when i accepted this short term work, i told them i would not be able to work on oct 4, because of a “previous engagement”. it worked out fine, because there was no training scheduled for that day. there was a one hour “launch” meeting in the morning for the new short film i would be working on. that was fine. i went to that and then went home ( 3 mins away) to prepare for the “previous engagement”. it was a champagne tasting that i organized because tove, the expert was in town. i have written about tove before. i met her during a 3 week intensive french course many years ago. she came to live in paris and p and i brought her to the champagne region to try different champagnes. she proceeded in becoming an expert and writing a book in norwegian about champagne. i had organized a champagne tasting and potluck lunch through the school mom group, back in march when she came to visit. it had been wonderful. so when she said she was coming again, i leaped at the chance to set up another tasting, with different champagnes. it’s a great deal for me, since i get to taste 5 or 6 champagnes of my choice and it is financed by others. i have a list from tove of recommended small producers. this tasting was being hosted in our new apartment, so not as stunning as the location of the last tasting, but slightly easier to arrange. i ordered the champagne through 2 different mail order companies and it was delivered to the door within a week, with minimal delivery charges. tove called up her friend, celine, who is an actual champagne maker, and invited her to come along. i was so excited to have this special guest!
i am still a bit lost with the different flavors. i can tell what i like at first, but then after several tastes and back and forth, i get confused... there are “cheap” tastes and “expensive” tastes, but i still do not have enough understanding of why. i need to pay more attention to the specific grapes used in each champagne.
we had 12 guests, all parents from the school, who were all very interesting and it was great fun. tove talked us through the production process of champagne and details of each particular bottle (which she had researched). i am attaching tove’s notes on the champagnes we tasted, below. i thought they were all good! celine’s champagnes were also excellent and a big hit. she brought 3 bottles from her vineyard and that was too many to try to taste, so we saved one of her bottles for later. some of the parents loved her champagne the best. she said that if they came out to the vineyard they were 17 euros each bottle. one mom was so excited, she said, “i’m coming this weekend!”
afterwards, tove took celine to visit the rodin museum and then brought her back to the train. (you can get to the champagne region in 45 minutes!) then tove ended up in a wine shop just as the krug champagne salesman arrived and insisted she try some of his wines.
i had to go drop maynard with the family who will “borrow” him for a few days, and went to a college talk (colleges giving presentations to students at the school). afterwards, i picked up some sea bass to grill and veggies from our old vegetable man. then, stopped at the brasserie across from our old apartment to get some oysters. oysters go really well with champagne. the minimum was 18 to take-away, since they had to put it on a platter. it was more than i had wanted, since i had thought of just getting a taste of oysters, but with the 3 of us adults, we would be able to eat them all. they were beautifully opened and laid out on a bed of ice, then wrapped in clear cellophane gift wrap and a big bow. i made the 15 minute walk home carrying them and all the other groceries.
i put olive oil, salt, herbs de provence on the seabass and let it sit.
tove came back from her day, p came home from work.
we had some champagne left in 4 of the bottles of the tasting, plus a whole extra bottle from celine. p got to do his own little tasting from this. we had oysters with it, sitting at the big french window, looking out into the evening. i put the fish onto the electric double grill and then jj joined us for a delicious meal.
TOVE’s CHAMPAGE NOTES:
1. Guy Charlemagne: Reserve Brut, Blanc de blancs, Grand cru
Le Mesnil-sur-Oger
A pure blend of different wines from chardonnay (different areas, different years) Dosage : 9 g/litre. A good aperitif champagne or with oysters.
A small producer in the heart of the Côte de Blanc area. Makes 130 000 bottles a year.
2. Pierre Peters Champagne: Cuvée de Réserve, Blanc de blancs Brut
Le Mesnil-sur-Oger
Another grand cru champagne. Assemblage of more than 15 different years, composed exclusively of chardonnays coming from several “Grand Cru” villages (“Grand Cru de la Côte des Blancs”. Dosage: 6 à 7 g /litre.
3. Larmandier-Bernier: Tradition, Premier Cru, Extra Brut (4 g/litre)
Vertus (in the very south of the Cote de Blancs)
Un assemblage de Chardonnay de la Côte des Blancs (80%) et de Pinots Noirs de Vertus (15%) récoltés à la main en 2008. Les vins de réserve issus de plusieurs millésimes précédents représentent environ un tiers de cette cuvée.
Brut champagnes normally has between 6 and 12 g/litre
4. Erick de Sousa : Tradition Brut
Avize
50 % chardonnay, 40 % Pinot Noir, 10 % Pinot Meunier. Dosage : 7 g/litre. Degorgement : 14.10.2010 (he always says on the label). Erick de Sousa is mostly renowned for his blanc de blancs champagnes. Focuses on old vines, no chemicals.
5. Champagne Bereche et Fils: Brut Reserve Premier Cru
Ludes, Montagne de Reims
Dosage : 9 g/litre. Assemblage: base 2007: 25 % Chardonnay, 25 % Pinot Meunier, 20 % Pinot Noir vinifié en fûts (20%) et en cuves émaillés. Fermentation spontanée et lente.
30 % de vins de réserve provenant de 2 années antérieures.
Passage en cave : 24 mois. Dégorgé a la main le 17 Aout 2010. (Tres rare)
Champagne Jacques Rousseaux, 3 cuvées.
Verzenay, a grand cru village. A family house run by Celine Rousseaux and brother Eric.
6. Le Tradition
A blend of 80 % Pinot Noir and 20 % chardonnay.
7. La Cuvée de Réserve
70 % Pinot Noir and 30 % chardonnay. Made from selected wines that are made from the best part of the must (the juice that comes out when the grapes are pressed at harvest)
8. La Grande Réserve
A blanc de noirs = made only from pinot noir grapes. The champagne has matured on oak barrels for a few months.
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