The best from this year's champagne beauty parade
Two little-known producers sparkle at the annual tasting event held by the regional marketing board
Last week saw a French invasion of Whitehall in London as champagne producers descended on the banqueting hall for the annual tasting event held by the CIVC, the champagne regional marketing body.
With nearly 70 producers side by side in a single room it provided a unique opportunity to compare and contrast styles and, importantly, to discover lesser-known names which can be swamped by the marketing nous of the bigger houses.
Among them was André Clouet, a 250 year-old, family-owned producer from the village of Bouzy that accomplishes the remarkable feat of producing an elegant non-vintage champagne from grand cru vineyards for under £20 a bottle.
Clouet’s Grand Cru Grande Réserve delivers everything you could want from a party champagne with enough character to accompany canapés or the first course of dinner. Rich and creamy, with hints of biscuit, the champagne is aged for six years in the bottle – something you get from Krug non-vintage but few other producers, even at the top end of the market.
The Swedish royal family regularly serves Clouet at parties, which is as good a recommendation as one could want.
Jean-Francois Clouet, the charming and youthful proprietor, replete with existentialists’ black rollneck and a reassuring fug of French tobacco, makes only about 250,000 bottles of the Grande Réserve and his Cuvée 1911 is even more select. Named to commemorate the workers’ revolt in the Champagne region of the same year, he produces a mere 1911 bottles annually from a blend of three vintages.
Of the vintage champagnes, the 1996 Bruno Paillard Assemblage stood out for its earthy depth and nougat notes. Paillard started his champagne house in 1981 and is regarded as one of the industry’s new stars. His blend from the top-rated 1996 harvest is 48% pinot noir and 52% chardonnay and is a knock-out vintage champagne.
André Clouet available from Jascots Wine Merchants, +44 (0)20 8965 2000, www.jascots.co.uk Bruno Paillard available from Bibendum Wine, +44 (0)20 7722 5577, www.bibendum-wine.co.uk
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
reddit
StumbleUpon