TN: 2014 Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne Millésimé Blanc de Noirs Les Ursules

  • 2014 Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne Millésimé Blanc de Noirs Les Ursules - France, Champagne (4/5/2020)
    I must say this was amazing, and it evoked some sense of vinous perfection from the five of us who drank it. First things first, when opened, and poured, the wine had a most special look. In the Grassl Liberté I felt I was looking at crystals resembling barely yellow quartz. I thought of Edmond Dantes, when he found the hoard of treasure in the grotto, which subsequently helped him to become the Count of Monte Christo. Yes it was that amazing. Before I even smelled the wine I call it, “This is going to be special!” The nose was very pretty, it was fresh, with apple skin, and green straw, sweet straw or grass, it reminded of mineral dust on mountain trails, the smell of green plants stepped on walking on sun warmed rocks, and maybe the residue of freshly picked strawberries carried past… Then to the taste. It was amazing! I hesitate to describe specific fruits as they are too definitive and will not say enough of the story. I’ll just say that the fruit of wine was spirited, it was lively, it was wild, natural, it was in perfect balance, it was cool, refreshing, inviting. The bead, mousse, bubbles were of perfect size and texture, definitive, if you will. This was the very definition of power without weight, and maybe one of the best Champagnes that I have had in a long time. I don’t know the makeup of this Blanc de Noirs, but it is the best one I think I have had! This was the 2014 Disg. April 2018.

Side note, so I don’t seem like I’m swooning, I drank the Presle and Lemble on the same night, and they were typical of my Bouchard/RdJ experiences. Good to great, inconsistent in terms of age, dosage feel, and “QPR” thoughts running through my head. But the Ursules was something to behold and relish, and one that I will not soon forget… (98 pts.)

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Dude, why can’t I get quarantined with you at your pad? Not only did you drink all 3, but you then wrote this gem of a TN. Wonderful.

That’s quite some note! Can you describe the difference a bit more between Presle and the Ursule?

I believe the Haute-Lemblée is 100% chardonnay so quite a different wine than Ursule which is 100% Pinot Noir. But the Presle is similar? (altho west facing plot or something… not too familiar). would love to hear about the differences… (or i should really just pop some open as well).

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I believe Presle is 100% Pinot Noir, from a very small parcel, with the uniqueness being 10 different rootstocks in the same parcel of Pinot or something like that. Haven’t tasted it myself but definitely on the list.

Can’t speak to Presle vs. Ursules, but I’ve had the Haute-Lemble and despite it being 100% Chardonnay didn’t actually taste all that different from the 100% PN Val Vilaine. Not worth the tariff IMO.

Thanks for the great note. I have a handful of these but haven’t touched them yet, still working on 2009/10. Much to look forward to!

According to the Caroline Henry and Peter Liem books…

Ursules…100% PN planted in 1974 on clay over limestone
Presle…100% PN planted in 2007 on numerous different rootstocks
Haute-Lemble…100% Chardonnay on limestone

If you click on the link below, you can see the Haute-Lemble plot, and you can shift to the other plots with the dropdown arrow.

I have a 2015 of it from DTEW so here is hoping it is just as good.

Frank Thanks, I am looking forward to hanging again. After quarantine, we need to pop some corks, loud!! The Ursules really was special!

Mark, great questions. From the initial look and smell and really, taste, you could have fooled me into believing it was all Chardonnay. My note reads like a blanc de blancs note, aside from the slight strawberry impression. The wine was beyond all of that though. It just went to that special place that few wines go, even when we know what we want , and know what we are buying…

The Presle, was merely good, or even better than good, but with the caveats: it’s young, it’s early, pop and pour, etc. There was never a thought with this bottle of Ursules. Also, I never know what each Bouchard will deliver. They are a very unpredictable bunch, and in my experience not all bottles taste the same.

Cool. Thanks Charlie!

Perhaps it’s the low yields and the farming, but for me the wines have more to do with the site than variety—just like Auvenay’s Aligoté is more defined by being from a north-facing vineyard in Auxey-Duresses than it is by its grape variety.

The Presle pinot selections, btw, come from a top domaine in the northern Côte de Nuits renowned for its massale selections.

Drank a 2012 Ursules the other day and it was just magical.

Fwiw, Ursules is the parcel that got Cédric started, from old vines that his dad thought were too fussy, with lower yields than people typically shoot for in “traditional” Champagne growing.
So it is sort of the originator…

i always have preferred this cuvee to his other wines. i was especially disappointed by the pinot blanc as well as the chardonnay.