Veuve Cliquot question

The yellow label is the base cuvee I believe. You may be smelling the lees (yeast). I have found these kinds of Champagne sometimes have a peculiar acidity that makes them taste metallic. An older bottle might develop oxidation (in many Champagnes, this is no defect, in fact it can give the wine incredibly complex bouquet (I am thinking of a 90 Jacques Beaufort, deep golden colour, very evolved, wonderful).

SInce I discovered that there are dozens of small winemakers producing Champagne, I no longer buy Veuve Cliquot, and evne higher end Krug and Bollinger, though spectacular, does not appeal to me as much as these non-industrial wines, they seem to have ... soul?

Mike

I don't know if you can call Krug or Salon "industrial wines" but what do you think about Agrapart or Dampierre?

Dimitri

Industrial is not synonymous with bad. I was referring to the size of the producer, and the fact that necessarily it must employ industrial techniques to p[roduce its wine, now matter how good it is... as opposed to small producers.

Agrapart, top chard in the same Avize terroir as Selosse and De Sousa.

Dampierre, never tasted, how is it?

Bye

Mike

I am not sure this is necessarily true, though. How many cases of "Clos du Mesnil" does Krug actually produce? I am sure it can't be many if overall production for the entire house is just 40,000 cases.

It is a more toasty, nutty champagne - especially compared to the Agrapart. I like it a great deal. The cuvee prestige is the Brut Family Reserve (95 points WS).

Dimitri

I myself have enjoyed each greatly, they seem to be marketed together, or perhaps occupy a similar niche as finely crafted smaller, but hardly obscure, labels.

The most interesting premium Champagne I had recently was the 1996 Chartogne-Taillet "Fiacre," a very subtle and satisfying Tête-de-Cuvée, pricey but worth every Grosschen, introduced to me by a gracious wine merchant at a December dinner in a restaurant I am very fond of.

Lastly at risk of repetition, here is what I suggested on Champagnes here on this newsgroup, or rather its grandparent group net.wines, 14-Jan-84. I have copied it here so you don't have to look it up. (This is one of many wine postings that Steve Pope and I used to "seed" the group and keep wine active on the Net.) The question at the end still applies.

-------- Newsgroups: net.wines Subject: Good Champagne values? - (nf) Message-ID: Date: Tue, 10-Jan-84

This newsgroup has been inactive for a few weeks. Are there no wine enthusiasts on the net? I know there's at least one.

At the risk of talking to myself, I'll take the initiative by broaching the subject of Champagnes. Recently the wine press has been abuzz with mentions of good values in French sparkling wines. Little-known premium Champagnes, on a par with the famous houses, can be found for $12-15; some of them have only recently become available in the US.

Here on the west coast, Bonnaire recently became available. The non-vintage blanc de blancs brut is a striking wine, and a good value at about $15 a bottle. It has a creamy-toasty quality that reminds me of Roederer, and exquisite balance. Classy stuff, outclassing other sparkling wines I've experienced in the price range.

I am eager to learn about other lesser-known Champagnes of good value. Any suggestions?

In fact it is fairly consistent, but then there is one imponderability with champagne: It's the wine most vulnerable to bad storage conditions. A few weeks of warm storage or a few days in daylight can heavily impair its flavours. If you drink your favourite champagne at dieeferebnt places, this most likely is the reason.

M.

I do drink Veuve at many different places. Maybe it is a storage thing, then. I don't experience that variance with the Louis Roederer Brut, although I only have a couple of places where I drink that. By the way, I noticed a posting from another Cherie today regarding a Piedmont hosting. Since there are apparantly two Cherie's posting this week, I will begin signing with my full name. (I'm the American beginner Cherie who will be visiting Southern France this summer...)

-Cherie Morganroth

Perhaps what you were eating at the time might also have something to do with it. Spicy foods, for instance, can transform a favorite and familiar flavor to that, maybe, of over-ripe roadkill. N'est pas? jl