Europe Wine Tasting Tour 2010 (sans Boss!)

Working at AC certainly has its upsides. Aside from being able to taste a large array of boutique wines any day of the week, Phil often takes a staff member with him to Europe on his annual tasting tour. As it turned out, Phil couldn't make it this year, and so I ventured off alone, on my first tasting trip, notebook at the ready and 'marketing hat' on, to meet with some of the industry's best producers.

Paris (and most of France) resembles a ghost-town in August when the locals flee to the coast for their summer break. An open patisserie in our arrondissement was nowhere to be found, and the wine bars I'd carefully researched were all closed. All was not lost though, as it's almost impossible to be served a bad French wine in France, even at brasseries.

Our first official stop was in Reims, Champagne - only 45 minutes from Paris by train. Reims is pretty, and will be prettier once the new tram network has been installed. The city very much looks like a construction site at the moment but its charm is apparent despite the rubble.

Our first appointment was with Henriot. Established in the 15th century, the team at Henriot place a great deal of emphasis on the company being a family-run business, right down to their grape suppliers (as is often the case in Champagne, where obtaining fruit from growers is a highly competitive business between champagne houses). Many houses own a certain percentage of hectares themselves and source the remainder of their fruit from adjoining/local vineyards. We were met by Antoine and Anne who represented Henriot's export division and were humbled to learn that they'd been on the same train as us from Paris, especially for the purpose of our appointment. Overall, the Henriot style of wine is elegant, subtle and balanced with the Blanc de Blanc in particular representing the house style. We were also fortunate enough to taste the 1996 Cuvee Des Enchanteleurs, made from Grand Cru Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and named in honour of the cellar workers who historically were allowed the privilege of making their own cuvee each year from the best fruit. The '96 Enchanteleurs had the most amazing nose and was beautifully rich, yet balanced on the palate. My favourite from the tasting was the 1998 Brut Millesime, a blend of 55% Chardonnay and 45% Pinot Noir. The wine spent eight years on lees and was disgorged late in 2008, producing a very aromatic Champagne with a good bead, fruit that dances across the tongue and subtle hints of smoky caramel on the palate. We left the offices of Henriot loftily vowing to pair Champagne to food often from now on rather than merely enjoying a glass as an aperitif.

From here it was back on the train to Epernay and our appointment at Moet and Chandon. Moet and Chandon need very little in the way of introduction, being the largest and one of the most successful houses in Champagne, with a history dating back to 1743. For me, the 28 kilometre chalk cellars beneath the Epernay head office were of particular note. It seems that below the surface, much of Champagne exists in the form of one cellar or another. We tasted the 2003 Imperial Brut and Rose which, considering the difficult vintage conditions in '03, were an interesting choice for Moet to produce. The vintage in fact was said to be the most difficult since the 1800s and the wines therefore are not representative of the usual house style, although vintage wines are always influenced somewhat by vintage conditions. The Imperial Brut features a generous bead, grilled nuts on the nose and yellow peach on the palate and is softened somewhat by the addition of Pinot Meunier. The Imperial Rose is an intense deep peach colour with a spicy, blood orange, dry palate. Both wines almost appeared to be fruit dominant and new world in style.

The next appointment was with Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin, the head office being a marketing dream! Veuve, while being established by the 'La grande dame' has a modern, fresh marketing approach, and the office is filled with all kinds of POS material ranging from trolleys, to fridges, signage and so on. Also of note were the kilometres of roman cellars, which housed not only the wines but also citizens when Reims was heavily bombed in WWI. We tried the Brut, 2002 Vintage Veuve, and 2004 Rose with cheese which was an interesting experiment.

Back on the train we headed east to Strasbourg and then on to Colmar. Our first appointment was with Marchel Deiss in Bergheim, and what a revelation it was. Deiss was established in 1744 and is a wholly biodynamic producer. I had not known a great deal about 'companion planting' before this visit and was in awe of the 'vin de terroir' category of wines produced by Deiss (whereby the wines are labelled by site and consist of several varietals). Each wine was beautifully structured and balanced, with the characters depending on the varietals used in blending. My favourite was the Mambourg '06 Grand Cru which is produced from fruit sourced from the driest and warmest site, where drying wind limits the growth of botrytis. The wine was ripe and rich, yet dry with a good acidity, floral, and smooth (barrel aged), and complex.

From Bergheim via Riquewihr we headed to Kayserberg for our appointment with Domaine Weinbach. The domaine was established in 1612 by Capuchin monks who saw great potential in the soil of the local area. In 1898 it was acquired by the Faller brothers and today Colette, Catherine and Laurence Faller continue to produce high quality Alsatian wines. Weinbach too is a biodynamic producer and the fruit is 100% estate grown. Due to the influence of botrytised fruit, the wines were often beautifully luscious, yet balanced by acidity and in structure.

Our last stop in Alsace was with Domaine Josmeyer in Wintzenheim. Josmeyer was established in 1854 and again is a 100% biodynamic producer. Isabelle Meyer, following on from her father Jean Meyer, is responsible for upholding the title as one of the elite producers of 'Vins'd Alsace' Alsace. My favourites here were the Hengst Grand Cru 2005 Pinot Gris and the Hengst Grand Cru 2005 Samain Riesling, the commonality in the two being the wonderful balance between buttery sweetness and acidity.

Lastly, we headed to Beaune in Burgundy and later the village of Puligny-Montrachet. Bouchard Pere et Fils was established in 1731 and concentrated on acquiring many premier vineyards within the region. As of 1820 they have been based in a fortress built from the eleventh century and completed in the fifteenth century by King Louis XII in Beaune's town centre. The cellar walls beneath the fortress are seven metres in thickness, protecting the wines from stress of any kind. Bouchard now own 130 hectares of vines, including 12 Grand Cru and 74 Premier Cru sites in some of Burgundy's most renowned villages. It is now owned by the Henriot group. The stand-out for me during this tasting was the Puligny-Montrachet Les Champ Gain 1er Cru 2007 which featured a beautiful minerality, balanced by fruit weight and creaminess and can cellar for up to 80 years.

Our final destination was Domaine Olivier Leflaive in the village of Puligny Montrachet, established 1984 by brothers Olivier and Patrick. As well as running a successful wine business, Olivier has branched out and developed a tour, degustation lunch and hotel concept for guests to enjoy, with both himself and Patrick on hand to answer questions. My favourites from the lunch were the 2007 Village Chassagne-Montrachet and the Chassagne-Montrachet 1er 2007 Cru Clos Saint-Marc. The premier cru version shows more complexity, but both were delightful.

We travelled home via Singapore (where I learned just how heavily taxed wine was there). If you'd like to see some of the photos from my trip, check our facebook page.

Next stop: Portugal and Spain (hopefully sometime in the future)!