When the Weekend Financial Times featured these hidden gems in their ‘How To Spend It’ supplement a few years ago, most wine lovers had not even heard of these rare and exceptional wines, let alone tasted them. Those collectors who were au fait with these so called ‘growers’ champagnes’, cursed John Stimpfig for revealing one of the best-kept secrets in all of Reims and Epernay.
These wines rarely left France unlike the Grandes Marques who produce 97% of the 400 millions bottles made a year, but own only 12% of the vineyards, and buy their grapes from sometimes as many as 1000 different plots !
The minnow-like recoltants-manipulants or owner-growers (RM on the label) cultivate their own grapes from their own vines in the best vineyards, picking and vinifying parcel by parcel, with the kind of precision and attention to detail that makes it very haute couture.
Today, these wines have achieved something of a cult status and we had 7 of "The Best and Most Sought After" lined up for the tasting.
Kudos to the hosts, Shyama & Nihal Kaviratne, firstly for painstakingly accumulating these wines, which are virtually impossible to access these days and then sharing them with us. Mindful of the delicacy of these wine they had made sure that their warm home was devoid of any unnecessary distractions --there were no scented flowers or candles.
We started with the mono-cru Vilmart et Cie Grand Cellier Premier Cru Brut NV, from the Premier Cru village of Rilly-la-Montagne, located on the Montagne de Riems. The wine showed its characteristic dry fruits nose, with dried apricots dominating; with incisive acidity, wonderful depth and length.
The Pierre Gimonnet et Fils Cuvee Special Club Brut Millesime 2002, that comes from the other important region, the Cote des Blancs was served simultaneously, and it showed the Chardonnay domination in its vineyards with almost tropical fruit ripeness and creamy texture from this great vintage.
Two wines from producers, both biodynamic, and both located in the Grand Cru village of Avize were served together next, with their top wines - De Sousa & Fils Cuvee des Caudalies Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Brut NV showing its wonderful minerality and its requirement for haute cuisine when paired with the buttery scrambled oeufs on croutes topped with salmon roe; the Jacques Selosse Substance Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut NV was shy at first but then came out wonderfully, showing great depth of fruit and complexity against the less known Langres cheese even more than the famous Chaoruce from Champagne.
The next flight was perhaps the most interesting; two Blanc de Noirs the 100% Pinot Noir Champagne Egly-Ouriet Blanc de Noirs Les Crayeres VV Grand Cru NV against the rare 100% Pinot Meunier, Laherte Freres Les Vignes d'Autrefois Blanc de Noirs Extra Brut 2007. The Crispy Singapore Crab and the bacon rolled Canadian Scallops worked very well here with both wines.
Members who went to the IWFS Bombay Branch Bordeaux and Champagne Tour in Oct 2011 fondly remembered the Egly-Ouriet wine which was the last wine on our trip and partaken at our last supper of the trip, in the restaurant after which this cuvee is named…
…as was the last wine of the evening which was the first Champagne that we started our Bordeaux tour with at Cordellian Bages in Pauillac, the Henri Giraud Fut deChene Brut Millesime Grand Cru 2000. Many members tried their hand at opening the different bottles upon the indulgent encouragement of Nihal who demonstrated how to release the corks “with the sigh of a maiden rather than the starters gun at an athletics meet.” The unusual clasp of the Henri Giraud cork required a special pair of pliers brought along by Nihal and added its allure to the unusual nectar in the bottle that showed the wonderful balance achieved by the wine, with oak in which it is aged.
Shyama had taken great care in selecting the menu for the event, including hand-carrying the cheeses from Europe as also the sea-salt flavoured chips from Kettle, all deserving of these wines that showed their best in their presence.
List of Artisanal Champagnes
- Vilmart et Cie Grand Cellier Premier Cru Brut NV
- Pierre Gimonnet et Fils Cuvee Special Club Brut Millesime 2002
- De Sousa & Fils Cuvee des Caudalies Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Brut NV
- Jacques Selosse Substance Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut NV
- Egly-Ouriet Blanc de Noirs Les Crayeres Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru NV
- Laherte Freres Les Vignes d'Autrefois Blanc de Noirs Extra Brut 2007
- Henri Giraud Fut de Chene Brut Millesime Grand Cru 2000
Please view the menu here.