Last month’s Watches & Wonders and our trip to Burgundy saw us drinking lots of wines, and of course champagnes. So what’s new? Here are some of the highlights.
TGIFriday: More great wines drank in Geneva recently
We had our share of of both still wines, mostly reds. And our usual champagnes, again mostly grower champagne small houses. Here is a selection of what we drank.
Champagne Moussé Fils Les vignes de mon Village
Let me start with one of my absolute favourites. A small récoltant (farmer) with a long history, founded in 1923. The Moussé family owns plots in three villages. The name, “Les fitness de Mon village” means “the vines from my village” typifies the family style. This bottle is particular as it has a unique soil which is a band of green clay under sand and other soil types. This green clay gives Meunier its special quality.
This bottle, which I acquired in Paris is a Blanc de Meuniers, made from 100% Meunier is the work of winemaker Cedric Moussé, the fourth generation in the house. The village in question is Cuisses made with grapes coming exclusively from the village. It is a perpetual blend of wines from the harvest years between 2014 and 2020. This bottle is zero dosage. Meunier is my preferred champagne grape, and this wine is medium golden yellow in the glass. Cedric recommends that it is served in white wine glasses 5 minutes before tasting. On the nose, ripe pears and mango with a tinge of almond. On the palette, it attacks with grip and beautiful tingling mousse. The balance is taut between the acid and salty mineral finish. It shows a nice balance between the reductive style as the musk undergoes micro-vinification in small stainless steel tanks. It then bottled and sur lie for 20 months. One of my favourites in recent times, and I have since bought several more bottles.
Chavost Blanc de Meuniers
Another 100% Meunier champagne. This one is from Chavost. The champagne is made by a cooperative of several farmers in the village of Chavot-Courcourt in the Coteaux Sud d’Epernay. This is a rather unique phenomenon for a grower champagne inside a co-op, thus carrying the label Cooperative Manipulant (CM) rather than Récoltant Manipulant (RM). However, at all counts, this is still a grower champagne. The co-op began in 2016 when vineyard practices were changed to organic. Five hectares were converted, and Fabien Daviaux, who runs the estate today took over from his father in 2019. He pushed the style even further, with making champagne with organic grapes with zero additives. No sulphur, no clarification, no dosage. As pure as one gets.
The Blanc de Menuier is 100% Menuier, of course. The fermentation is at 17°C via spontaneous yeast. This means that the yeast is indigenous and is not added to the must. Malolactic fermentation is also spontaneous with indigneous bacteria at 20°C. This bottle is disgorged in Jan 2025, and is 100% cuvée, meaning only from first hand press. The harvest is not stated on the bottle, nor on the specifications sheet.
On the glass, the wine is very pale lemon. The nose is delicate. With notes of stewed pear and apple and a hint of white flower. On the palate, it is very vinous, with a strong acidity and tartness. What is perceived first on the nose, ends up in the mouth. Finish is long with good persistence.
Le Brun Neuville Autolyse Noirs & Blancs
Next, the Le Brun de Neuville. Another co-op located in Bethon in the Côte de Sézane. The house focusses on prolonged aging and its style is known as “autolysis” vintage. This method of long periods sur lie, is often used in high end cuvées. For example, a prestige champagne like standard Dom Perignon (aka P1), is aged on the lees for 7 years. Dom Perignon additionally offers P2 matures for 12–15+ years, while P3 matures for 30–40+ years.
For Le Brun Neuville, this bottle is Pinot Noir dominated (86%)with Chardonnay (14%), is aged in the lees for about 14 years, so similar to the P2 from Dom. This harvest was from 2008 blended with 12% reserve wine, and the bottle was only disgorged in 2022. Dosage is 7g/l, making this a Brut.
In the glass, it is almost honey yellow, with a nice stream of fine mousse. The nose is rich and mature, featuring nuts and a somewhat slightly fat oxidative style characteristic of long lees ageing. On the palate, it is structured, powerful. And very well balanced. Repeating the notes of hazelnut and chestnut. Long finish.
Domaine Faiveley Mercurey La Rramboisière Monopole 2023
On to a still wine next. This is the Domaine Faiveley red burgundy. La Framboisière has been one of the Domaine’s monopoles since 1933. The plot owes its name to the presence of raspberry bushes. The shallow, pebbly clay limestones of La Framboisière has excellent drainage, so that at the bottom of the slope, the soil profile is a mix of clay and silt. 11 hectares are planted with Pinot Noir.
La Framboisière shows up in the glass as a beautiful ruby red. On the nose, it is intense with berries and a touch of wood. Very fragrant. The palate is a crunchy red fruit with velvety tannins and a long finish.
We had this bottle twice. Once in Brasserie Lipp in Geneva, and another time in Beaune.
Absinthe La Valote Martin La Belle Epoque
While up in the mountains in the Swiss Jura, we need to drink absinthe. This bottle is 54% ABV Swiss “La Bleue” (clear) absinthe distilled in Motier, Val-de-Travers. Absinthe was banned in Switzerland in 1910 as it was thought that due to the “Green Fairy”, it is dangerously addictive and hallucinogenic. A revival began in the 1990s, as the European Union removed longstanding barriers as recent studies show that absinthe’s psychoactive properties are not more harmful than those attributable to its alcohol content. The house of Francis Martin remained one of the underground distillers who continued to distill absinthe even during the ban, and naturally became a strong brand when the ban was lifted.
This bottle is an authentic profile featuring pronounced wormwood, accented bitterness, and herbal notes. The nose is powerful with the herbal flavours of anise, fennel and wormwood. It is very high in alcohol often means that if drunk neat, it burns on the way down, so it is often enjoyed with sugar and ice water. The typical preparation is to dissolve a sugar cube in a 3:1 ratio of water to absinthe. Once mixed, the liquid turns from clear to cloudy. This releases dissolved essences with a perfuming of herbal aromas and flavours that “blossom” or “bloom”, and brings out subtleties that are otherwise muted within the neat spirit. The finish has a slight bitterness.
Notable mntions
Among the champagnes of note is the bottle of Bollinger Special Cuvée. The champagne of James Bond, this non vintage blend of 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Meunier is full bodied and complex. It shows as a mellow gold-amber colour, with a nose and palate of ripe peach, honey and fig. The name “Special Cuvée” was coined in 1911 by Georges Bollinger’s British agent, who thought “non-vintage brut” did not reflect the wine’s exceptional quality. A rather standard bottle of big house champagne.
Other still wines we consumed were served at the various WWG events. The Domaine Chapelle et Fils Santenay Premier Cru Les Graviers was a rather exceptional Pinot Noir from the Côte de Beaune in Burgundy. Les Gravières” is one of the most prestigious sites in the appellation. Aromas of cherry, raspberry, and mushroom, with notes of earth, spice, and truffle as it evolves. It is generally described as medium-bodied with bright acidity.
These were the wines we enjoyed in Geneva and Burgundy. Till the next one, Santé!
