Good things are meant to be shared!

By far this is one of my most passionate articles to date, I’ve known this wine and label for some time and after another recent tasting, the love and passion for this drop has finally found its roots deeply rooted to the heart of my palate! Call me bias? Who cares! It’s a passion that I would love to share with all vinophiles.

Champagne, the wine of kings…..tried and true in this case. Maison Joseph Perrier, well appreciated even by the Royal blood of Britain, recognized by Queen Victoria and King Edward VII and last but not least drank as a Royal toast during royal marriage ceremonies within the last century! This certainly is a champagne/ wine worth seeking out not merely for its merit and status but for what it has to offer which has captured the hearts of many. The style and quality of this bubbly drop is tremendously solid and one can only attest to the many achievements under its label. 

The non-vintage (NV) Cuvee Royale Brut may be considered as the ‘basic-entry’ level but in my opinion, it has so much to offer with great structure, finesse and complexity. This wine has almost equal proportions of the only three grape varietals allowed in Champagne used for this blend (35% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir and 30% Pinot Meunier). For slightly more information on Champagne, do refer to my previous Dom Perignon article.

Tasting Notes: On the nose there’s a myriad of nuances ranging from crisp apples, pears, some yeasty feel with slight nuttiness and a hint of coconut all laid on a bed of baked pie crust. As the great subtle and elegant mousse caress the palate, it bursts with great flavor intensity of baked apple pie mixed with pears and cinnamon topped off with dried apricots and a layer of crushed biscuits. I have to say this beautiful medium bodied wine has good acidity and what really caught my attention was ultimate purity of the fruit!

Bias?!?

My usual advice………..

Always trust your PALate, it’s your PAL!

Sante~!

Behold there are a huge majority who loves celebrating with sparklies, bubbles and for some, champagne! If Champagne is what you have in mind but unsure of what you may be splurging on, here’s a glimpse. I had the opportunity to be at 1855 The Bottle Shop at 111 Somerset, tasting some of their NV Champers a while back and here are my tasting notes on them:



Louis Roederer, NV
Tasting Notes: White guava with bready notes on the nose moving on to a simplistic high acid palate profile with appley guava nuances.

Barons de Rothchild, NV Blanc de Blanc
Tasting Notes: On the nose, showcasing yeasty and stony characters while the palate is lightly bubbly with apple and stony mineral notes.

Lanson, NV
Tasting Notes: Yeasty and floral with light tropical fruit nose while the palate shows nice green apples with a dry yeasty finish

Piper Heidsieck, NV
Tasting Notes: Nice nose displaying apples, musky floral notes with toast and nuttiness transiting to a palate full of green apples on a toasted brioche with a hint of nuttiness once again for a nice lengthy finish

Bollinger, NV
Tasting Notes:  Berry like on the nose with nicely balanced yeasty-toasty characters plus some gingery stemmy notes. On the palate there are good creamy bubbly character and acid structure, boasting pearish fruits, tropical fruits and mineral nuances.

Bollinger, NV Rose
Tasting Notes: The bouquet is full of red berries, grape skin plus stem notes with yeasty toast notes while the palate boasts pears, apples and red cherries on the mid palate with a hint of toasted dry finish.
Definitely a food style Champagne!

What ever you choose, may you have absolute merriment this joyous season with those close to your heart! Happy Holidays!

This is just a glimpse, but remember….

Always trust your PALate, it’s your PAL!
Salut!

French fries? Definitely not! But rather a French-affaire with three beauties. After missing out on limited and low production Californian Syrah line-up recently, we headed back to the native old world where the famous Syrah comes from, France. Ironically, the line up did not include any Rhone Syrahs however, we travelled to Bordeaux, then Burgundy and to finish it off…at Champagne!

What more can one asks for at the end of the week but to enjoy good wines in the presence of good company?! This Friday had truly been a fortunate one being able to enjoy a 21 year old Bordeaux (reached puberty? adulthood?), a Burgundian red from a stellar vintage and a Grand Cru growers Champagne.

Château Clerc Milon, 1989 Grand Cru Classe (Pauillac)

Most Bordeaux drinkers probably know where Clerc Milon lies….in Bordeaux’s left bank, Pauillac where most of Bordeaux’s big full reds are from. What makes Clerc Milon even more sought after is not just its finesse and structure but also because it is under the stable of the great Mouton-Rothschild which happens also to be its neighbour. Lastly, 1989 has been long lauded as a great vintage in Pauillac which would give this red a bonus. In summary, after having tasted this wine, it shows that with great care and providence, great Bordeaux can go the extra mile in the cellar! Extremely young and vibrant….Forever 21?!?

Bouquet: Showing nice fruits – plums, graphite, some wet earthiness and sweet spices.

Palate: Rich with a good vibrant structure holding it together while dusty chocolaty tannins remains soft for the long haul encasing sweet savoury moorish plums, red fruits, graphite and mild earthiness on the mid palate. Great after 2 hours decanting!

Maison Champy, 2005 Aux Saints Juliens (Nuits-Saint-Georges)

A beauty in the making which currently remains in its infant phase. Decanting required, of which only after 3 hours did the wine start to show its soul, packing up more weight and seriousness!

Bouquet: Red cherries, some mouldy notes plus herbal tea nuances with very slight mint

Palate: Medium bodied packing up more weight with air, high acid and high tannin structure – ideal cellaring potential. On the taste profile, dense red cherries and sour plum core with slight earthiness and minty tea notes.

Jean Lallement et Fils, NV Grand Cru Brut (Verzenay)

Some may say Grand Cru Champagne while others say grower’s Champagne…nevertheless, no matter what one prefers to classify this beauty as…it’s a great value champagne!

Bouquet: Complex ripe fruit aromas of apples and more, some gingery spice and nutty tones.

Palate: Ripe Granny Smith apples flavours, nutty, yeasty and dried smoked hay notes. Sharp bubbles but great freshness!

For the lovers of grower’s Champagne…stay tuned!

Always trust your PALate, it’s your PAL!

Salut!

1855…a number? A year? An occasion? “Bord”-lovers akin wine lovers will think Bordeaux, the classification of the mighty vineyards, those crus of which we enjoy the beautiful harvests these days! The year 1855 did set the benchmark for Bordeaux wines nevertheless, back to the local scene, 1855 is neither a year nor is it merely a number. In fact, 1855 lies in the heart of Orchard Road, right smack in the heart of Singapore’s famous shopping district. The perfect place to ‘un-wine’ after all the shopping, perhaps!

Thankfully it was not another manic Monday but rather a marvelous one having been invited to the opening launch of ‘1855 The Bottle Shop’. Packed as it was inside with just the same feeling as one would have strolling down Orchard Road on a weekend, there were generously countless amounts of bottles for one to sample. Good reds were available, so were decent whites and as generous as they were…so were crops of the champenois ‘popped’ available!

Blockbuster champagne houses all the way to growers’ styles, such as Bollinger for the Bond fans to Champagne Delamotte were available for guests’ indulgences. The wonders of Rheims, Épernay, and Ay...bonds well for palates & noses of the CRUs and kings but certainly fit for any celebratory occasion!

Champagne Delamotte comes in various styles, of which the one for this celebratory pop was the Non Vintage (NV) Brut. As all champagnes, only three grape varieties are allowed; Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir. In my previous article on Dom Pérignon, where you can find the history and more about the Champagne region, the actual blend for Dom Pérignon has been kept a secret. However, the blend of Delamotte’s NV consist of 50% Chardonnay, 20% Pinot Meunier and 30% Pinot Noir.

Champagne Delamotte, NV Brut (Champagne)

Bouquet: Ripe pears coming through with lemony freshness, subtle minerality and mild toastiness

Palate: Soft and subtle entry enveloped with ripe pears and peaches on the palate, while following through from the nose with more subtle nuances of minerals and toast which ends dry (as brut suggests)

Elegant, soft styled, fresh and clean champagne, I would say.                        

More wines to come surely, as 1855 lines its walls and aisles with bottles and bottles, new world to old world.  In fact, Rhone wines that were written up earlier are also available…..at 1855!

If you’re keen on grower’s champagne….be sure to check the events! (hint)

 Always trust your PALate, it’s your PAL!

Salut!

If Champagne is the drink of kings, then I must have been a prince the evening Crystal Wines held their Dom Pérignon thematic tasting! Champers or Champagne –historically a ‘royal indulgence’ to which is often ‘popped’ as a celebratory drink with a steep price tag in todays society.

Very commonly, a vast majority assumes sparkling wine to be champagne or vice versa. Notably they may exhibit similarities however, strictly speaking, champagne is not a drink but rather a region in France that produced the first sparkling wine in any quantity and historically. Champagne was derived from the Latin term Campania, consisting of three towns namely Rheims, Épernay, and Ay. Only wines produced from the Champagne appellation can use the term ‘Champagne’.

Back to the fun, interesting, ‘tasting’ ala indulging session at Crystal, we were addressed by Francois Piganeau, brand ambassador for Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy and a fellow enthusiast particularly for its iconic wine, Dom Pérignon. The evening kicked off with a great ‘nerding’ up introduction soiling into French history particularly Champagne, the region and its produce and of course Dom Pérignon. A true session for the geeks!

I’m sure many would easily recognize the Dom Pérignon label but did you know that Dom Pérignon was actually a monk?! Yes, he was the Benedictine monk who experimented with many blending processes including the styles of champagne we drink today. Moët & Chandon paid homage to Dom Pérignon by launching the 1921 vintage as the first Dom Pérignon prestige cuvee in 1928. As recorded in history, it would require a minimum aging period of six years before any Dom Perignon cuvee can be launched.

Getting bored with nerd facts? How about this…

1)      How much grapes are needed to produce a bottle of Dom Pérignon?

Answer: 1.5kg of grapes per bottle!

2)      What grapes are used for Dom Pérignon?

Answer: Traditionally, champagne wines are made from Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir but for Dom Pérignon, only GRAND CRU plots of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are used!

3)      If the standard cuvee needs a minimum of 6 years on lees, what about Dom Pérignon Rose?

Answer: 10 years minimum!

4)      For the foodies and gourmands, what foods best suit Dom Pérignon?

Answer: Dom Pérignon can be rather versatile to match a whole range of styles and cuisines, but a major tip is to keep foods SIMPLE to synergise the complementing effect of wine and food.


Now back to the drinking -ahem - TASTING session…we were presented with the ‘three faces’ of Dom Pérignon. Francois joked that in some places it is termed as Yellow Dom, Red Dom and Black Dom! However with all due respect to the immense, laborious work of the Champenois, we were privileged to be presented with Dom Pérignon Vintage 2000, Dom Pérignon Œnothèque 1995 and last but not least Dom Pérignon Rose 1998…where pleasure finally sets in motion!

The bouquet of the 2000 vintage was rather pleasing with floral, pome fruit aromas which seemed as if a larger proportion of chardonnay was in the blend. On the palate, the bubbles were enticingly soft and pleasant yet fresh with apples, lemon, citrus, complex nutty biscuity notes with a very long dry finish that lingers on as the conversation continues.

The aged Œnothèque 1995 is a style that underwent disgorgement in 2006 before it was laid down to rest for another couple of years. This optional process is said to impart more complexities by further developing secondary and tertiary profiles. True enough, this wine showed a more intense bouquet with stonefruits, acetone-apple characters, nuttiness and surprisingly for me notes of ginger! No doubt about it! It showed a fuller body as it caresses my palate, displaying more intense, multilayered flavor profiles of peaches, apples, minerality and complexity illustrating good fruit to acid structure and poise. Besides its fuller and more intense character, there was noticeably lesser carbonation from the disgorgement process.

The 1998 Rose on the other hand, was stylistically a more masculine wine. It was coppery tawnish orange in colour with some red raspberries, floral nuances and a faint hint of animal hide on the nose. As I entice my palate once again, the bubbles were crisper with some animal-gamey notes plus red berries with a hint of wet stones and leather coming through to add complexity before yet again another long finish.

Before we concluded the evening, I had a few burning questions that needed an answer from an expert…How long can we age champagnes?  When is the best time to drink them?

The expert’s advice was, vintage champagnes (such as Dom Pérignon) are only made in exclusive years and are made to last if stored witin proper cellaring conditions. Then, the ball was thrown back to my court…How many drinkers are able to appreciate/ understand aged champagnes? Hence, if you enjoy the freshness, it’s best to be enjoyed upon release up to a few years. However, if it’s a special vintage that you may have some personal attachments to, there’s no harm in keeping a few in cellar. Last but not least, to the nerds/geeks…..the experience is always part of the learning curve and a well worthy one indeed!

These Dom Pérignon champagnes are available at Crystal Wines.

Salut~!