| | |
| ||||
| | ||||
| I love fine Champagne, even though I don’t often drink it. My better half Kim doesn’t fancy the stuff much, so we rarely open anything with bubbles in our sanctum sanctorum. The last time we did, on New Years Eve, the 1985 Heidsick & Monopole Diamant Bleu Brut Champagne was flat as a proverbial pancake. So was the 1992 Nicholas Feuillatte something or another that followed. My last three tastes of Champagne were all very nice, and all courtesy of our friend, Jim Friedman; a 5 – year old Laurent - Perrier Champagne Brut NV, a Bollinger Special Cuvee Brut Champagne NV and a Jaques Selosse Blanc de Blanc Grand Cru NV. And each one of these made me think to myself that I don’t drink nearly enough Champagne! So, I was happy for the opportunity to sample some reputedly very high quality stuff, even if I hadn’t a clue as to their producer. Bill called a few hours before show time to express regrets, due to illness, so I soldiered on over to Bacco on my own and took part in a tasting experience that turned out to be all that I’d hoped it might. | ||||
| The fellow who’d phoned me is one John M. Waddell Jr., an importer and distributor of fine wines and spirits with the North American Beverage Group, L.L.C. He was looking to find whether there might be any commercial interest in these parts for three offerings from the Champagne house Maison Giraud – Hemart, located in Aÿ, Vallée de la Marne. There is no mention of Maison Giraud – Hemart in such high profile wine websites as the Wine Spectator or eRobertParker (nor any reviews or ratings, for that matter). Even searches on many of the major wine forums found nothing beyond a couple of TNs from Otto Nieminen, of Helsinki, Finnland. I had to Google my way to Giraud – Hemart’s own site to find out a little something about them. The operation seems to place great emphasis and importance in the use of fine oak barrels in the making of their Grand Cru Champagnes, as Claude Giraud’s statement below shows. “The barrels were made of oak from the Argonne forest. These trees came from St Menehould, the birthplace of Dom Perignon, and situated 80kms east of Aÿ. Barrel-making was totally abandoned after 1950, but my father took great care of his. For the wines of Champagne to have had such a high reputation even before the advent of second fermentation, the combination of wine and wood must have been exceptional. Convinced of the significance of this concept, I ordered the construction and authentification of barrels made of Argonne forest oak in the time (honored) tradition. These barrels, stamped AR, are absolutely unique as is the smoothness, elegance and subtle woody aroma they import to the wine.” Other than that and an interesting batch of pictures, there’s simply not a lot out there about this producer beyond some positive reviews from noted Champagne authority, Tom Stevenson; it was pretty much uncharted territory for those of us in attendance, so we had at them and drew our own conclusions. It should be noted that, because Mr. Schwab was absent, John Waddell sent me packing afterwards with bottles of each of the Champagnes tasted, to share with him; thus, the reader will notice that impressions from both tastings are given. The Bacco tasting also provided the happy opportunity to renew acquaintances with Trevor Rudderham, and to finally meet and become acquainted with his friend, Sommelier Ron Edwards, formerly with Tapawingo and Five Lakes Grill.  Champagne Henri Giraud François Hemart Aÿ Grand Cru Brut Rosé NV, approx. $58, 12% alc. Find this wine: Peach – salmon pink in color, with fine, active bead and a mouthful of froth; pungent, rich, toasty, earthy, yeasty bread dough, peach and strawberry on both the nose and the palate, where the understated fruit allows the terroir driven character to express itself in a most impressive and tasty manner. The wine has good weight, great cut and a fine, long finish, and on the first occasion, made a great match for Bacco Freddo (Buffalo mozzarella Caprese, grilled eggplant Carpaccio and Ahi tuna Carpaccio). On the second tasting, it cut right through Bill’s bacon wrapped dates in a manner that the regular NV Brut was incapable of doing. This is the kind of Brut Rosé I want in the Cellar from Heck! 1995 Champagne Henri Giraud Fut de Chene Aÿ Grand Cru Brut, approx. $150, 12% alc. Find this wine: Medium straw in color, again, with a fine, active bead, good weight and the big froth; yeasty bread dough over fine, rich under ripe fruit, with earthy undertones and what Ron Edwards described as an “aged sheep’s milk cheese finish.” We’re told this saw twice as much time in wood as the NV Brut, but it only manifested in subtle undertones, being in no way forward or dominant; we’re also told that this is Pierce Brosnan’s and Mel Gibson’s favorite Champagne, for what it’s worth. A marvelous match for Bacco’s Bacco Caldo (House made Italian sausage and onions with gorgonzola, and jumbo shrimp campagnola), and great just to sip all by its lonesome. When we enjoyed this on the second occasion, tasting it in what I considered to be the proper sequence (the last bottle uncorked), it stood out among the three wines as the obvious star; indeed, Bill exclaimed, “It gives me something different with every sip; it’s like biting into the pit of an underripe peach or nectarine, with some nice citrus notes. This is spectacular.” Even Kim had to agree, voicing her admiration for this, and she normally has no great love for bubbly of any kind. Champagne Henri Giraud François Hemart Aÿ Grand Cru Brut NV, approx. $57, 12% alc. Find this wine: Pale straw color, with a fine bead; crisp, with some yeast and earth over underripe apples and a note of citrus, all moving along not only with the big froth, but also racy, lemon squirt acidity; Bill correctly noted a nice minerality to it. Ron Edwards found it to be somewhat “hard – edged,” adding that “it could have been much more with a few more months in the cellar.” I simply felt that it was overpowered by the Brut Rosé and ’95 Fut de Chene on the first tasting, though it did complement the Pesce Bianco Arancia (Whitefish with orange butter reduction sauce, and garnished with fresh orange slices) quite well. When served first during the second tasting, this showed its best, and recruited a new devotee in the person of this taster, complementing the various hors d’oeuvres perfectly, except for the aforementioned bacon wrapped dates, which simply overpowered the wine. I really liked these the first time, and seconds were even better; I was particularly impressed with the sense of earthy terroir that they displayed. They have size and weight, and demonstrate Ron’s contention that perhaps the reason some people say they don’t like Champagne is that they don’t drink them with food; these wines are very food friendly. The only complaint I heard about any of them was the rather nondescript labels on the two non – vintage bottles, but there are reportedly plans in the works to correct that. On that Monday evening at Bacco, at about the time that the final course, the marvelous Medaglioni di Vitello alla Piemontese (Veal tenderloin, taleggio cheese, black truffles and porcini sauce) was being served, a decanted mystery wine was brought out to accompany it. It’s another one that Mr. Waddell is bringing into the country, and he wanted to get some feedback on it. It was decanted 1 ½ hours prior to pouring.  The wine looks like ink, no other way to put it, and exudes big sea air, sweet oak and a hint of chocolate over extracted black plums and berries; John himself mentions a whiff of something like bourbon or cognac, but that’s not to say that it shows any heat to speak of, it doesn’t. It’s a youngster, with flavors that echo the aromatics, and turn even deeper and darker, with some subtle wood, smoke and leather lurking, silky tannins (I wonder how it drinks poured straight from the bottle?), a velvet smooth mouth feel and a long, lingering finish. There’s certainly a lot of wine here, with a deep, earthy core (John called it "a journey to the center of the earth"), and even before it was revealed that it’ll wholesale for around $9, everyone was mightily impressed. The wine was revealed to be a 2004 Gotham Langhorn Creek Shiraz (15.7% alc.), Find this wine with about 1,500 cases produced. I took one look at the label and begged for some to sell leading up to Halloween; here’s a great wine with real substance, which can’t be said of much else out there that can tie into this particular celebration’s marketing (ever tasted “Vampire” wines from Transylvania?). Unfortunately, it will be available closer to Thanksgiving than All Hallows Eve, so it’ll just have to sell on its own merits, which it should do quite well, if this bottle is any indication.
Reporting from Day-twah, Bastardo Other Recent Wine Explorations The Ridge Report - August, 2005 Back to the Underground Index | ||||
he call came at work, from a gentleman whose name I didn’t remember, about a tasting of Grand Cru Champagnes from a 