has a massive lift of pure passion fruit, melon, a touch of citrus and vanilla. The wine is nearly weightless in the mouth. The finish is superb. A great wine, a pleasure to drink.
Pierre Peters
Having stood around in a freezing chais at Diebolt for hours, it was a pleasure to arrive at Pierre Peters and be shown to the tasting room. Despite being late in the evening (around 7 PM), things were still buzzing: family members rushing here and there, a sommelier in the office tasting and purchasing.
François Peters is another character. He is the local commercial disputes tribunal magistrate and going by his form when I met him I wouldn’t be surprised if his solution to all problems was to open a bottle of Champagne!
François Peters
François presented his Brut. It showed very well, with a richly honeyed nose, vigorous mousse and a streak of vanilla from some oak handling. A delicious aperitif style Champagne. Amazingly, an assemblage of 2004 and 2005, it seems much more integrated than I’d expect. For contrast, François presented his Extra Brut, made from 2002 fruit, which through up brioche, coffee, chocolate. The acidity was delicious, refreshing. The finish long and dry. A style I quite liked.
At this point, Jacques Diebolt turned up. He and François chatted away at a staggering pace, talking wine, gossip, the good ol’ days. I assumed they were life long friends, and was surprised that they only saw each other once or twice a year:
Things were in full swing now. François went and raided the cellar — always frightening when you know that a Champagne vigneron’s cellar might have a million bottles in it. First, he presented a 2001, excellent for the year with toasty leesy development. You can see the house style in the honey and toast, and the steely Mesnil acidity. The 1996 was beginning to show good secondary development, with a hint of grilled nuts and preserved lemon. Best of all was the beautiful mouth filling quality of the wine. Weightless and nearly endless, a very good wine.
The 1989 had a fantastic, delicious, clotted cream and vanilla character to it. The creaminess is on the nose and in the texture of the palate. A bit of time in the glass showed a distinct flavour of clementine (mandarin), which I am told is a characteristic of the house. It was a beautiful wine, with that interweaving of age and freshness I so enjoy in aged Champagne.
Dinner
It was time to head to dinner at a table d’Hote known well to Ian, Jim and the locals. Half way through dinner, the mayor of Mesnil turned up in overalls to have a chat with François about something. This is what I love about this small towns in France: Le Mesnil sur Oger is one of the most famous names in Champagne and yet it’s extremely laid back and made up of very friendly, happy people.
The dinner saw an almost endless array of bottles opened. I’ll just comment on those of note: a generously proffered bottle of Henri Giraud Fût de Chêne 1998 was a first for me. This wine’s rarity makes Selosse look easy to come by. The wine, made from Aÿ fruit, sees 100% new oak barrels (fûts de chêne). The nose was extremely oaky and worked. Like a rich, fat Montrachet or even new world Chardonnay. The palate had superb acidity but again, I saw piles of oak. This wine needs a very very long time before it is ready. Retailing near the price of vintage Krüg, I doubt I’ll see it again.
The Mugnier Les Amoureuses 2004 showed, much to my disappointment, a lot of character of 2004: namely, that cigar, coffee grounds, leafiness associated with a little unripeness. Structurally, the wine was impressive, velvety, made for food. Perhaps time in bottle will see the riper fruit characters dominate.
Next, we took a Mugnier Bonnes-Mares 2004. This was a big step up, showing more clay and smokey red berry fruit. The unripeness was very border line. The Frenchman at the table found that it gave a lot of interest and complexity to the wine. The structure of the wine was superb, the tannins deliciously fine. One to keep in the back of the cellar.
The La Tour Blanche 1998 showed very well also. Striking a good balance between richness and elegance, the wine was at once powerful and refined. With crème brûlée, perfect. It still has a long time in front of it.
The evening ended late with too many bottles consumed. It was back to Chavot and straight to bed, as the next day promised two treats: Vilmart and Selosse.
