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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Champagne Club June 2022
Here at PlumpJack we take pride in being your “Sommelier” - curating for you with thought and intention. However, this month we decided to go showcase a few favorites of actual Sommeliers. In a world of Yelp and Vivino, sometimes the best answers come from the people who have trained and studied wine for decades. Here is what they have to say. Garth Hodgdon - “Caillez Lemaire is all that is exciting in Champagne. Virginie and Laurent took over the estate in 2005 and ever since then there has been one improvement after the other. They have expanded their vineyard holdings from 2ha to just over 6ha, and have revolutionized their work in the cellar while still keeping some of the old school techniques that make their wines special. All of their vineyards have converted to biodynamics and the next generation has already begun to make an impact. Their daughter is studying wine at University and will someday return to be the second generation female winemaker at the estate. While it sounds like all of this change would lend itself to a wine that is still trying to find its identity, it couldn’t be more the opposite. The cuvées are refined, classy and of the highest quality. It would be easy to mistake them for a wine you have had before and loved except these are brand new to the United States, so it’s not likely you have fallen in love with them yet. Welcome to your next favorite champagne- which happens to also be mine.” Ian Cauble - “The Ponson ‘Prestige’ is one of the great finds for our Wine Team. This is simply exceptional grower-producer Champagne at this price point!” Our secret Somm whose name cannot be revealed - “Champagne is the most prestigious sparkling wine in the world. But not all areas are equally prestigious. The Montagne de Reims is one of the marquee areas in all of Champagne, housing Grand Cru villages like Ambonnay, Bouzy, Verzenay. But many people in the know, equally respect the 1er cru villages tucked behind this powerful South facing slopes for elegance & finesse. The likes of Bérêche, Savart, & Jérôme Prévost are here... Ponson has TREMENDOUS land holdings... This is the rebirth of an estate with unlimited potential. You are literally seeing a young man about to inherit a collection of vineyards that is almost unrivaled. I think this Champagne has universal appeal. It is a harmonious blend of all of its components: fruit, acid, terroir, wine making (lees, toast, brioche), etc. I also think it surpasses the expectations of the more nuanced Champagne consumer while remaining familiar enough to not alienate the more novice Champagne consumer. The source of the grapes is outstanding but so is the farming! Organic & Biodynamic farming practices are not the norm in Champagne.“ Cheers! The PlumpJack Family Champagne Ponson Premier Cru NV From: 7 Premier Cru villages in the Petite Montagne. From north to south, these are: Vrigny,Coulommes-la-Montagne (their home town), Pargny-lès-Reims, Jouy-lès-Reims, Ville-Dommange, Sacy and Ecueil. About the Winery: Champagne Ponson and the Ponson family have owned and worked the vineyards for five generations. In 2011, after completing his enology degree, Maxime Ponson returned home at the age of 25. In a story that has repeated itself across time, he and his father did not see eye to eye in regards to winegrowing practices. His father Pascal had been resistant to conversion to organic as the use of chemicals had ensured a consistent crop throughout his life. A friendly bet was offered with a .5 hectare of the family’s land to be worked by organic means and the yield and quality compared to Pascal’s conventional approach. After a trial vintage in 2014, Pascal was impressed with the results and the domaine began to convert to organic viticulture, a process nearly complete by the 2018 harvest. Vinification: Winemaking starts with severe sorting in the vineyards, and pickers are paid by the hour, not by weight, which encourages them to take their time to choose the finest fruit. The goal is to severely scrutinize what makes it into the press, because with perfect grapes Maxime feels he can then let the wines do their work without much interference. He said, “The secret is not what I do in the cellar, it’s my vineyards and how I work them.” Maxime develops a natural yeast pied de cuve that originates from yeasts in his vineyards. The grapes are whole cluster pressed in a traditional Coquard basket press. Alcoholic fermentation lasts between ten days and two months and Maxime limits the maximum temperatures to around 16°-18°C. Elevage: Aged exclusively in stainless steel and concrete followed by four to five years on the lees in bottle before disgorging. Assemblage: 70% Pinot Meunier, and 15% each Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with the base wine from 2015 Dosage: 7 grams Tasting notes: “Creamy aromas of red and yellow apple, quince, lemon blossom, white mushroom, honeysuckle, hazelnut, and delicate purple flowers are woven around a strong core of mineral notes. The wine matches its rich body, but delivers an added layer of dense and creamy fruit, giving it a textured, yet ethereal feel” - Ian Cauble Winemaker: Maxime Ponson Price per bottle / Price per case: $52/bottle $561.6/case Suggested Food Pairing: Sweet and Spicy Fried Chicken Birria Tacos Chicken Tikka Masala Bulgogi Bibimbap Champagne Caillez Lemaire Reflets Extra-Brut NV From: Autre Cru (89%), Damery About the Winery and Vinification: Husband and wife team Virginie and Vincent Vanpoperingh run this small family estate on the banks of the River Marne. Virginie’s family has been growing grapes since the 18th century and Raymond Caillez and Andrée Lemaire began making their own wines from the family plots in 1942. Annie and Henri Caillez took over in 1976 before passing along to their daughter and her husband in 2005. The estate holdings have grown from 2ha to just over 6ha and conversion to organic faming was certified in 2020 by EcoCert. Elevage: Steel Vats, Wooden Barrels - at the estate on average for 6 months. The wine goes through partial malolactic fermentation and then is on lees for 5 yrs.Assemblage: 45% Pinot Meunier 35% Pinot Noir 20% Chardonnay from 75% 2018, 25% 2017 Dosage: 5 grams Tasting notes: Cuvée Reflets displays a beautiful rose gold color with copper highlights. Fine, quick, and nourished effervescence adds to the festive and generous character of the visual presentation. The first impression on the nose honors the wine’s fruity character with notes of currant, pomegranate, and citrus. A few moments later, more elegant and subtle notes appear suggesting white flowers, pink grapefruit, and bread dough. Good length on the palate (lingering 7 to 8 seconds) releases intense fruit flavors of baked apple, candied quince and strawberry. Acidic and chalky sensations accompany the finish. Winemaker: Virginie Vanpoperingh Price per bottle / Price per case: $ 68/bottle $734.4/case Suggested Food Pairing: Gougères White Sausage Roasted Carrot soup with a touch of orange. Salmon gravlax Zucchini risotto
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June Champagne Club : Exploring Côte des Blancs
We love champagne — why deny it? We love brut, extra-brut, brut nature, and sometimes even demi-sec. We love champagne blends (Pinot Noir-Chardonnay, Pinot Noir-Pinot Meunier-Chardonnay) and Blanc de Noirs (Pinot Noir and/or Pinot Meunier). But if you ask what champagne is drank by farmers and winemakers in Champagne, almost all of them will say: Blanc de Blancs! Blanc de Blancs are made with 100% chardonnay, usually from the best area in the region, the Côte des Blancs. The Côte des Blancs is one of the gems of the Champagne region, running from northeast to southwest and lying perpendicular to the Marne Valley. Located a few kilometers from Epernay, its slopes and hills skirt Champagne’s Brie plateau over a distance of 10-15km. The vineyards are mostly located on the purest form of chalky Belimnite sub-soil, rich in minerals and trace elements, and largely face to the east. More than 95% are planted with Chardonnay. Grapes from the four grand cru villages clustered in the centre of the Côte – Cramant, Avize, Oger and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger – are the most sought after in the appellation, command the highest price per kilo, and help lift any blend they are added to. Pure Côte des Blancs Chardonnay from any of these villages often produce wines of great intensity, minerality and longevity which tend to be somewhat austere in their youth. As its name suggests, the Côte des Blancs is an exclusively white appellation, with Chardonnay planted as the stand-alone varietal; the exception is Vertus, in the extreme south, where the Pinot Noir challenges Chardonnay’s supremacy. Making good champagne is not easy, and is made even harder by working with a single varietal. In a blend, you can “cover” some imperfections of the other grapes caused by particular vintages or small mistakes in the cellar. With a single varietal, especially Chardonnay, any minimal error will reflect in the final bottling. The particular terroir imparts a crystalline finesse to the grape-growing for a unique drinking experience. Here for you are two examples of this style. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do. À vôtre santé! La famille PlumpJack Champagne De Saint-Gall, Le Blanc de Blancs, Brut 1er Cru, NV From: Avize About the Winery: This small winery is located in one of the most beautiful Premier Cru communes in Champagne: Cuis. Benoit Munier has 1.6 hectares of vineyards and its production is limited to seven thousand bottles per year. The winery is based in sustainable viticulture practices and on the white grape variety that best embodies this beautiful land, Chardonnay. The Munier family's plots are divided into four Grand Cru municipalities of the Cote de Blancs: Oger, Cramant, Chouilly and Avize. To be precise, 30 micro plots are available to Benoit Munier’s winery, built after the Second World War by grandfather André. Benoit Munier creates elegant and fragrant products that are well sought after and increasingly appreciated internationally. This oenological gem can be discovered and appreciated through the bubbles produced on these very limited patches of land; the Champagnes of this winery give a true picture of an authentic and fascinating land. Champagne De Saint Gall is the flagship label of Union Champagne, an Avize-Based “new-generation” cooperative on a meteoric rise to stardom. Historically most of the company’s wine has been sold to the region’s iconic houses to be blended into their top luxury brands. As far as cooperatives go, Union Champagne is without question the wealthiest of its kind, with a staggering 615 hectares of Grand Cru vineyard land, 615 hectares of Premier Cru vineyard land, and 135 hectares of “mere mortal” unclassified vineyard land. Most of the firm’s acreage lies in the sought-after Côte des Blancs zone, where they farm more Grand Cru acreage than all other Champagne houses combined. Vinification: Hand picked grapes, fermentation in stainless tank. 36 months on lees, 8g/L dosage from a solera that goes back forty years. Aging: 36 months on lees, from a solera that goes back forty years. Residual sugar: 8 g/l Tasting notes: On sight, it has a straw yellow color, with good brightness. Citrus and floral nose, with a chalky minerality. Delicate and compact, of greater complexity if the glass gains a few degrees centigrade in temperature. Direct and immediate palate, played on freshness and references to citrus scents. Finale of good cleanliness and acidity. Winemaker: Benoit Munier Price per bottle / Price per case: $55/bottle $660/case Suggested Food Pairing: Mushroom bundles and stuffed mushroom appetizers; deep-fried zucchini blossoms; roast beef crostini. Champagne Lancelot-Pienne, Instant Present Brut, Blanc de Blancs, NV From: Cramant About the Winery: Gilles Lancelot comes from a long line of growers. His great-grandfather Jean-Baptiste cultivated his own grapes in Cramant in the post-Great War years while working as G.H. Mumm’s vineyard manager, a connection that explains how Gilles was able to buy the old Mumm winery in Cramant early in this century. His grandfather began domain-bottling his Champagne in the post-WWII years. In 1967, his father married Brigitte Pienne from Chouilly and the two domains merged. Gilles himself officially took the reins of Lancelot-Pienne in 2005 following his enology studies and after working at his father’s side since 1995. The vineyards lie in Cramant, in the heart of the Champagne region. The estate covers 8.30 hectares of vines. Their plots are cultivated on the terroirs of both the Côte des Blancs and the Marne Valley. Vinification: Both viticultural and winemaking practices at Lancelot Pienne follow lutte raisonee (sustainable agriculture), an approach that limits the use of chemicals in the vineyards and winery. The grapes are harvested rather late, pressed very slowly at the winery and fermented into wine in stainless steel and enameled concrete tanks. Malolactic fermentation is carried out on all of the estate’s wines, with the aim to keep a certain characteristic freshness locked inside the wines. Ageing: Aged on its lees for 30 months before disgorgement. Residual sugar: 7 g/l Tasting notes: Bright yellow gold with green reflections in the glass. At the nose yeasty with reminiscent of butter and brioche that lies over a delicate floral tapestry. It lingering in the palate with a clean freshness without any sharp acidity. Perfectly to be sipped by itself or accompanying many different preparations. Winemaker: Gilles Lancelot Price per bottle / Price per case: $57/bottle $684/case Suggested Food Pairing: Shellfish; mild and soft cheeses, grilled vegetables; barbecue salmon.
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