What we tasted at our greatest Champagne event

What we tasted at our greatest Champagne event ever

On Wednesday, 9 April, we were joined by a small group of wonderful LANGTONS clients at Saint Peter in Paddington for our Growers and Grande Marques Champagne Dinner. The event was hosted by our Head of Auctions and Secondary Market Buying Michael Anderson with special guest Tyson Stelzer.

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Champagne critic and author Tyson Stelzer

 

Simply put, this was the best Champagne event we have ever hosted.

On Wednesday, 9 April, we were joined by a small group of wonderful LANGTONS clients at Saint Peter in Paddington for our Growers and Grande Marques Champagne Dinner. The event was hosted by our Head of Auctions and Secondary Market Buying Michael Anderson with special guest Tyson Stelzer.

Tyson Stelzer, as you are doubtless aware, is Australia's foremost Champagne critic. He is also the author of the Champagne Guide and founder and host of Taste Champagne, a multi-city series and one of the finest Champagne tasting events available to the public. Tyson is also one of the world's most prolific reviewers and writers on Champagne.

Tyson Stelzer gave his verdict on the event. ‘It was a tremendous privilege to present eleven of the rarest and most exceptional champagnes of the past four decades but what really made this dinner so special was the engagement and interaction with ten fellow champagne lovers! I love that every guest had different favourites. Clos d'Ambonnay 2002 was my wine of the night, followed by Salon 1996, Cristal 2008 en magnum and Egly-Ouriet Millésime 2013. What a night!’

 

 

A sample of the cusine on offer at Saint Peter, Paddington.

 

While the title of the event was Growers and Grande Marques, it quickly became apparent that the theme was time and the pursuit of perfection. We dined at the three-hat restaurant Saint Peter. Founded by Josh Niland, the star chef has created his own culinary idiom by taking fishmongery and evolving it into butchery, then turning fish butchery into a sort of performance art. Time, attention to detail, respect for materials and mastery of craft, Niland’s work in the butchery and the kitchen was an ideal, even ideological, match for the breathtaking array of Champagnes we tasted.

 

 

The order service for the event

 

Let’s just look at the list, in order
- Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs, Champagne 2008
- Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill Brut, Champagne 2008
- Louis Roederer Cristal Brut, Champagne 2008 (Magnum)
- Salon Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs, Champagne 1996
- Krug Clos du Mesnil Blanc de Blancs, Champagne 2003
- Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru Millesime Brut, Champagne 2013
- Larmandier-Bernier Les Chemins d'Avize, Champagne 2014
- Jacques Selosse Brut Rose, Champagne NV
- Dom Perignon Rosé, Champagne 2009
- Bollinger Vieilles Vignes Francaises Blanc de Noirs, Champagne 2000
- Krug Clos d'Ambonnay Brut Blanc de Noirs, Champagne 2002

 

Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill 2004

 

We opened proceedings with the prestige cuvée Tattinger Comtes de Champagne 2008. Not merely a brilliant wine but a clever start with its freshness and moreish complexity, it calibrated our palates for a frankly outrageous lineup of wines.

For the first bracket, we looked at Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill 2004 and Louis Roederer Cristal 2008. We should note that it is arguably the greatest vintage in living memory, as Sir Winston Churchill showed in its fighting prime while celebrating its 21st year. Both wines showed their pedigree in very different ways, with the contrasts serving to highlight the nuances. The warm 2004 vintage showed in yellow orchard fruits, while the lithe elegance of the cooler 2008 was on show in the Cristal—a two-bottle masterclass in the middle of the tasting.

 

Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru Millesime Brut, Champagne 2013<

 

Bracket two took matters to a new level, focusing on Mesnil-Sur-Oger, the 100% Grand Cru village producing the finest chardonnay in Champagne. Salon Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs 1996 and Krug Clos du Mesnil Blanc de Blancs 2003. Salon typically needs time in your cellar even after its time in the cellars of the maison. The 1996 had a staggering 24 years on lees, which adds to the palate's complexity and shape and helps retain Salon's typical tyrannic grip on austere freshness. 1996 was an exceptional year, and the Salon Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs Champagne honours the vintage and may be experienced over the next two decades. Krug Clos du Mesnil Blanc de Blancs defies the difficult 2003 vintage. Krug will not release the very rare Clos du Mesnil unless it passes strict muster, and this certainly has with its intense palate, drive and length—a very special wine.

From the grande marques to the growers, bracket three gave us Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru Millesime Brut, Champagne 2013 and Larmandier-Bernier Les Chemins d'Avize, Champagne 2014. The Egly-Ouriet has a choral quality, a harmonious coming together of bass power and alto acidity. The pinot dominance shows not just in the power and the body but in the fruit, too, in juicy yet crunchy plums. The Les Chemins d'Avize (100% chardonnay) counters red orchard fruit with yellow apricot loveliness and density on the palate. Both wines weighed in at a mere 2 grams per litre of dosage; there was no hiding.

 

Dom Perignon Rosé, Champagne 2009

 

The rosé round was bracket four and pitched grower versus grande marque. There is no name more grower-y than Jacques Selosse and no name more grande marque-y than Dom Perignon. But what different wines? The autolytic flor-like aromas from the Selosse led to a concentrated plum and strawberry palate, giving it a more forward personality. At the same time, the 2009 Dom Perignon was a bit more reserved, even aloof. Fine acidity, layered aromas and flavours, it took a while to peel them back and get to know the wine. It was an extrovert versus introvert pairing. We should drink more Champagne rosé!

The preceding bracket felt like rolling out the rosé carpet for the VIPs. The finale, ‘the pièce de résistance’, was the final bracket of Bollinger Vieilles Vignes Francaises Blanc de Noirs Champagne 2000 and Krug Clos d'Ambonnay Brut Blanc de Noirs Champagne 2002. Either of these wines would ordinarily take the spotlight for themselves, but we try to do things a little differently at LANGTONS. Nothing succeeds like excess and all that.

 

A glittering finale of Bollinger VV Francaises 2000 and Krug Clos d'Ambonnay 2002

 

Bollinger Vieilles Vignes Francaises is a cult wine from the Grand Maison of Bollinger. The old vines are planted on their own rootstocks, making them some of the few vines that survived the disaster of phylloxera in the late 19th century and, therefore, some of the oldest in France. Each released vintage issues around 2,000 to 5,000 bottles, with the 2000 sitting at the midway point in terms of volume, so there are very few of these bottles to go around. Heady, rich and complex notes of honey, brioche, baked sugar and custard take one straight to a patisserie. Bottled hedonism. Micheal Anderson claimed the Bollinger as his ‘wine of the night’ but with a qualification that ‘the Egly-Ouriet (for its price) was right up there!’

For the Krug Clos d'Ambonnay, we will defer to Tyson Stelzer, who described the wine as the DRC of Champagne. We hope we are not talking out of school when we tell you he gave the wine a perfect score, and we will leave to hunt down that review when he publishes it to get an insight into the wine.

Jacob Parker, one of our Private Client Managers, who was at the event (we thank him for the pictures), said 'Of the highlights, which were many, the final bracket included two Champagnes that Tyson said in all his years and 15,000 or so Champagnes tasted, and dozens of visits to both Krug and Bollinger, he had never tasted Bollinger Vieilles Vignes Françaises Blanc de Noirs 2000, nor Krug Clos d'Ambonnay Brut Blanc de Noirs 2002, let alone side by side.'

Of the event itself, Stelzer added that it was ‘the best Champagne dinner I’ve ever attended’ which says all there is to about the event.

 

Evidence of the stunning lineup from our event at Saint Peter.

 

We sincerely thank the team at Saint Peter for their pitch-perfect menu, which neither hid from the wines nor shouted them down. Also, for the impeccable service, making our clients your welcome guests.

Make sure you keep an eye on our upcoming events and keep in touch with your Private Client Manager about the events that sell out before we go to market.