Vintage Pairs Magnums Dinner

In this blind tasting session, we select five wines, serve them blind and, as a group, work deductively through the tasting process to uncover the wine. The trick here is we actually serve ten wines – two wines with something in common, served in pairs.

1st Pair: Champagne Doyard NV 'Cuvée Vendemiaire' Blanc de Blancs 1er Cru Brut & NV 'Rev0lution' Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Non-Dosé

This 10ha estate in Vertus in the Côte de Blancs is very special. The Doyard family have been farming grapes here since the 17th century, and have been producing champagne under the family name since 1927. Guillaume Doyard is running the estate today, with his father Yannick. With enviable holdings in Vertus (including the ‘Clos de l’Abbaye’), Mesnil-sur-Oger, Cramant, Oger, Avize and Aÿ, farming is done by horse, with no use of herbicides or pesticides. Old vines and strict pruning allow for low yields, and that combined with precise harvesting, the champagnes here can lead to very clear expressions of terroir, with very low or even no dosage required, the concentration of fruit sufficient to provide natural balance in the glass. A mix of stainless steel and oak barrels are used in the primary vinification and ageing, and malolactic fermentation is allowed, or blocked – it all comes down to balance. These are vivid, multi-dimensional wines, with the depth and clarity required to match well with fine food, as well as the classic roles of aperitif and celebration.

Despite the “1er Cru” label, this 100% Chardonnay comes from a mix of premier and grand cru vineyards – at home in Vertus, as well as Avize, Oger, Mesnil-sur-Oger and Cramant, with an average vine age of 40 years. The wine is not chaptalized, and 40% is aged in oak, 60% in stainless steel. It spends 10 months on its fine lees, with partial malolactic fermentation, before secondary fermentation in bottle, and a minimum of 4 years before disgorgement (this lot in November 2022), with 4g/l dosage.

This 100% Chardonnay comes from the grand crus Avize, Mesnil, Oger and Cramant, with an average vine age of 35~40 years, un-chaptalized, vinified 50% in oak and 50% in stainless steel, with 8 months on its fine lees, it sees partial malolactic fermentation, but – critical to the style here – zero dosage on disgorgement – hence Rev-0-lution. To round the wine it spends a minimum of 6 years in bottle before disgorgement. Disgorged 17/11/22.

2^nd Pair: 2001 & 2003 Chapoutier L'Oree Blanc

Michel Chapoutier is the master of the ‘parcel’ approach to expressing the top appellations of the Rhône, and makes X different white Hermitage (‘Ermitage’) alone. Theirs is the main cuvée, labelled ‘Chante Alouette’, from a blend of sites on Hermitage, a kind of ‘second wine’, then single lieux-dits bottlings of ‘Le Méal’, and ‘l’Ermite’, and finally ‘de l’Orée’, which comes from ‘Les Murets’ lieu-dit, on old fluvioglacial alluvial deposits, planted to 100% Marsanne. In line with the maison’s approach, this is both organic and biodynamic-certified. These days, after hand-harvesting, pressing and cold settling, 50% is vinified in 600-litre oak vats, with lees stirring (bâtonage) employed, then 10-12 months in oak casks. This has always been a real powerhouse white Hermitage, laden with glycerin, and with a honeysuckle-like oxidative character during ageing. I’m really curious to see how they are showing with 20 years+ age. Did you place the wines?

3^rd Pair: 2017 Domaine du Cellier aux Moines - Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru 'Les Pucelles' & Vice Versa - Platt Vineyard Chardonnay

Perched high up above the village is the Domaine du Cellier aux Moines in Givry, south of Burgundy’s Côte d’Or. Cellier = cellar, and Moines = monks, in this case the Cistercians who founded the Abbey of La Ferté near here in 1130. The wines of Givry are a bit less well known than some other villages, but as we all know, the monks had great taste and put their vineyards in Burgundy’s best spots! Philippe and Catherine Pascal and their family have owned and run Domaine du Cellier aux Moines since 2004, and winemaking is led by Guillaume Marko. They make and lead a team of quite some sophistication and experience at the highest level. They’ve used no pesticides or herbicides since 2016 and are now converting to biodynamism. Grapes are hand-harvested, and carefully sorted, prior to fermentation with native yeasts, and partially including whole bunches (reds). Wine-making, barrel-ageing and bottling take place in a state of the art gravity-fed, purpose-built winery, which is set deep into a quarry to regulate temperature and humidity with little energy.

Anthony Hanson MW noted for us on the 2017 Pucelles - These grapes come from gently-sloping vines which lie to the north of Grand Cru Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. They face south-east, perfectly tilted to catch warmth from the rising sun each day. Colour is bright lemon-golden, aromas honeyed, toasty, freshly mouth-watering. Palate shows generous, ample fruitiness, with balancing, vivacious aftertaste.

OK, so I have no experience with Vice Versa, but we had some in stock and it made for a good vintage pair (and the Platt Vineyard is known)! Here is what I gleaned from their website – viceversawine.com (if you want to see more) –

Vice Versa is owned by Patrice Breton, a Canadian, liked nice wine, IPO’d his internet company in 2000, and set up Vice Versa in 2003. He had spent some time working with Paul Hobbs (a well-respected name). Philippe Melka is consultant (another respected name). In the ‘philosophy’ section of the website, they ‘strive to craft fine, world-class wines that are distinctive expressions of their regions. Wines that are hedonistic and seductive, but so authentic they speak of their grape varietals, individual vines, soils, climates, and the people who help create them.’ They work with top, known, vineyards – mostly Cabernet Sauvignons, from vineyards like To Kalon (1st growth equivalent), Beckstoffer Dr Crane (ditto), and then from the Sonama Coast, a Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir from the Platt Vineyard. For the Chardonnay, they write, ‘An ethereal perfume of lemon cream, minerals, white flowers, asian pear, quince, and herbs jumps from the glass. So pure, elegant, refined, seamless, fresh, and lively on the palate, with flavors of Meyer lemon, herbs, and minerals. Like listening to Maria Callas singing Puccini's "Un Bel Di Vedremo", this graceful and passionate wine will fill you with emotion. You may even shed a tear.’ So, for those of you who cried while blind tasting this wine, did you guess the identity correctly?

4^th Pair: 2002 & 2001 Domaine des Lambrays - Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru

The Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru stretches a little higher upslope (250~300m elevation), and has an undulating, uneven surface. Parts of the vineyard attract cool air from the nearby combe – air which settles in the vineyard and slows the ripening. Also in Clos des Lambrays vine rows are oriented mostly east to west. This can make Clos des Lambrays a little more prone to soil erosion. Clos des Lambrays, with a little more steepness, has thicker soil at the bottom (less good in rainy years, but good in drought), and thin shaly limestone at the top (good in wet years, but can suffer in dry years). This vineyard is owned by one estate Domaine Clos de Lambrays, that focuses on making the wine at a winery right at the terroir itself. (No need to travel from the winery to the vineyard!).

Clos des Lambrays was owned by the Freunde family and the vineyard and winemaking managed by Thierry Brouin, Brouin’s focus seems to have been the natural minerality, elegance and finesse of Clos des Lambrays – and our 2002 and 2001 are Brouin classics in his style. Picking dates seem to have emphasised “fresh-ripe”, in most vintages fermentation was whole bunch, which gives a paler colour, slightly lower alcohol, more freshness, and roses/tea-like aromas and flavour, and a different texture.

The Clos des Lambrays is documented back to 1365, and following the French Revoluton was eventualy divided in 74 different pieces owned by different families! But by the 1930s (a period of economic hardship and unprofitability in wine) all the pieces had been collected in in 1938 the Cosson family owned all of it except for one small 420m² piece owned by Domaine Taupenot-Merme. The Cossons produced some truly legendary Clos des Lambrays in the 1930s and 1940s. The Saier family bought the Domaine des Lambrays in 1979, and managed to have the vineyard upgraded from premier cru to grand cru. But this was not an exceptional period for the quality of the wine. In 1996 Domaines Lambrays was purchased by the Freund family from Switerland. It was under this period of ownership that the fuller potential of the Clos des Lambrays was restored.  Clos des Lambrays sold to LVMH Group’s Bernard Arnaud in 2014.

5^th Pair: 2009 Chateau L'Eglise Clinet & Tua Rita Redigaffi
The roots of Château L’Eglise Clinet date back to 1803. It’s distinct in Pomerol because it has Cabernet Franc vines that are around 70 years old. The vineyards are planted with 85% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 1% Malbec (2009 is 85% Merlot, 15% CF). The goal is to increase the amount of Cabernet Franc in the vineyard and to phase out the Malbec. Soils in the vineyard are made up of deep clay and gravel. This Château is quite special because of its old vines. But also because of Denis Durantou (1957-2020) who owned it, and who from 1983, really championed this little (4.5ha) estate. By the time of this 2009 vintage he was at the peak of his powers and critical acclaim for his wines – the 2009 was given “99+” (meanie!) by Robert M. Parker Jr., who called it a “blockbuster” (indeed, 14.5% abv noted). What strikes me about Eglise-Clinet, is how much cellaring the big year (like this) wines require. Was this a good magnum? Too young?

A 2-hectare Tuscan ‘garage wine’ when it began in 1984, like most in the category, it has grown. A range of whites and reds are made – ‘Redigaffi’ is the flagship, and it makes this “vintage pair” by being a Merlot wine (100%), from the same vintage as the Eglise-Clinet. Did you find the grape variety in this blind pair? When I went to the website tuarita.it/vini/redigaffi – to find out a little more (I’ve not had this wine much before), it gave a long list of all the high points (including some 100s) it has received over the years, and nothing else, so I went to Vinous.com to see what Antonio Galloni had to say. For the 2009 – ‘The 2009 Redigaffi bursts onto the palate with an exciting mélange of blackberries, grilled herbs, flowers, mint, rosemary and spices. It is a powerful, juicy Merlot loaded with fruit, but there is also more than enough structure to provide support. Dark notes of tar, incense and smoke add complexity on the finish. Generally I prefer Redigaffi between 5 and 15. 95/100.’  Quick math: 2023 = 14. Phew! Well, did it show, was it vibrant, or was it tiring? How much did it relate “varietally” to the Pomerol, or did they appear to be too distant as cousins here in this pair?

6^th Pair: 2013 Donnhoff Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg Spatlese Goldkapsel Auktion & Karthauserhof Eitelsbacher Karthauserhofberg Spatlese Auktion

Wines K and L share the grape variety Riesling, country – Germany, and the ripeness category Spätlese – literally “late-picked”, a fully ripe style with elegance and freshness, great with savoury Cantonese dishes). The style is more ‘fruity’ than ‘sweet’. “Auction” means that the wine were sold at special VDP auctions, in September 2014 and are a kind of über category of spätlese – a small production, special selections, and quite rare.

Helmut Donnhöff – who has since passed the baton to his some Conrelius, but is still very hands on – can be credited with bringing the Nahe to international prominence since he began at the family estate with the 1971 vintage (not a bad start). I think of Nahe wines as having a little more power than Mosel, still with elegance, and a mix of elegant slate vineyards and spicier volcanic ones. And here in Felsenberg in the village of Schlossbockelheim we are on a precipitously steep, south-exposed vineyard of weathered volcanic porphyry soil. So, my guess is that this wine will have shown a little richer, and a little spicier than the next one...

There are two great estates in the Ruwer – the small tributary river to the Mosel, within (today) the Mosel appellation, but really with an identity of its own. One is Maximin Grünhaus, and the other is Karthäuserhof, which has a sort of monopoly on its ‘grand cru’ – the Karthäuserhofberg. Think of it as a kind of Clos des Lambrays of the Mosel. This is a really classic estate – founded 1335 (Carthusian monks), then since 1811, in 7 generations of the same family. The interesting label has a story – it was designed about 100 years ago, so that Hans Wilhelm, the owner, could cool bottles of his wines in the little stream for drinking parties in the garden (apparently his wife didn’t approve of him having his friends around at the chateau!). The little labels could sit above the burbling cool water and not cause the bottles to lose their labels. Anyway, I very much liked this wine at the auction in 2014 and bought it.