Champagne Overflow, Alsatian Delights and Nectar of the Gods: Weekly Tasting Report (June 22-28)

Is Champagne the best value in fine wine at the moment? Associate Editor Claire Nesbitt and I continue to ask ourselves this question as we taste hundreds of new or soon-to-be released Champagnes as well as visit a few dozen winemakers and vintners in the world’s most famous region for bubbles.

Some people in the world market may certainly already have the answer because they are drinking more Champagne than ever. Global shipments of Champagne reached record levels last year during the pandemic, totaling 322 million bottles from a record low of about 244 million bottles in 2020, according to the CIVC, a regional organization for wine producers and grape growers. And shipments seem to be growing at an even faster pace this year. The United States is now the No. 1 export market in the world for Champagne.

Although Champagne is best known for being a blend, it is the single-vineyard or high-end, limited production vintage bottles that are keeping collectors and aficionados coming back for more – and more. Take a look at the tasting note for one of our perfect Champagnes so far, the Henri Giraud Champagne Argonne Brut Rosé 2012. We were literally speechless when we tasted this wine on Saturday, with its unique mind-bending character. It’s even made in specially created wood barrels from a particular parcel of the Argonne forest in France.

The winemaker and viticulturalist behind it is Sebastien Le Golve. He is one of a number of Champagne geniuses in the region at the moment, and his precision in the vineyard and winery is awe-inspiring. His wines all come from the village of Aÿ-Champagne, and they have a richness and density yet remain agile and vivid on the palate. He uses a range of containers for the fermentation of his base wines, from oak barrels to specially made Clayver ceramic vats. But the key is the 35 hectares of vineyards he works with on the slopes above his village near the winery. He carefully cultivates his vines with no chemicals or fertilizers to yield pristine grapes.

“Our goal is to pick the best grapes possible that are pure and beautiful,” he said while we visited his cellars.

We tasted a number of other collectible and popular prestige cuvee Champagnes over the last five days, including coming releases of the single-vineyard wonder from Krug, Clos de Mesnil 2008, and the coming vintages of Dom Perignon, such as the 2013 and the P2 2004. They were all exciting and fascinating to taste, and we had an in-depth and candid conversation with DP Technical Director Vincent Chaperon. He is another Champagne genius.

ALSATIAN PERFECTION

A large part of the tastings over the past week were the wines of Alsace as Senior Editor Stuart Pigott surveys the region. He says that the 2000 vintage in Alsace is one of the best ever for wineries with vineyards that escaped the heat and dryness with isolated thunderstorms in August that refreshed the vineyards.

Stuart came across the first perfect pinot noir we have ever experienced in the region – the Albert Mann Pinot Noir Alsace Grand H 2020. ”For me, 2020 is one of the best vintages I ever made, and for pinot noir reds I think it’s the best we ever had,” Albert Mann winemaker Jacky Barthelme told Stuart.

For Barthelme, who began work at the estate he owns and runs together with his brother Maurice back in 1982, the Alsace Grand H is the result of decades of striving for perfection and a career high point. He switched to maturing his red wines in 225-liter casks in 1991 and extended that maturation from 12 months to 17-18 months in 2009.

It was about then that the pinot noir reds really took off, and we have consistently showered these wines with praise. Domaine Albert Mann makes four single-vineyard site pinot noirs per vintage, and each of the 2020 vintages rated 95 points or above. “We treat every single vine as an individual,” Barthelme said, explaining another crucial aspect of the dedicated hard work that lies behind these wines.

The wine’s unusual name indicates that it comes from the Grand Cru Hengst site, but it is not allowed to carry the site name because it isn’t from one of the approved grape varieties (gewurztraminer, pinot gris, riesling and muscat). That just changed, but for the 2020 vintage it came too late to write Grand Cru Hengst on the label. This 53-hectare site in Wintzenheim has a heavy chalky-marl soil that gives the wines from this south- to southeast-facing slope enormous power.

This wasn’t the only high point of Stuart’s lengthy visits to some of the region’s leading producers. Several dry rieslings also really stood out among many excellent wines from this category – especially the Domaine Weinbach Grand Cru Schlossberg Cuvée Ste. Catherine 2020, which squares the circle of noble ripeness and mineral freshness.

“After tasting more than 300 Alsace wines with the focus firmly on the top bottlings from 2020, I can say that Alsace has an excellent vintage that seems stronger than it is in neighboring Germany, or compared with the 2019 in Alsace,” is Stuart’s assessment. “I didn’t see it coming, because 2020 was a drought year. Yes, there were places where the vines suffered from drought stress. The luckier locations were the ones that got some good rain in August, just in time to reanimate the vines for the final phase of ripening.”

What makes 2020 so exciting in Alsace? These wines have great fruit and so much charm, yet also a structure that convinces Stuart they will age gracefully for many years and even decades to come. He still has about 200 more samples to taste through, so expect further reports on the new wines of this unique region.

READ MORE: TOP 100 WINES OF FRANCE 2021

In our Hong Kong office, a top highlight came from one of Rioja’s most idiosyncratic traditionalists – Lopez de Heredia, a producer whose “museum” of old vintages comes with an admirable heritage. The wines demonstrate how premium quality marries so well with the taste of tradition. Best of all, they are still modestly priced.

We loved the red expressions of Viña Bosconia and Viña Tondonia from the 2011 vintage, which not only showed aged, savory complexity and length but also a bright vibrancy from the zesty fruit. The citrusy quality on the palate made Senior Editor Zekun Shuai rethink the boundaries of wine colors, which in these cases are blurred.

The same blurry identity also works well in their full-bodied and slightly structured white and rosé. The López de Heredia Rioja Reserva Viña Tondonia White 2011 and López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia Rosé 2012 are among the top wines we rated in Hong Kong. Both are unique and other-worldly expressions that have endured extended aging in old American barrels and in the bottle. They have stood the test of time, with fine oxidation not turning them to vinegar but rendering more transparency, nuance and length with a bright and zesty feel to the palate.

Two rare nectar wines from another historic producer in Hungary also impressed. The Disznókó Tokaji Eszencia 2007 is more about making a point, telling the world how great Tokaji Eszencia can be with just 1 percent alcohol and an enormous amount of sugar. This deep amber- to black-toned “elixir” comes from the free-flowing juice of aszu berries, delivering a palate as thick as black honey but still balanced with natural acidity.

It is a legendary taste and once-in-a-lifetime experience to savor, preferably with a glass spoon. But if it sounds too unctuous with too much sugar, then try the Disznókó Tokaji Aszúeszencia 2005 – an exquisite, complex and effortless expression with a tangy acidity that doesn't feel luscious at all. It may not have the ambition of Eszencia, but it's the kind of Tokaji that makes you crave a second glass.

– James Suckling, Editor/Chairman; Stuart Pigott, Senior Editor; and Zekun Shuai, Senior Editor

The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated during the past week by James Suckling and the other tasters at JamesSuckling.com. They include many latest releases not yet available on the market, but which will be available soon. Some will be included in upcoming tasting reports.

Note: You can sort the wines below by country, vintage, score and alphabetically by winery name. You can also search for specific wines in the search bar.