Champagne mixed pack

Outstanding French Grower Champagne!

Our grower Champagne pack brings together some of the best small producers of French fizz today.

These Champagnes are phenomenal - they will leave any of the standard French Champagnes looking pedestrian and second rate. Two of the houses in particular (Egly-Ouriet and Larmandier Bernier) are simply stunners.

Here's the low down.....

EGLY - OURIET

 "Egly-Ouriet's Champagnes are so good that I have begun buying them to drink at home." Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate

"Egly Ouriet manages for Pinot Noir: wines of riveting concentration and purity." Andrew Jefford; The New France

"Few producers can equal Francis Egly in skill and experience, and larger houses cannot hope to emulate the cultivation norms..." Michel Bettane and Thierry Desseauve, The World's Greatest Wines

producteur des très grande qualité [one of only 5 in Champagne] LE CLASSEMENT 2009

Egly-Ouriet (pronounced pretty much as it reads: egg-lee oo-ree-ay), along with Selosse and Larmandier-Bernier, make up the holy trinity of great grower Champagnes. They are some of only a handful of growers who follow either biodynamic or "living soil" principals of viticulture. These three producers use no chemical fertilisers, herbicides or pesticides, they work on very low yields (roughly half the regional average), produce vineyard or village specific wines, minimise the use of dosage (sugar addition) and follow a very natural winemaking regime with no fining or filtration and low levels of sulphur. All these factors combined - in particular the belief in "site-specific" wines - is offering a wonderful challenge to the traditional Champagne methodology of high yields, high dosage and blending across many communes to achieve a house style. In many ways, the Egly Ouriet Domaine has been the leader in these areas; for example the Egly family was one of the very few growers in Champagne who refused to use gadoux (ground city rubbish) as fertilizer on their precious vineyards.

The natural viticulture and low yields practiced by the Egly's along with high percentage of reserve wine used are some of the reasons why their wines taste so different, so fruit pure, so intense, so rich and complex. Egly-Ouriet is located at Ambonnay, with vineyards also in Bouzy and Verzenay. They also own a remarkable plot of old vine Pinot Meunier at Vrigny which is vinified separately. Apart from Vrigny, these are all 100% Grand Cru, Pinot Noir areas. As such the wines are Pinot dominant, rich and powerful with deep colours, hedonistic aromas and explosive, layered personalities in the mouth. If you have never tasted the wines of this producer, please be prepared for wines that have nothing to do with traditional Champagne styles. Run by Michel and Francis Egly-Ouriet, this producer has become a cult Champagne for devotees around the world. This is the reward for very hard work in the vineyards, and meticulous attention to detail.

Like Larmandier Bernier (see below), Egly-Ouriet has been rated as one of Champagne's top five producers by Andrew Jefford in his celebrated work, The New France, [Mitchell Beazley].

"Egly-Ouriet fashions wines of substantial richness, more suited to those who desire vinosity over vivacity." Pierre Rovani, The Wine Advocate

 

EGLY- OURIET NV GRAND CRU BRUT TRADITION RRP $115/bt

Natural fermentation with wild yeasts only. The first period of the élevage lasts almost one year - with the wine remaining on its fine lies. The wines clarify slowly, as was once typical across the region. Bottling was in 2004, without fining and filtration. The blend is 75% Pinot Noir + 25% Chardonnay and includes 50% 2003 harvest, plus an assemblage of vins de réserve for the remaining 50% of the cuvée (10% 2000 + 20% 2001 + 20% 2002). Dosage is a low 2 to 3 grams per litre.

Le Classement 2008: 18/20 Grand Vin

Max Allen: [The Weekend Australian Magazine, June 2005] "And from Egly-Ouriet, I loved the richer, typically pinot noir vinosity and nuttiness of Brut Tradition..."

Andrew Jefford, The New France: "The Brut Tradition, with its minimum dosage of 5 and 6g/l, is a wonderful expression of Pinot Noir; old gold colours; scents of warm fruits; deep, powerful, resonant flavours."

Robert Parker: [The Wine Advocate] 95/100: "Readers will be delighted to know that this small estate prints the date of disgorgement on each bottle, a practice that should be followed by all Champagne producers. Given the intensity of these exquisite wines, they should be drunk with food rather than served as an aperitif."

Tim's thoughts....

It's got plenty of power but the mousse is perfectly in tune giving the wine a full bodied feel but with supreme delicacy.

Tims rating 95/100

 

LARMANDIER BERNIER

BIODYNAMIC CHAMPAGNE

"Few growers' ranges in Champagne are as consistently outstanding as that of Larmandier-Bernier" Andrew Jefford; The New France

 "These wines from Pierre and Sophie Larmandier are exceptional in every way...I can't recommend them highly enough." Antonio Galloni, The Wine Advocate

producteur des très grande qualité LE CLASSEMENT 2009

Like Egly-Ouriet and Selosse, Larmandier-Bernier has been rated as one of Champagne's top 5 producers by Andrew Jefford in The New France, [Mitchell Beazley]. This estate is meticulously run by Pierre Larmandier and his wife Sophie. Pierre's family have owned vineyards in the Côte des Blancs since the Revolution. The estate is now 15 hectares, predominantly in Vertus, at the Southern tip of the Côte des Blancs, yet there are also holdings in Cramant, Chouilly, Oger & Avize. The vineyards are biodynamically worked (almost unheard of in Champagne) and the average age of the vines is 35 years (most Champagne vineyards are considered ‘old' and due for replanting at 20 years). Yields are kept very low by Champagne standards, 50 hl/ha on average.

 "These wines from Pierre and Sophie Larmandier are exceptional in every way. Larmandier practices a non-interventionalist philosophy in the vineyards with an emphasis on low yields. A similar approach is taken in the cellar, where the wines are fermented with natural yeasts and bottled with low or no dosage in order to exalt the qualities of the sites the estate works with. The Larmandier-Bernier Champagnes are some of the purest and most utterly engaging wines being made in the region today. I can't recommend them highly enough." Antonio Galloni, The Wine Advocate, December 2008

NV CHAMPAGNE BRUT TRADITION 1ER CRU  RRP $105

A blend of 80% Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs and 20% Pinot Noir. Hand picked from predominantly 2005 vintage with 1/3rd reserve wines from 2004 and 2002. 5gm dosage (i.e., extra brut). A full, rich wine with a lovely creamy texture and a striking earthy lick to close. This is Larmandier's ode to the traditional, house styles (although without the high yields and dosage). What a traditional blend should be like in other words.

Huon Hooke - Sydney Morning Herald: "The same maker's Brut Tradition Premier Cru NV, which includes 20 per cent pinot noir also grown in Vertus, has more colour and a smoky, straw-like pinot aspect that turns strawberry-like in the mouth, while retaining great finesse and harmony, and extraordinary persistence."

Best Champagne - Uncorked Magazine 2007 "Larmandier-Bernier is a small privately owned champagne house making wines of superb quality. Although only 20 per cent of this wine is pinot noir, it shows good pinot presence in its smoky, complex nose. The savoury, appetising finish is super-long and satisfying."

 

Tim's thoughts...

A superb Champagne with focus and outstanding depth. The taste persists minutes after taking a sip. A very fine drop!

Tim's rating 94/100

 

NV CHAMPAGNE BRUT BLANC DE BLANCS 1ER CRU  RRP $106

As the name suggests this is 100% Chardonnay (from Vertus 1er cru, and grands crus Cramant, Avize and Oger), a classic aperitif style - in the best sense of that term. The blend is predominantly 60% 2005 and 40% reserve wine from 2004 and 2002 and a dosage of 4 grams.

"Simply put, this is gorgeous juice." Antonio Galloni, The Wine Advocate December 2008

Tim's thoughts.....

Perfect line and a taste that lingers and lingers. Beautiful balanced and elegant from start to finish. Really classy! 

Tim's rating 93/100

 DE SOUSA

 BIODYNAMIC & ORGANIC GRAND CRU CHAMPAGNE

"A fantastic producer with some world-beating wines" Richard Juhlin, 4000 Champagnes "Breathtaking, must-try Champagnes" JACQUELINE FRIEDRICH - THE WINES OF FRANCE

De Sousa continues our tradition of tracking down and securing wine from only the very finest grower producers (and there are sadly still only a few at this level). In recent years De Sousa has established itself amongst the elites of this movement. De Sousa has outstanding sites in the best terroirs of the Cote de Blancs (Avize, Cramant, and Oger). They have a lot of old vines (the average age of the vineyards is a very high 45 years), and they farm their vineyards biodynamically in Avize and the nearby villages and organically elsewhere. Over the last decade, the winemaking, under Erick de Sousa, has reached the highest levels of sophistication. 
 

NV CHAMPAGNE JEAN PAUL PERARDEL  RRP $72

Tim's thoughts.....

The Jean Paul Perardel Brut NV has a delicate and perky feel. Inclusion of a little reserve wine adds excellent depth and roundness to the fresh, creamy palate. It has both balance and finesse. It keeps on keeps giving. Highly recommended! 

Tim's rating 92/100 

 

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