Champagne Gardet

Champagne Gardet 

In the search for all things fizzy, I waltzed over to the Gardet stand at the London Wine Fair to be informed that they had just won a "Decanter. Gold. Medal" for their Brut NV. In this case the speech marks were for the excitement this information was conveyed with!

Situated in Chigny Les Roses just up the road from hip-hop favourites Cattier and their Ace of Spades, Gardet is a small  house in the village which was initially started up in the nineteenth century in Epernay. It was Georges Gardet who moved the business into Chigny Les Roses in the 1930's.

Brut NV

Well I know why this won a medal. This is a little belter of a champagne, a blend of 45% Pinot Noir, 45% Pinot Meunier and 10% Chardonnay this has all the richness one would imagine but the added raciness of some fresh acidity and citrus characteristics. Indulgent baked apple, brioche, vanilla this was delicious on a hot and sunny day but this would be a great winter champagne as the weightiness on the palate is exactly what is required in front of a roaring fire. Superb!

Blanc de Noirs 1er Cru

An equal proportion of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier this has around 5 to 6 years ageing before release. Again that richness and complexity is apparent from the first sip. Brioche, toast, crunchy brulee topping, vanilla, concentrated candied peel, quince and stone fruits are balanced out with that racy acidity adding zip at the vital moment. The mousse is creamy and rich with a finish that lingers and lingers. Delicious.

Charles Gardet 2002

aka the birthday champagne that was schlepped across the globe to share with my Aussie friends. I tried this beauty when I went to visit them in Champagne as they didn't have it on the Decanter stand but it was well worth the visit. A 50/50 split between Chardonnay & Pinot Noir this wine sees no malolactic fermentation and had at least 8 years ageing before they released it. This is just scrumptious, the richness that seems to run through the different wines of the house is there and hints of honey and nougat blend seamlessly with ripe stone fruits, candied peel and a nutty characteristic. As delicious as it is there is still room to grow as one would expect from a top quality 2002 but it I just couldn't resist drinking it now, fabulous and a pleasure to share with friends.

London Wine fair in bubbles-Brazil

On my trip back to the UK in November I had my first foray into Brazilian sparkling wine with the Miolo Brut Millesime 2008 which didn't set my world alight but was interesting enough for me to keep a sneaky eye on what else was happening in the Brazilian sparkling market.

I am going to ignore the Moscato's that people continually tried to force on me as the rest of this page would just be me writing "tastes like crushed up Love Hearts" over and over again.  

On trying the Miolo again, I will say that my first assessment still stands but there were a couple of other sparkling wines that really stood out from the pack. Both made in Serra Gaucha which has the only two certified wine production areas in the country Vale dos Vinhedos and Pinto Bandeira. 

130 Brut, NV, Casa Valduga   
75% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay traditional method sparkling wine which has spent 36 months on its lees. After trying the Miolo this felt alive in the glass. Vibrant, fresh and fruity this was a real pleasure to drink. At the moment it is pretty fruit driven with passion fruit, green apple, peach and lemon dominating. With a hint of toastiness the 130 is also creamy and soft in the mouth with some weightiness showing it has more to offer in the future. Very enjoyable glass of bubbles, it would be tough not to go back for a second glass.  


Espumante Nature, Salton Geracoes, Antonio Domenico Salton Vinicola Salton
Another traditional method, three years on lees sparkling wine, this time a 50/50 split Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. A much richer nose on this one with a fabulous leatherwood honey and beeswax approach nestling happily with fresh apples and ripe lemons. On the palate apples, lemons and stone fruits combined with brioche and leatherwood honey to create an interesting and complex sparkling wine that lingers on the palate. Delicious.

 

London Wine Fair in bubbles-England

I started tasting at the London Wine Fair the only decent way. With some English sparkling.

 Nyetimber http://www.nyetimber.com/ 

Classic cuvée 2007 A blend of 56% Chardonnay and the remainder an equal split of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, it spends three years on its lees before release. This was a belter of a way to get back into English wine, a wee slip of a thing it has many years ahead of it but it is bright, zippy and as racy as you would expect. Green apple, fresh citrus notes and hints of honey and candied peel on the nose this is one I would drink half the case and hide the other half. Delicious!

 Rose 2007 Officially new and indeed exciting. A blend of 75% Chardonnay, 25% Pinot Noir I was slightly disappointed when I tried this that I wasn't sat in the glorious sunshine with my favourite people sipping bubbles and gossipping. A slightly savoury nose with ripe, plump red berry flavours it is enticing from the start. Like the Classic cuvée it is taut and racy with crisp redcurrants, ripe red cherries and crunchy red apples coming through on the palate. Fresh and lively this has many years left in it, if one happened to be getting married this summer it would be worth getting a case of this to have one on each anniversary to celebrate.

Blanc de Blancs 2003 I loved this. I am a relatively new convert to the joy that is Blanc de Blancs. I love my Pinot dominant sparklers but over the years some really smart Chardonnay heavy wines have turned my head and this is no exception. Fresh apples and yoghurt on the nose with subtle toasty notes starting to come through this wine shows real vibrancy for its nine years in age. A very stylish wine, soft and fresh with almonds, apple and stone fruit one to get your hands on while you can.

 Ridgeview www.ridgeview.co.uk

Ridgeview only make sparkling wine and lots of it. Being the dedicated nerd that I am, I tried the entire range and here are my Top 3.  

Grosvenor Blanc de Blancs 2009 Told you I'm a sucker for a decent Blanc de Blancs. Much bolder and richer than the Nyetimber despite being several years younger it has a stone fruit and honeyed nose which follows through onto the palate with a slight nuttiness which is counter balanced by the fresh apple and lemon flavours. Complex and interesting, this really hit the spot.

 Bloomsbury 2009 A blend of 58% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir and 12% Pinot meunièr this was ripe and almost juicy on the palate with stone fruits and apples mingling with brioche and a hint of dairy. Very, very drinkable.  

Victoria 2009 A saignee Pinot Meunier dominant rose with the remainder made up of Pinot Noir, this was delicious, soft and savoury. On the nose red berries and fresh cherry blossom delicately balanced with some savoury, rich notes. I know it isn't terribly English but I really wanted some Iberico ham to match with the pomegranate , red berries and blossom. The Victoria still has a youthful edge to it making it a perfect choice with friends, sunshine, laughter and not very English ham!  

Chapel Down http://www.chapeldown.com/

Based down in Tenterden, Kent Chapel Down make both sparkling and still wines. Here are two they were showing on the Bibendum stand.  

Primrose Hill NV This is a wine we unanimously decided, in our tasting group in Tasmania, that we would be happy to drink a comfortable amount of and on trying it again at the fair, my decision stands. It's a cheeky little number with a fresh and fruity black currant and hedgerow nose. The palate is sprightly with red and black currants, berries and spice lifted by some crisp acidity to produce a dry and very appealing white sparkling wine.  

Rose NV Made from 100% Pinot Noir this is a delicate salmon pink with an equally delicate red cherry and rosehip nose. I thoroughly enjoy the variety of dry sparkling rose wines that are currently knocking around and this is no exception. Delicately complex with red fruits, citrus and a slight floral note all comfortably enlivened by a crisp, fresh acidity. A very elegant glass of fizz indeed.  

Hush Heath http://www.hushheath.com/home

Having a very quick chat and some cheery banter on Twitter with the folks from Hush Heath I was thrilled that their approach to wine is not too dissimilar to mine. Wine should be fun, especially good wine. They make good wine and it is most definitely fun.  

Balfour Rose 2008 Rose that one has fun with doesn't need to be some glow in the dark, sticky, catastrophe. The Balfour Rose is a pale salmon in colour and tastes vibrant, fresh, fruity and crisp. Red cherries, raspberries, redcurrants and quince all sit happily with a touch of spice and I can guarantee that a glass of this will make you realise that stylish and fun are very happy bedfellows. Delicious!

Jansz LD 2002

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside, oh I do like to be beside the sea.....This afternoon I left town in a summer dress on a balmy autumn morning, by the time I got to the seaside it was 15 degrees and lashing it down. The weather is changing and for me that means it's time for the bubbles to get a little older and a little more serious, so when Nat thrust the rest of the LD 2002 at me this afternoon it was very much a moment of serendipity.Time for the summer dresses to be retired and in their place a heavier knit and in my glass a weightier sparkling.

I really should write an actual tasting note here but after writing my note the old fashioned way, in a book with a pen, I am now enjoying a glass and I feel transported elsewhere. I'm feeling reflective and whimsical and if I close my eyes I can visualise myself staring out at the sea on a winters day listening to the crash of the waves and I am sat warm and cosy by a roaring fire with a good book on the go.

Anyway enough of my daydreaming, the LD 2002 is sublime. Good wine is like good art, it communicates in more ways than the medium it is presented on. At ten years old the colour is not especially deep at medium lemon and the liveliness of the bubbles is impressive, their tiny forms racing to the surface in the glass.

Stone fruits, particularly nectarine, hints of spice and nashi pears on the nose with a velvety smooth mousse, soft and rich in the mouth. Fresh with mere hints of maturity, the palate is ripe but has much development still to come and is soft without being flabby. Sometimes the hardest reviews to write are those for cracking wines and there has been a lot of thought put into this wine with its whole bunch pressing of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that has been hand rather than machine picked. Along with seven years ageing in bottle pre-disgorging, this wine is elegant, beautiful and somewhat reminiscent of drinking Pol Roger.

So if anyone has a beach house with spectacular views of the ocean and a real fire, I'll bring the wine if you let me come and visit for a couple of days, I'll even cook...

Chapel Down Brut Vintage Reserve

Kent, the garden of England. The best thing to do in a garden on a hot day is to crack open a bottle of bubbles and see where the conversation takes you and with a bottle of Chapel Down Brut on the go you can be sure of happy free-wheeling chat that will put the world to rights.

I have enjoyed many a bottle of Chapel Down Brut over the years and when i nipped back to England late last year I picked up a bottle to taste with friends back home in Tassie. To have two such different English bubbles in our first tasting group was a treat and the response to the Chapel Down was actually more accordant than the Nyetimber. In the most affectionate way, this is a great session sparkler.

Lemon in colour with many small, fast moving bubbles the nose presents an unusual blend of blackcurrant, rose, violet, rosehip and apple. The palate continues with many flavours that are unexpected in a white sparkling with red fruits such as redcurrants and strawberries adding to the mix of flavours found on the nose. 

With a crisp and refreshing acidity these red and floral flavours really work to create a flavoursome and very drinkable wine. Best enjoyed young the Chapel Down Brut really hits the spot and I look forward to popping the cork on a bottle one sunny day when I'm back in the UK.

Nyetimber Classic Blend 1995

Back in the 90's I first tasted English sparkling wine at a bistro I was working at. We had a visiting winemaker from Australia over and my boss pulled out a bottle of bubbles to have at the end of the winemakers dinner once the customers had left.

None of us knew what it was and we were all remarking on its tasty goodness when we were told it was English and it was produced by Nyetimber. I am a bit hazy on the details of vintage and the like but that first taste of Nyetimber piqued an interest that has not faded away over the years.

Thanks to Ricky at Bay of Fires who worked a harvest in the UK last year, one of the wines in our inaugural tasting meet-up was a Nyetimber 1995.

A deep golden wine with small but not overly effervescent bubbles. A rich and heady nose full of caramelised walnuts, baked apple, honey, sweet spice and candied orange peel led through to an equally flavoursome palate.

Dry with refreshing acidity with some real weight and intensity. Orange peel, brioche, nuts, candied peel, honey, nutmeg, baked apple and a hint of vanilla and mushrooms all combine with a very creamy mousse and a delightful long length. 

There was a mixed reaction from the group; for some the intensity of the flavours and the savoury earthiness were too much but there were several of us that loved its rich and concentrated complexity. All in all a good result for England on Australian soil. First the cricket, now the wine.....

Muse Brut Rose, 2004, Moorilla

I love pink bubbles.  Being also a fan of sparkly dresses, sometimes I think there is much fun in being a cliche when it involves good frocks and tasty sparkling!  There is still something of a stigma attached to sparkling rose and if people have only ever tried the horror that is Jacob's Creek Moscato Rose I can completely understand why they think it is hen-night lady-fuel.

Krug Rose or Taittinger Comtes de Champagnes rose couldn't be further from L-plated veils and perma-tanned strippers gyrating to Sex Bomb but if your budget doesn't quite stretch to that then there are plenty of great options in between.

The Muse Brut Rose 2004 is older and I'm tempted to say slightly more interesting than the Brut 06. A complex nose of redcurrant jelly, honey, figs, raspberries and baked strawberries intrigued me and the palate delivered. A very creamy mousse with plenty of refreshing acidity, hibiscus and soft red fruits and a long length.

A delicious and refreshing rose with complex maturity and I think teamed with a glamorous dress the awesome Bruny Island 'Otto', the one wrapped in ham, a few hours could be quite cheerfully wasted away.