Champagne Blind tasting

With temperatures approaching 100F, we all gathered home to taste blind some Champagne. Great tasting, fun night. And thanks God we did not choose Napa Cabs on a day like this.
Note: Flower day during the tasting.

A few generic info on Champagne: located very close to Paris (150Km)and spread over 5 departments: Marne (67%), Aube (22%), Aisne, Haute-Marne and la Seine-et-Marne.

We officially differentiate 4 main zones: Montagne de Reims, Vallée de la Marne, Côte des blancs, Côte des Bar.
17 villages are designated Grand Cru and 44 Premier Cru.

Before starting, we tried 2 wines, tasted double blind:

2007 Kanonkop Estate Pinotage (Stellenbosh, South Africa): Oaky and a touch of heat on the nose (as well as on the finish). Med tannins, soft. Ripe cherry, blackberry and plum. Spices.
Ok but too much oak and alcohol.
Initially thought an Aussie shiraz and then went for Argentinian malbec...
2006 Pierre-Marie Chermette Moulin-à-Vent Les Trois Roches: Purplish. Ripe fraise des bois, blueberry and cherry. A little candy like and extracted.
Correctly guessed Chermette, Moulin 2006 as this is a wine I had last Feb.
Not my cup of tea as I found it a little too extracted and fruit fwd.

Back to Champagne now:
We went through 2 flights, all tasted blind.

1st Flight


Varnier-Fanniere Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Cuvée St. Denis (Avize)

Wow...Very complex with interesting savory notes mixed with minerals.
Powerful, lots of depth, brioche and fresh dough with a long finish.
I though this was 100% PN and this is 100% Chard!...Vines are 65 years old and come from a single vineyard in Avize called “le Clos du Grand Père”. A spectacular champagne for the price.
Disgorged 9/5/2007

L. Aubry Fils Champagne Brut 1er Cru (Petite Montagne de Reims)

Oxidative style, hint of butter and truffles on the nose. Very yeasty and lemon notes, the finish is a little heavy. Not bad but I'd like to see more acidity.
Disgorged Dec 2009.
Meunier 60%, Pinot noir 20%, Chardonnay 20%.

Billiot Fils Champagne Brut Réserve (Ambonnay)

Initially tight, it really blossomed with air.
Although this cuvee do not see any oak, you have the impression of a little bit of oak on the nose. Then some lemon and green apple, yeast. Round and vinous but very good acidity, light coffee and brioche notes.
Disgorged June 24th 2009.
Needs a 2-3 years to come around.

2nd Flight


2000 Drappier Champagne Grande Sendrée (Cote des Bar)

Tight but with a lot of substance underneath. Light oak, powerful and full body, this clearly needs time.
I had many different vintages of the Grande Sendree, but never that young, and this will only gain complexity and depth with more years.

2000 Marguet Père et Fils Champagne Grand Cru Brut (Ambonnay)

Man, talk about an interesting nose: tabasco, cheese cracker, butter. Big.
Oxidative style, opulent palate. Majority of PN.
Not really my style as this is too big and no zip.

N.V. Pierre Peters Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Cuvée de Réserve (Le Mesnil Sur Oger)

Well unfortunately this bottle was probably off. A few people among us already had several times this champagne and none of us recognised it. No Mesnil character, very fruit forward, smoky, it lacks the depth and elegance that Pierre Peters always have.

Overall a very good champagne tasting with different styles among them. I'm really bummed about the Peters which is one of my favorite.
A very good surprise with the Varnier-Fanniere, a really complex NV champagne at a very good price.
Quite a few champagne with an oxidative style. I remember listening to Selosse saying that this is old school champagne, like they were doing 100 years ago. This is to have good acidity and fruit to absorb the oak.
Also, interesting to note that, as my wife said, that among those champagnes, none were showing floral and mineral notes (although we had wines from Avize and Le Mesnil).