Club Corner
April '23 Champagne Club
Gonet-Médeville & Marie Copinet Spring done sprung since our last installment of Champagne Club, and other than the weather, most of the traditional indicia have arrived rite (sorry) on schedule. Spring training is over, the full not-a-drill season is mid-swing, and that got me free associating: Of the 5-10 video cassettes in my childhood VCR rotation, one was the movie Field of Dreams, and there’s this part where James Earl Jones, backed by strings and the ghosts of old outfielders, intones: “The one constant throughout the years, Ray, has been baseball” - but I kinda think it might be Champagne? After all, Champagne is older than baseball, more ubiquitous (celebration libation of the entire sportsball world) and doesn’t require periodic rule changes like pitch and batting clocks, starting the 10th with runner on 2nd etc, to speed up the spritz. Quite the opposite in fact: methode traditionelle is still what sells, and the demand for rarified bubbly remains high despite ever-rising prices. Indeed, from what we hear, distributors are having difficulty finding new vignerons in the region with affordable bottlings not already on US shelves. The two producers we are featuring this month are thus old favorites both, but in slightly different guises. Each cuvee is new to our store and club and represents incredible quality for the cost. Pop either at your next Printemps get-together and people will most definitely come, Ray. Gonet-Médeville is a grower champagne house located in Bisseuil, within the Marne Valley region, which is famous for their exceptionally pure chalky soil. Founded in 2000, and comprising just 12 hectares, it is the happy product of the professional and personal marriage of Julie and Xavier Gonet-Médeville, scions of two famous French winemaking families. Julie’s is famous for its incomparable Chateau Gilette, an iconic Sauternes estate in Bordeaux dating back to 1870; Xavier comes from a long line of Champagne growers in Le Mesnil. Gonet-Médeville is part of the group Les Artisans du Champagne, which prides itself on uniting work in the vineyard with work in the cellar. As Julie and Xavier themselves say, “being Champagne Artisans expresses our total involvement in all stages the production of our Champagnes. From growing practices to the choice of plant material, from harvest to disgorging, we come in and create living Champagnes reflecting our knowledge and culture.” The resulting wines are elegant, delicate, festive, and easy to drink. Champagne Marie Copinet is likewise the progeny of a married couple, both with deep roots in Champagne. In 1956, Alexandre Kowal’s grandparents inherited some vines and created their own brand in the village of Cuchery, on the right bank of the Marne valley. Marie-Laurie Copinet’s father Jacques started out working for Taittinger and selling his own fruit, from his vineyards in the tiny village of Montgenost (pop. 140) to Moet, before founding the family estate winery in 1975. Today, Alexandre is the cellar-master at Copinet, and together he and Marie have utilized their combined experience in the area to blaze a singular trail. They make their own non-flavored dosage for all their bottlings, and designed and built a custom stainless steel egg-shaped fermenter, the first in Champagne, the shape of which allows the lees to circulate without stirring and, unlike the more common concrete eggs, doesn’t sacrifice acidity to do so. The 2013 Monsieur Leonard, is the Tête du Cuvée (“top batch”) from the best Chardonnay lots of 2013. It is spends about 8 years on lees, was disgorged in 2022, and is a very small production (around 250 cases). We are thrilled to feature it this month, alongside the Gonet-Médeville. Cheers, PlumpJack Wine Team Gonet-Médeville Brut 1er Cru Tradition From: FRANCE • Champagne • Vallee de la Marne About the Winery: In 2000, when his family’s plots in Champagne were being divided, Xavier opted for a modest collection of the highest quality 1er and Grand Cru vineyards with a goal of producing only the most exquisite, small-production Champagnes. Champagne Gonet-Médeville’s Pinot Noir (1er Cru Bisseuil and Grand Cru Ambonnay) and Chardonnay (Grand Cru Mesnil-Sur-Oger) are farmed organically, and each parcel is vinified separately to emphasize its individual terroir. There is no chaptalization, malolactic fermentation, or fining, and dosage is minute. The wines are matured for a minimum of two years before release. Assemblage/Vinification: The grapes are gently pressed and racked into thermoregulated vats. Fermentation in stainless steel (90%) and old casks (10%). No chaptalization, no malolactic fermentation, no fining for their wines. Matured in bottle for two years. 70% Chardonnay, 25% Pinot Noir, 5% Pinot Meunier. Tasting notes: A firm version, with an airy mousse and a light toast to flavors of black currant, oyster shell, lemon zest and sliced almond, backed by vibrant acidity that lingers on the creamy finish. Winemaker: Julie and Xavier Gonet Medeville Price per bottle / Price per case: $47/$507.60 Suggested Food Pairing: Seafood Pasta Dishes Fried Chicken French Fries Sushi And Sashimi Marie Copinet ‘Monsieur Leonard’ 2013 From: FRANCE • Champagne •, Vallée de la Marne About the Winery: Like all Récoltants Manipulant, this grower Champagne house only allows Marie-Laure Copinet and her husband Alexandre Kowal to create wines that purely reflect their estate’s terroir. With the same chalky dolomite soils of Epernay and Reims that retain very little water and create grapes of great concentration, the mean temperature is 51°F, actually colder than Vancouver, Canada. With this very cool climate, the Vin Claire (once-fermented juice) has astronomical acidity, ensuring wines that are gracefully cellar-worthy. Their 16.5 acres are within the village of Montgenost, mostly south-facing slopes and planted primarily to Chardonnay. Assemblage/Vinification: Dosage: Hand-harvested before sunrise, then rigorously table-sorted at the estate before pressing within the hour, the wines have no oxidative quality. Using only the free-run and first press, yield is only 400 pounds of juice from 2,000 pounds of grapes. Primary fermentation in concrete tanks, bottle fermentation and aging all take place in the frigid 45°F cellar, temperatures that slow the fermentation for maximum aromatics and complexity. Dosage is always unflavored and only 5-6 g/L. Using the first egg-shaped Stainless Steel fermenter in winemaking (they had it custom-made to keep acidity bright) they bring subtle richness to their cuvees, using tank convection currents to gently stir the lees (without using oak or the more vigorous battonage technique). Tasting notes: Grapefruit zest. Energetic and bright with mineral, spring flowers and white peach fruit linked to a medium texture. Nervous yet seductive, with minerality framing the finish of Brioche. Brioche richness and leesy, croissant quality. Winemaker: Marie-Laurie and Alexandre Copinet Price per bottle / Price per case: $73/$788.40 Suggested Food Pairing: Creamy Mushroom Soup Macaroni and Cheese Oysters Dover Sole
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October '22 Champagne Club
Domaine Lancelot-Royer In August we focused on the contribution of Pinot grapes - Noir and Munier - to the greatness that is Champagne. For October, we are celebrating the the other major player on the world’s most exclusive effervescent wine scene: Chardonnay. The most planted white grape in the world, in large part due to its popularity as an ingredient in sparkling bottlings, Chardonnay is actually the least common of the three primary varietals in Champagne. It is also relative latecomer to the region, first planted there in second half of the 19th century, predominantly in the chalk-rich soils of the Côtes de Blancs. Since then, it has proved valuable to winemakers since it is higher yielding, easier to grow and less prone to oxidation than the two Pinots. Its chameleonic character - think of the canyon that separates a lean, mineral Chablis from a rich and buttery Napa Chard - also makes it unrivaled as both a transmitter of terroir, and a blank canvas for the chefs de caves (cellar master) responsible for each house’s blends. This is why an exacting craftsman like Michel Chauvet of Domaine Lancelot-Royer chooses to work exclusively with Chardonnay. All of his vineyards in the village of Cramant are rated 100% Grand Cru and are planted to the varietal. While Chauvet certainly makes “grower” Champagne, his methods are so much more. He is one of the last artisans who chooses to arrange his Champagne exclusively by hand, the way it was made in the early 1900s before machines replaced manual labor. The estate’s cellars, consists of a rough chalk cave, carved out of the rock by hand, chisel strokes traceable on the cool walls. Lancelot-Royer is also one of the smallest domaines in Champagne, allowing Chauvet to see to every winemaking step himself, from harvesting to riddling to degorging to bottling. Juice is fermented on indigenous yeasts in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks. Wines undergo a second fermentation in bottle (méthode Champenoise) and are aged on fine lees from three to four years, much longer than most non-vintage wines. Chauvet also reserves nearly a third of each harvest as reserve wine, which contributes to the richness and complexity of his non-vintage cuvées. The result is an experience uncompromisingly faithful to the lemony delicacy that characterizes Cramant, and the crystalline purity of the finest blanc de blancs. These bubbles are works of vinous art, meticulously guided from grape to glass. Cheers! The PlumpJack Family Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Brut 'Cuvée des Chevaliers' From: FRANCE • Champagne Cote de Blancs • Cramant About the Vinification: Pure grand cru Chardonnay from the chalky, cool soils of Cramant in the Côte de Blancs. Generally winemaker Michael Chauvet adds 30% reserve wine, for even more complexity and texture. Assemblage: 100% Chardonnay All estate vineyards (12 acres) in Cramant are rated 100% Grand Cru and are all planted to Chardonnay, as is tradition in the Côte de Blancs. Soils are classic Kimmeridgian chalk. Hand-harvested. Pressed by hand in an upright, wooden press; fermented on indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled, stainless steel tanks. Aged for five years in bottle. Riddled by hand. Approximately 30% reserve wine. Dosage: 9 g/l Tasting notes: Aromas of dried flowers, apple, pear. Ripe white peach, lemon, green apple flavors;. lightly toasted brioche, green tea highlights and a hint of nuttiness. Long, savory and seductive; a captivating non-vintage wine that can age with the best of vintage bottles. We love the textural richness and toasty complexity we get. Fans of Krug will find a lot of things to love here! Winemaker: Michael Chauvet Price per bottle / Price per case: $59/$637.20 Suggested Food Pairing: Fresh seafood, smoked salmon, white meats. Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Brut Nature 'Cuvée des Chevaliers' From: FRANCE • Champagne • Cramant About the Vinification: The same lovely, lithe grand cru Chardonnay Champagne as the estate’s regular ‘Cuvée des Chevaliers,’ yet with no added dosage. What a thrill to taste the pure chalky soils of Cramant in every sip! All estate vineyards (12 acres) in Cramant are rated 100% Grand Cru and planted to Chardonnay, as is tradition in the Côte de Blancs. Soils are classic Kimmeridgian chalk. Assemblage: Hand-harvested. Pressed by hand in an upright, wooden press; fermented on indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled, stainless steel tanks. Aged for four years in bottle. Riddled by hand. Approximately 30% reserve wine. No added dosage. Dosage: 0 g/l Tasting notes: Refined, lacy, sublime. Aromas of dried flowers, green apple, yellow pear. Lemon and lemon zest, apple, stone fruit; lithe yet flavorfully complex. “In the glass, Cuvée des Chevaliers is a bright yellow-gold extending to the rim, with heady aromas of green apple, pear, peach, citrus pith, cream, brioche dough, dried white flowers, and a pile of crushed stones. It has the creaminess you’d expect from such long lees aging, but also a very full-fruited personality and a strong, balancing mineral component. It’s one of the more mouth-filling blanc de blancs Champagnes we’ve had in some time, with a beautifully refreshing blast of ripe green apple fruit on the palate. It has plenty of backbone and heft for extended aging.” Somm Select Winemaker: Michael Chauvet Price per bottle / Price per case: $59/637.2 Suggested Food Pairing: Lobster, Roast Chicken, Ceviche, Fish and Chips.
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