Champagne Event with The International Wine and Food Society-Oakville

It was a culinary evening of magic, from the moment I arrived at the private home in Oakville, I knew that a night of elegance and celebration was ahead!

It was an honour and privilege to participate in this event as the “Special Guest” speaker, to discuss my book “The Ultimate Guide to Champagne” and personally sign 40+ copies.

The event was well-organized by Christian Frayssignes, Dale and Jim Egan and catered by Kerr St. Café, Oakville.

60 members and guests had the opportunity to taste six champagnes, personally selected by cellar master Christian Frayssignes and Liz Palmer to pair with specially designed and prepared by Kerr St. Café, Oakville, while listening to jazz and blues tunes by pianist Rob Roland.

Champagne and Food Pairings

Lacroix-Triaulaire NV Brut

Brie & peach crostini with Roquefort & field honey

Fresh watermelon cube with elderflower,
apple-cucumber slaw & candied ginger

J. de Telmont Grande Reserve Brut NV

Tuna poke with herbed russet chips and
fresh parsley vegetable spring roll

Henriet-Bazin Selection de Parcelles ler Cru

Mini chicken parmesan lollipops with marinara dipping sauce

J. de Telmont Blanc de Blanc 2010

Lobster petit-fours…. butter poached lobster set on
roasted potato cubes with avocado puree & tarragon

Delouvin-Bagnost NV 70% Pinot Meunier

Rare thinly sliced grilled beef tenderloin swirled on mini Yorkshire
puddings with horseradish cream & pomegranate

Jean Pernet N.V.

Homemade macaroons

My favorite pairing for the evening was J. de Telmont Blanc de Blanc 2010 with Lobster petit-fours/butter poached lobster set on roasted potato cubes with avocado puree & tarragon.

I want to thank The International Wine and Food Society-Oakville for an extraordinary evening and in particular President, Christian Frayssignes and hosts Dale and Jim Egan.

And a special thank you to Esprit du Vin, Tod Warner and Kathryn Taggart Braneff!

Liz Palmer

“Dame Chevalier” of the Ordre de Coteaux de Champagne

Author of “The Ultimate Guide to Champagne”

The International Food and Wine Society – Oakville:  https://www.iwfs.org/americas/oakville

Liz Palmer – www.liz-palmer.com 

Champagne Review: J. de Telmont Grand Rose Brut

J. de Telmont

This Champagne is produced in Damery in the Marne Valley by J. de Telmont, one of the last Champagne houses to be family-owned and operated.

Currently the House is headed by Bertrand Lhopital. With his sister Pascale, and his brother-in-law Philippe, the fourth Lhopital generation is working to keep J. de Telmont’s rank among the 20th most important Champagne Houses in France.

Grape Varieties

85% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier

Alcohol

12%

Tasting Notes:

Raspberry pink hue with some light salmon reflections; long-lasting mousse with fine bubbles. The initial nose reveals citrus notes of grapefruit and lemon; on the initial swirl strawberry, raspberry notes emerge; in the mouth exceptional balance and finesse; long finish with hints of cherry.

Aging Potential

3+ years

Gastronomic suggestions

Aperitif, light entry of fish or crustaceans, light cheeses, desserts with red fruits
Score
90/100

Veuve Clicquot introduces Extra Brut Extra Old Champagne

Veuve Clicquot recently unveiled Extra Brut Extra Old champagne. This happens to be the brand’s novel low-dosage cuvée and an “exclusive expression of Yellow Label”.

The international launch event for the cuvée was hosted a few weeks ago by cellar master Dominique Demarville, who announced that the new creation is a result of the richness of the wines he used to make the Champagne.

The notion behind the creation of the enriched cuvee was to create a blend dedicated to extra brut, but also to bring out the imminence of reserved wines. Demarville started out with a vision of displaying how reserve wines are aged at Veuve Clicquot and showing how important they are for Yellow Label. He succeeded in creating the special Veuve Clicquot Extra Brut Extra Old which is an unique combination of reserve wines from six different vintages, including – 2010, 2009, 2008, 2006, 1996 and 1988. Further, a dosage of 3 g/l places the blend in the Extra Brut category, which is used for Champagne with 6g/l of sugar or lower.

The blending and maturity cycle for the cuvée takes almost three years in the bottle and another one year to age in Clicquot’s cellars post-disgorgement. This cuvee is limited to a very small production of 30,000 bottles.

Roederer launches Brut Nature 2006 in Toronto

Louis Roederer Champagne, known for its tête du cuvée Cristal, has launched its first new cuvée “Brut Nature 2006” in more than 40 years.

The new cuvée was created in collaboration with world-renowned French designer, Philippe Starck and is the first non-dosage for Louis Roederer.

This non-malolactic, zero dosage vintage champagne was unveiled by Roederer’s Chef de Caves, Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon, during a launch event in Toronto a few weeks ago. In attendance was a select number of wine journalists and members of Authentic Wine & Spirits Merchants.

According to Lecaillon, his team carried out a series of bottling trials for 2003, 2004, and 2005 (extra-brut cuvées – 3-6 g/l of sugar). These wines were fine-tuned and culminated in the selection of the 2006 vintage and marked the birth of Louis Roederer Brut Nature.

“Before 2003 we didn’t have the raw materials…the grapes, the terroir, sufficient ripening with this texture—the natural ingredients that would allow uw to go further with [lowering the dosage] in Roederer’s non-malolactic style.”

“The land and soil are the keys to great wines” says Lecaillon in between sips of champagne.

The 2003 growing season was ideal – it was an excessively warm, sunny and a dry year. The grapes come from 10 hectares of south-facing, biodynamically-farmed vineyards in Cumieres. Lécaillon says “You have a higher ripeness with biodynamics, different texture and fruit,” he said. “This wine might not have been possible without biodynamics.”

Lecaillon further states that all the grapes were picked on the same day and pressed together ‘I didn’t want any varietal taste. The idea was to eliminate the varietal characters and let the terroir speak’.

The grapes were picked much riper than usual and as a result, the lower sugar level of the wine-making process was altered. Fifty percent of the wine was aged in 9,000 litre oak casks and bottling at the lower pressure of 4.5 atmospheres versus the widely used 6 aided the wine’s texture. “Pressure and texture interact,” explained Lécaillon. “If you’re too high in pressure, you lose the texture.”

‘This is a small production with 60,000 bottles. The next warm year to expect a no-dosage cuvee will the 2009 vintage’ says Lecaillon.

Brut Nature 2006 contains 56% Pinot Noir with equal parts Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier.

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Tasting Notes:

Brut Nature 2006   

This cuvée is ample, elegant, and pure.

The deep golden color with lively bubbles.
Layers of fruit with hints of lemon peel, pear, flowers with some hints of
hazelnut and spice.
On the palate – stones, fruit, mineral freshness with a creamy texture,with a
long powerful finish.

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“It’s a very good Champagne – definitely for foodies and sommeliers! “ Liz Palmer

 

Other Champagnes Tasted:

 

Brut, Blanc de Blancs, 2008       
Pale yellow with active bubbles and soft effervescence.
Roasted nuts, orchard fruits, with white flower aromas.
On the palate – elegant and fresh with a creamy texture, refined acidity with
hazelnut, slight minerality with a long finish.

 

Brut Vintage 2007

Pale gold with lively bubbles and soft effervescence.
Toasty, apple, pear, hazelnut, and vanilla aromas.
The palate is characteristic of Roederer’s vintages with the attack
being ample and dense with apple, pear, subtle citrus, almond, white chocolate and caramel flavors, ending with a long finish.

 

Brut Rose Vintage 2008   

Salmon color with active tiny bubbles.
Intriguing complex red fruits, orange peel, subtle spice, floral with chalk aromas.
On the palate –   full-bodied, creamy, well structured, cherry, raspberry, orange peel, some spice flavors with some minerality ending with a Long finish.

 

Cristal 2006

Pale gold color with plentiful lively bubbles.
Layered aromas of lemon, orange and toasted nut aromas, followed by apple, peach, ginger and mineral aromas.
On the palate – creamy delicate mousse with some pear, apple, citrus zest flavors and spicy notes, with some minerality, ending with a long finish.

 

Cristal 2002

This 12-year-old wine comes from 30-year-old vines.

Brilliant yellow with some amber highlights.
A beautiful mousse with fine beads
Intense and delicate on the nose, revealing hints of Biscuit, honey, cocoa, toasted hazelnuts and candied citrus.
One the palate – savory explosion of ripe fruit on the attack, revealing red fruit, white chocolate, caramel and pastry.
Intense, powerful, beautiful balance with a long finish.

 

Cristal 1995

Tasting this was another special treat – there is only a few hundred bottles left in the world.
This 19-year-old wine has been 10 years on lees.

“Time on less is powerful and important” says.. says Lecaillon

Bottles were opened two hours before serving in order for them to breathe.

Light golden color with a very strong mousse, with lively bubbles.
Deep, yeasty aromas which are dominated by toffee, butterscotch and toast.
Fresh in the mouth, with hints of yellow fruits, strawberry and toasty flavors.
Finishes long and lean with some mineral.

 

Liz Palmer