For a ‘Tasting Notes’ post, I would normally lead off with a photo of the line up of champagnes that were to come. However, for this tasting Kiron, @champagnememori, Jordan, our guest @legallybubbly, and I needed something to get us started. I thought it would be nice to help get you all in the mood and share our tasting plate with you as well!
This episode was about Blanc de Blanc. Blanc de blanc is the name given to champagnes that are made only from chardonnay grapes. Since chardonnay adds freshness, delicacy, elegance and finesse when blended in champagnes, Blanc de Blancs tend to be much lighter and elegant than their more robust Pinot cousins. Blanc de Blancs are most suited to as an aperatif drink.
Godmé Père et Fils – Blanc de Blanc NV
The first bottle we tasted was from Godmé Père et Fils, from the village of Verzenay in the Montagne de Reims. Godmé is one of the few houses that practice reasoned farming, and hopes to be declared a biodynamic wine very soon. The blanc de blanc certainly lived up to its promise of being light, elegant and almost sensual.
Colour: Pale Yellow
Bubbles: very fine rising nicely to the surface
Nose: Lemon, peaches and apricots
Mouth: Very fresh and young, with the ripeness of the apricots and peaches coming through
Available in Australia from champagneconnection.com.au
Tendil et Lombardi – Blanc de Blanc NV
We were really anticipating tasting the Blanc de Blanc cuvée from our ‘Champagne Rockstars’, and were not disappointed, although think their Blanc de Blanc channels Elvis more than Freddie Mercury as did their Rosé. The cuvée stays 24 months on lees, so it can mature in the bottle, developing a complexity of flavours, but manages to remain young and fresh.
Colour: Pale Yellow
Bubbles: Fine and elegant
Nose: Melon, citrus and pear
Mouth: Poached pear, fig, slightly tangy. Very satisfying and surprisingly long in the mouth
Canard-Duchêne Charles VII Blanc de Blanc
What was wonderful about this bottle was the lovely symetry it had with my tasting flute. The bottle has been designed wider at the bottom to help the flavours develop as it matured in the bottle. The glass has been designed wider at the top so that flavours in the wine have more room to release themselves before they get to the nose. We also loved that the Canard-Duchêne family crest has a sabre included, and decided that we simply had to saber the bottle. Unfortunately the bottle had other ideas and the cork popped itself before we even had a chance to get the sabre out.
Colour: Pale Yellow
Bubbles: Very excited (probably from all the the excitement of blowing their own cork!)
Nose: Mushrooms, seaside
Mouth: Lovely and long, mushrooms coming through
What a thouroughly enjoyable tasting of some very elegant champagnes! As you can see from the line up below, there was some sabering action going on as well.
To hear the full episode of The Flute Enthusiast on Bubbly Talk Radio, *clink!* on the link below:
Blooper!!!
And just because the look on Kiron’s face is priceless – here is the video of Canard-Duchêne popping its own cork.
Behind the scences
Once we get together, we just can’t help but saber. We had a back up bottle, just in case, so I decided to saber it with a flute. That’s just how I roll some days.
