Recap - Champagne and Pizza Dinner

August 25, 2022
Edouard Bourgeois

Champagne is very adaptable when it comes to pairing with food. The naturally high acidity revives the palate and the fruity quality may provide enough power to match with hearty dishes. 

I’ve always thought that there is a true love affair between the cold bubbles and the crispy dough and tomato sauce of the world’s favorite food, pizza.  

I believe that last night’s dinner at Marta proved me right! Here is a recap of my impressions on the different cuvées.

We kicked things off with Lenoble Brut Nature, a champagne that received no dosage at all before bottling. It delivered exactly as expected with crispness and good balance of fruit (75% of Pinots, both Meunier and Noir and the rest being Chardonnay) but somehow flew under the radar a bit, maybe because it was the first wine. This first flight was completed with three Blanc de Blancs, by definition champagne made only with Chardonnay. First, the non-vintage from Henriot, served from a magnum. This is made very traditionally in a way that the complex blend of its dozen crus varies slightly according to the base vintage in order to maintain a “house style” year after year. The third champagne was from A. Margaine, a Blanc de Blancs from the celebrated 2008 vintage. Although this producer is surrounded by Pinot Noir because of its location on the Montagne de Reims, its specialty is in fact Chardonnay. Margaine uses a specific clone of over 30 year-old Chardonnay vines that does really well in their village of Villers-Marmery. No malolactic fermentation here to preserve a certain freshness. We closed the first flight with a zippy magnum of Valentin Leflaive Blanc de Blancs, Mesnil sur Oger, non vintage. With strong roots in the Cote d’Or, the Leflaive family approaches their champagne winemaking the same way they do in Burgundy, focusing on site specific cuvées. Here, this bottling showed a classic expression of one of the most respected villages of the Côte des Blancs, famous for its immaculate white chalk, Mesnil-sur-Oger.

The second flight entered the scene with a boom. Complete change of décor with four vinous, deep champagnes where Pinot Noir was the star of the show. First, a gorgeous bottle of Philipponnat Royale Reserve. It should be mentioned that this is the “entry level” cuvée of the house yet in my opinion, it displays the quality of a top champagne. The blend of 65% of Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay and a sprinkle of Pinot Meunier makes for a solid wine, proudly exhibiting the style of Mareuil-sur-Ay. Note, 30% of reserve wines, aged in a solera system, are certainly responsible for the depth of this excellent champagne. The second wine in this flight was served from magnum and one of the many show-stoppers of the night. The majestic Cuvée Louis from Tarlant imposed itself, showing vinosity and savory notes from its age, being from two harvests, 1999 and 2000. Perfectly crafted blend of equal parts Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the first Cuvée Louis was created in 1982 and is always fermented in Burgundy barrels. No Malolactic fermentation and no dosage. This magnum reminded everyone that champagne is indeed wine. We continued with another magnum of producer Paul Bara, located in one of the most celebrated Pinot Noir villages of the Montagne de Reims, Bouzy. Fermented in stainless steel, this Pinot specialist works with over 30 year old vines and only uses the first and most pure juice that comes out of the press, also known as “the cuvée”. And finally, a true Blanc de Noirs by the great Eric Rodez. This bottling, Empreinte Noire 2009, is a focus of four sites, all within Ambonnay. Eric likes to identify this wine philosophically as an “anti-champagne”. What it means by that is that champagne has a history of blending grapes, sites and vintages but here, he only uses one year, one grape and one village. Again, here the oak plays a great role in winemaking, providing structure and volume and this wine was the favorite of many attendees.

While the irresistible scent of pizza filled the room, we moved on to the last flight, starting with a voluptuous bottle from Fred Savart, cuvée “l’Année” from 2011. Despite the complicated nature of the vintage, the wine’s bouquet of ripe red fruits and juiciness was quite impressive, I found. The blend, 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay, didn’t go through malolactic fermentation, was aged in large oak barrels, one of Savart’s signature move, and only received 3 grams of sugar/liter at bottling. Great performance. We followed with Pol Roger’s prestige cuvée, the inimitable “Sir Winston Churchill”. Named after the famous prime minister, known for his hedonism and wit, this champagne perfectly matched the quote Sir Churchill would use: “My tastes are simple, I’m easily satisfied with the best.” Crafted only using Grand Crus Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes across the Marne, riddled by hand in the deeper part of the Pol Roger cellars at 33 meters deep, this champagne is a classic. From the gorgeous 1999 vintage, it was full of savory notes, complex spices and a touch of smoky, toasted quality attributed to the long aging. Another prestige cuvée from one of the most recognizable names, Veuve Clicquot, “La Grande Dame” was served next, from the 2004 vintage. A beautiful bottle also made using eight Grands Crus in the Montagne de Reims and the Côte des Blancs.

We closed this champagne celebration with Delamotte’s newest addition, a delicate, lacy Brut Rosé. Vinified using a expertly managed maceration of Pinot Noir from Ambonnay, Bouzy and Tours-sur-Marne, this wine was succulent and could make you forget that Delamotte, sibling of Champagne Salon, is known to be a Chardonnay specialist!

What's Pressoir Drinking - Champagne Agrapart & Fils Avizoise 2005

January 12, 2022
by Edouard Bourgeois
I have had few experiences with the Champagne of Pascal Agrapart but they have always been memorable. The superior wines of this producer from Avize in the Côte des Blancs are not easy to find, but always worth the effort.

That bottle of “Avizoise”, a pure Blanc de Blancs with minimum sugar dosage, was very expressive and a great companion for the many different dishes I had that night. It makes you reconsider the belief that Blanc de Blancs should only be paired with lighter appetizers. My wife had cooked a juicy filet mignon of pork that night and with the glazed root vegetables and the rich veal jus, this Chardonnay was a really talented performer.

Among the seven cuvées produced at Agrapart, “Avizoise” is considered to be the most powerful. Pascal Agrapart works with some of the oldest vines in the village and represents the fourth generation to run the domaine, founded in the late 19th century. Amboise Agrapart, Pascal's oldest son, recently joined his father at the domaine. Together they manage nine and a half hectares of predominantly Chardonnay vineyards, the vast majority of which are Grand Cru, in the heart of the Côte de Blancs (primarily in the villages of Avize, Oger, Cramant and Oiry).

Often and rightfully so, these great Champagnes from the Cote des Blancs are compared to the best white Burgundy. Not only do they share the same grape variety, but the soil is somewhat comparable. The bedrock of limestone in Burgundy finds its equivalent in Champagne’s unique chalk, while the various amounts of clay give the final makeup of the soil. “Avizoise” is, not surprisingly, produced from a terroir that is rich in clay, hence its power.

One last element that distinguishes Pascal’s work is the use of large 600 liter oak vessels. Although the use of wood in Champagne is seeing some kind of trend, it is people like him or his revered neighbor Anselme Selosse who really excel in that practice.

The colorful “Avizoise”, a pure Chardonnay from the 2005 vintage, did not disappoint and over delivered considering the vintage where some others lacked acidity.

What's Pressoir Drinking? Champagne Dhondt-Grellet, "Les Nogers" 2013

September 8, 2020
by Max Goldberg Liu

At what point does a pairing become a classic? Some foods and wines are just a perfect match, even if their cultural origins are very different.

Fried chicken and Champagne is one such pairing for me.

For my family's Labor Day fried chicken (Bon Appetit's recipe - boneless thighs dry-brined for a few hours, coated in spices, soaked in buttermilk, dredged, and shallow fried) I decided to open this bottle from one of my favorite producers, Champagne Dhondt-Grellet.

Located in the tiny village of Flavigny (population 165), just east of Avize in the Côte des Blancs, Dhondt-Grellet is a six hectare estate that follows the recent history of many of the small grower families in Champagne - in the mid 80's, couple Eric Dhondt and Edith Grellet decided to stop selling grapes to the large houses and became récoltants-manipulants.

Today, their son Adrien runs the estate, and like so many winemakers of his generation, he is conscientious in his farming, working both organically and biodynamically (though uncertified). The estate's small size allows him to cut no corners.

This particular cuvée has undergone a few name changes over the years. It was originally Millésimé, then Vieilles Vignes Sélectionnées until 2011, and since 2012, Adrien has bottled it as Les Nogers to pay homage to the lieu-dit in Cuis (another example of the shift in focus towards terroir-centricity by this new generation).

As a Premier Cru village, Cuis is maybe one of the less heralded villages in the Côte des Blancs compared to some of its more famous neighbors but I find there is a lot of finesse in Cuis, which is often described as producing blanc de blancs Champagnes with a certain "lightness".

Dhondt leans into this style by making Les Nogers entirely in stainless steel. Combined with the concentration obtained from relatively old vines for Champagne (~50 years), this wine has a great amount of precision and cut, despite being from the rich and ripe 2013 vintage, giving aromas and flavors of lemon, white peach, and brioche, along with terrific minerality.

All this to say that it was a knockout pairing with the fried chicken. I particularly enjoyed how the chalkiness plays with the hot pepper in the spice mixture.

I know I am not nearly the first to enjoy this pairing, and with so many people enjoying fried chicken with their Champagne, it's probably safe to call it a "new classic!"