RUINART CHAMPAGNE BLANC DE BLANCS

“The thing about champagne, you say, unfoiling the cork, unwinding the wire restraint, is that is the ultimate associative object. Every time you open a bottle of champagne, it’s a celebration, so there’s no better way of starting a celebration than opening a bottle of champagne. Every time you sip it, you’re sipping from all those other celebrations. The joy accumulates over time.” …. David Levithan (American Writer).

With an average retail price of $70 U.S., (though you can find it, occasionally in the $50s), I’ll concede this is not my everyday Champagne, albeit my favorite.  Ruinart is the oldest established Champagne house, exclusively producing champagne since 1729.  This “Blanc de Blancs” (white of white) is 100% Chardonnay.  Champagne, however, IS WINE and it presents itself, as does other wine, in many forms. “Blanc de Noirs” (White of Black – white wine from red grapes) can be a blend of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, or simply Pinot Noir.  It may come as vintage or as a blend of several years (non-vintage).  And then there is the dosage – the measurement of sweetness injected into the wine after disgorgement that determines its finish as an unsweet to sweet dessert wine with gradients in-between.  So, while I must admit this Ruinart Blanc De Blancs is, for me, a special occasion wine, it is so only because of its price and my economic status.  Many Champagnes cost less (though, for me, few deliver more).

The point being, it is wrong to categorize Champagne (mind lock it) as celebration wine.  With all the styles in which Champagne may present itself, one could easily serve different styles of Champagne throughout each course of a grand meal: from the aperitif to and including dessert just as you do with wine.  It’s Champagne’s association with celebration that has stunted its sales growth here, limited its appreciation and given rise to that horrid image of pop, cheer and laugh as the wine foams out of the bottle and then gets served.  

In fact, Champagne’s natural acidity makes it a natural for food pairing.  Try a rose with salmon.  Try a Blanc de Blancs with chicken (even fried), oysters, creamy cheeses, shellfish, linguine with white clam sauce, caviar and appetizers containing caviar, salty foods and dishes made with cream sauces, steamed, fried or grilled seafood (as long as the sauce is not overpowering).

I recently enjoyed this wine with a “crab fest” of steamed King Crab Legs and Dungeness crab clusters, grilled shrimp, saffron dusted scallops (a mistake) and a spinach soufflé.   

SO WHY SHOULD YOU ENJOY THIS WINE?

To begin, Ruinart opens with a soft pssst, not a loud pop – the mark of well-made Champagne (be certain to chill any bottle so as to reduce the pressure when opening).  Pour this luminous, glistening Champagne – the color of golden straw – into the glass and notice that the mousse is not aggressive.  Such excessiveness – for me – just gets in the way.  No, everything about this Champagne is finessed. Bubbles are extremely fine and shockingly persistent, carrying to the glass’s rim all the aroma and palate pleasing tastes one could hope for.

The unique chalkiness of the soil that these Chardonnay vines grow in and the cool climate of the area assure perfect expression of the acidity in these grapes from Ruinart’s estate vineyards in Sillery and Brimont (the ancestral home of the Ruinart family) and from premiers crus only in the Cote des Blancs and the Montagne de Reims. Using only the best of recent vintages, these are blended with 20-25% reserve wines.     

Ruinart maintains chalk quarries deep underground the city of Reims where the wine rests after first sitting on its lees for four years after the second fermentation.  The result is a crisp but rounded and creamy wine that is a study in elegance.  Malolactic conversion provides rich creaminess to the mouthfeel, but the wine remains crisp and cleansing.  For a Champagne, it is surprisingly full bodied, while yet being lightened by its citrus character and delicate mousse kept fresh with the most persistent of very fine bubbles.  On the nose: hints of toast, honey, butterscotch and almond play with notes of white flower and green apple.  The palate delights in brioche, lemon crème, and hazelnut.  Lychee adds an exotic touch. While apparent, none of these flavors are brutish, instead they are suggested.  A hint of cantaloupe? The fruit emerges through the sharp acidity which, itself, is opposed by amazing creaminess.

Other tasters refer to poached white peach, lemon meringue pie, angel food cake, butter cookie, lemon peel hints and jasmine.   Different words, I think, for essentially the same experience.  All appreciate the minerality in the finish of this wine.

If you still believe that Champagne is fit only for celebrating occasions, perhaps you’ll begin to consider that Champagne can make any occasion special and any meal an occasion. 

Sante!

……………. Jim

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ETCETERA:

Ruinart, founded by Nicolas Ruinart in the Champagne region in the city of Reims in 1729, is now owned by luxury goods conglomerate LVMH (Louis Vuitton, Moet Hennessy).

Ratings:  

James Suckling                  93

Wine Spectator:                 92

Wine Enthusiast:               92

Robert Parker:                   90

Awards

Munis Vini 2014:               Gold

Munis Vini 2015:               Silver

Munis Vini 2016:               Gold

Producer:                            Champagne Ruinart   ruinart.com

Imported By:                      Moet Hennessy USA, Inc. (NY, NY)

ALC:                                  12.5%

Dosage:                              8g (Brut)

CHAMPAGNE BOLINGER SPECIAL CUVEE

“Only the unimaginative can fail to find a reason for drinking champagne.” –Oscar Wilde, Irish playwright and novelist

I’ll admit to stating that most don’t enjoy Champagne in a way as to be fair to it. We drink it too cold. Pop, Pour, Fix and Gulp. And if it foams out of the bottle, even better!  I’m not suggesting that it be enjoyed in a white wine glass and that the mousse be allowed to settle a bit in the glass so as to enjoy the wine as a wine with the benefit of some air and without the freshly bubbling  mousse over stimulating and clouding the palate (well, actually, I am).

But I have to concede that Champagne does make every occasion special.  It needn’t be a special occasion. It’s the Champagne itself that elevates the occasion.  Certainly now that the long road of labor has ended in your successful completion of the university’s requirements for a PhD – sure: open the Champagne.  The repair shop calls you to advise the problem with your car is not as serious as what they thought and it will cost much less than what they estimated – sure: wake up from that dream and enjoy a glass.  Or, it’s Sunday. And you’re looking forward to time with the newspaper and making something to eat without you having to eat it behind the steering wheel of your car on your way to work.  Brunch anyone?

I love Champagne.  Its acidity makes it a trusted companion to many foods. A brut can go nicely with oysters on the half shell or just as well with potato chips on movie night at home and you in your pajamas.  Or poached eggs and salmon toast. Or wasabi deviled eggs, or actually so many styles of deviled eggs. Or smoked trout, salmon or other roe over cream cheese and horseradish filled Belgian endive cups. Sushi, sashimi, oh my!

A previous Sunday was so lazy, I used whatever I had. No trips to the grocery. Brunch made from what was on hand and wine from the “cellar”.  That meant quiche Lorraine, fresh fruit, steamed asparagus. That meant Champagne Bollinger special cuvee brut.  On the nose, it’s all clean and fresh. There’s a whisper of clean sea breeze and a note of kelp. The Kimmergian shelf extending into Champagne, comprised of the shells of marine micro-organisms, contributes to a sub-soil of chalk, marl and limestone that gives the wines from Champagne their unique minerality and (for me) salinity on the nose.  On the palate: a meld of citrus-orange and brioche.  Minerality is strong and commanding attention while yet being part of a whole. Apple is dominant. Notes of toasted walnut.

The wine is 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier. 30% of the juice is aged in used oak barrels of 228-liter size (60.2 gallons) and some (40-year-old) 400 liter casks before blending. It’s rich with no jagged edges; a nice roundness that can only be appreciated by slowing its consumption down after pouring it into your glass.  Bollinger’s own vineyards are the source of over 60% of their production which emphasizes Pinot Noir. And while vintage conditions change with weather, these estate vineyards provide for consistency in location at least, and in the management and harvesting of the vineyards. The wine is matured for 30-36 months on the lees with the final blend consisting of 40% to 50% of reserve wines and 5-10% of those reserve wines being 5-15 years in age and having been kept in magnums, instead of stainless or cask, under cork. Bollinger has more than 750,000 reserve magnums stored and it is this reserve wine that contributes to notes of dried fruit (apricot) that adds to the complexity of their Special Cuvee. Of the Chardonnay used in their Special Cuvee, 90% comes from premier and grand cru vineyards in the Cotes des Blancs.

This is labor intensive made Champagne with other tasters commenting on notes of peaches and pear, crème brulee and candied Meyer lemon zest and hazel nuts. It is the purest expression of Bollinger’s house style and, I think, will even get better with 1-2 years aging in your cellar. Its balance of creaminess and tart-crisp acidity is Wallenda-like.  What a pity to Pop, Pour, Fizz and Gulp. But with a little time in the glass, what a reward!  Be imaginative and think of your own reason to pair it with something – and make that something something special.

Sante!

……... Jim

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ETCETERA

Bollinger:                    https://www.champagne-bollinger.com/en/INT/the-bollinger-collection/vintage/5

Imported By:               Terlato Wines International

ALC:                           12%

Style:                           Brut

Dosage:                       8-9 grams per liter

ARP                            $57. (U.S.)

James Suckling:          92 Points

Wine & Spirits Mag:  93 Points

Wine Spectator:          93 Points

Note:   Full disclosure requires I admit to having a built-in, incontrollable preference for Blanc de Blanc, 100% Chardonnay.  You too will have a preference and that may include Blanc de Noir or sparkling wines, or Champagne other than a brut style, or Prosecco or still another form of “bubbly”.    

BRUNO MICHEL BRUT CUVEE ROSE (ROSEE)

“Remember, gentlemen, it’s not just France we are fighting for, it’s champagne!” –Winston Churchill, British statesman and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Champagne is season less.  While I may change my preference from red to white wine, from Cabernet Sauvignon to Sauvignon Blanc depending on the season and what I’m eating, I can enjoy Champagne in every season.  In all weather. At all times.  And, if I put some thought into it, I can pair a Champagne to every meal. Each course!

But as with most wines (remember the Merlot crash after “Sideways”?) Champagne too has its trends.  “Pet Nat” was hot.  That alone is interesting given that Pétillant Naturel is an ancient technique (méthode ancestral, otherwise known as rurale) of making sparkling wine and it long pre-dates modern, twice-fermented Champagne.  While I have no concerns with people preferring the taste of wine that has not yet completed its first fermentation, has not been disgorged and may not have been filtered, I’m not jumping on the hipster bus just because some influential SOMM has discovered it in the 21^st century.

Another hot issue with Champagne drinkers is Recolant-Manipulant, known as “Grower Champagne.”  These bottles are identified by the abbreviation “RM” or the full wording on the label. It refers to a grower who makes and markets Champagne under their own label, from grapes of their own vineyards and processed on their own premises.  Conversely, the initials “NM” stand for Négociant-Manipulant.  These are the large Champagne houses that source a majority of their grapes rather than growing them.

  

Frankly, I’ve always been impressed by the wizardry of these Merlin-like Master Blenders for these large houses. Working with different growers, and perhaps even some estate grapes, and always different vintages, and reserve wines, they develop a house style that remains consistent year after year.  Weather is variable.  The wine is not.  Such skill is to be admired; not brushed aside casually because of a transient trend.

And as with still wines, grapes being estate grown is no guarantee by itself that the wine will be superior to that made from sourced grapes.   While estate grown grapes assure choice selection and other benefits, there are many wineries with huge numbers of fans that make consistently highly awarded wines from grapes that have been sourced.  So, if I haven’t blathered on too long already, let me just add that it’s really all about the wine, not the fashion.  It’s about what’s inside the bottle. And it’s either good or it’s not.  And most times, in these sophisticated times, with all of technology’s exactness, it is -  more so now than in the past.

I suppose that should position me well, or at least objectively, on the subject of Grower Champagne.  That said.  This wine is good.  And its price point (with an ARP of $42) is sounding the bargain gong.  Perhaps the ARP has to do with the layers of cost add-ons and not having to buy grapes.  And since I haven’t tasted all the Grower Champagnes out there, whatever my opinion should not be extrapolated to cover all such labeling.

Bruno Michel also produces a Cuvee Blanche brut, which I do think is the best value out there (at $39.99) for brut Champagne. But that’s just my personal palate. With few exceptions, I prefer “white” over rose.  And if I find occasion to open his Blanc de Blancs Cuvee “Pauline” (a vintage Champagne and aged in barrel), I suspect I’ll be singing its praises too.

The rose is 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Meunier from the estate’s organic, biodynamic vineyards and made organically in the saignee winemaking method. In the glass, its color is assertive as is its aroma.  Notes of rose and vanilla waft from the glass joined by a faint taste of orange.  Others enjoy tart cranberry, pomegranate and spice.  On the palate, cherry and vanilla strike, followed by strawberry mid palate. Others enjoyed raspberry joined by tastes carried from the aromas.  This is very easy drinking and smooth. Unlike his Cuvee Blanche, fruit dominates in the rose, subduing – even obstructing – its autolytic character.  There’s a clean somewhat sweet lemon-lime hint (as in the soft drink) that make this wine perhaps too easy drinking for me.  But I suspect it is also what would make it perfect for those who do not relish the yeasty side of Champagne.

This is fresh, clean and fruity.  Light and fun.  Easy drinking.  The snobs may translate these references as pejoratives, but here it from me: it ain’t meant to be so.  It is meant to describe a Champagne that certainly does well as an aperitif, and pairs well too with a dessert made with red berries or a crumble of rhubarb and strawberries.  In between, consider it a natural for tuna, shrimp, duck breasts sauced with cherries. A beet risotto course, roasted chicken (red meat) or chicken sofrito (even better).  Consider it the bottle you want to keep chilled and at the ready when time is being strained by commitments and you need to put things together quickly.   A simple plate of vegetables and dip, joined with another of fresh and dried fruits, caramelized pecans and slices of cheese.  In between, conversation and sips.  Finish with a custardy tart with fresh berries.  Critics talk about complexity.  I found this wine a simple joy.  The innocence of just being happy for a moment.  Anything wrong with that? 

Sante!

……………. Jim

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ETC.

Bruno Michel:    http://www.champagnebrunomichel.com/en/portfolio-items/rose-2/

ALC:                      12%

Imported By:      Terraneo Merchants

RS                         6g/L