Champagne Connection Newsletter July 2016
Champagne indent time is upon us once again and I am pleased to offer you a larger selection of champagnes from the fabulous 2008 vintage.
On offer will be the 2008 Jerome Blin, 2008 Joseph Loriot-Pagel Cuvée de Reserve and the 2008 Joseph Loriot-Pagel Blanc de Blancs.
The 2008 vintage has been hailed as one of the best champagne vintages in the past decade thanks to wonderful weather in the lead up to the harvest resulting in full maturity and the retention of excellent acidity. The result is elegant yet flavoursome champagnes with tremendous complexity and beautiful acidity which will see these champagnes evolve slowly over the next five to ten years.
In addition to the 2008 vintages from Loriot and Blin, Champagne Connection also has the new 2007 vintage from H. Goutorbe on offer. The 2007 Goutorbe has beautiful purity and freshness and tends more to the aperitif style of champagne.
Larger Formats.
The Joseph Loriot-Pagel 2008 Cuvée de Reserve and 2008 Joseph Loriot-Pagel Blanc de Blancs also come in magnums. As my friend Philippe Thieffry, winemaker at Veuve Clicquot says, “In my dreams there are only magnums in my cellar”. This is because wines age more slowly in magnums, which makes them a perfect format to cellar long term for special occasions in the future.
Of course if you want a really large bottle for a special occasion then I can highly recommend a 2004 Joseph Loriot-Pagel Jeroboam which is available in either Blanc de Blancs or Cuvée de Reserve. A Jeroboam is 3 litres or the equivalent of 4 bottles, so this is a great way to make a splash at a significant occasion.
Two Additional Champagnes
Champagne Connection has enjoyed a wonderful relationship with a number of larger champagne houses over the years thanks to our annual tour to Champagne. The wines from most of these houses are freely available throughout Australia with two exceptions, Deutz and Charles Heidsieck and so in recent years I have been happy to include these wines on our order form. I have only listed the NV and Vintage wines from each house plus the exquisite 1995 Blanc de Milenaire from Charles Heidsieck. If you would like any additional wines from the Deutz or Heidsieck range such as a Blanc de Blancs or Rosé then let me know and I can give you a quote. Items not listed on the order form will require a minimum purchase of 6 bottles.
2016 Tour Dozen
Once again we are offering the Champagne Connection Tour Dozen as a souvenir of this year’s Tour de Champagne. The tour dozen contains the following wines
1. Billecart NV
2. Charles Heidsieck NV
3. Deutz NV
4. Goutorbe 2007
5. Goutorbe Brut Tradition NV
6. Jerome Blin 2008
7. Jerome Blin Brut Reserve NV
8. Loriot-Pagel Cuvée de Reserve 2008
9. Joseph Loriot-Pagel NV
10. Taittinger NV
11. Ruinart Blanc de Blancs NV
12. Veuve Clicquot NV
The 2016 tour dozen costs $750
Ordering Your Champagne.
The minimum order is 6 bottles or equivalent in half bottles or magnums. To keep our costs to a minimum, the wines listed on the order form are being offered on an indent basis, i.e. payment will be required at the time you place your order.
Orders must be lodged before the cut off date of Friday 12 August 2016.
Orders can be lodged either by return e-mail, posting or faxing your completed order form Download or print the order form from this link
To e-mail your order, simply download and save the excel file (don't forget to enable editing), fill it in, save it again and return it as an attachment to champagneconnection@gmail.com .
The spreadsheet will calculate the costs for you. Or you can print the order form directly from the link and fax it to 03 5441 4841 or post it to PO Box 487 Bendigo Victoria 3552.
Future Events.
Melbourne Cup Lunch at Rocks On Rosalind, Bendigo.
Once again Champagne Connection in conjunction with Wine Connect will be holding our fabulous Melbourne Cup lunch at Rocks on Rosalind in Bendigo. Champagne is matched with each dish during the meal and you can sip on Veuve Clicquot’s La Grande Dame whilst watching the running of the race. So put the date in the diary. This year the first Tuesday in November just happens to be the 1st of November.
Wine Tours 2016
Champagne Connection customers enjoyed three wonderful wine tours over the June / July period.
First up was Burgundy where we visited wineries in the Chablis, Cotes de Nuits and Cotes de Beaune regions over an 8 day period. We tried some superb Burgundies along the way as well as dining in some lovely restaurants.
The second tour group enjoyed 10 wonderful days in Champagne sipping on champagne from some of the region’s best grower producers and Champagne houses. A couple of memorable moments were the tasting of the rare Grande Dame Rosé 2006 at Veuve Clicquot and our celebration dinner at Brasserie Le Jardin.
The third and final group enjoyed a seven day tour of the Bordeaux region visiting first, second, third and fifth growth wineries from the Medoc as well as first grand cru wineries from Saint Emilion and Pomerol, whilst not forgetting the very best of Sauternes.
