TN: 2014 Marguet Champagne Grand Cru Extra Brut Les Crayères

With COVID quarantine and several shipments that came in recently with a variety of Champagnes to try (part of my New Year’s 2020 resolution), thought I’d pop this open.

• 2014 Marguet Champagne Grand Cru Extra Brut Les Crayères - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (4/15/2020)
  Disgorged February 2019, 100% PN. Zero dosage. Poured in a Grassl Mineralite glass. Heavily bruised yellow apple and some light cream, almost makes me think this wine is older than it really is. As the Champagne is warming up there is definitely this sweet red-fruited note that as Frank Murray describes is like a raspberry pop tart. Though this is extra brut it isn’t as dry as anticipated, probably because the ripe red fruit notes giving the perception of some sweetness. Medium acidity, wishing there was a bit more verve in the wine (not sure if this is vintage vs. other factors). An interesting wine, not sure that it’s in my wheelhouse though.

Posted from CellarTracker

Wading right into the pool aren’t you…good to see you experimenting with these. For these wines, you’re squarely in biodynamic, no dosage land.

I have tasted through most of the 2014 Marguet cuvees, from the Ambonnay Rose, to Le Parc, Les Saint Remys, etc. I have concluded that this vintage has some coil and the wines not only need some discernment (i.e. don’t judge out of hand) but will need time. There is spine and coil in several of them, with I think the Les Bermonts (100% Chard) being the most accessible right now. Guess we will see but I dig Benoit’s wines and his commitment to his style and farming. For what it’s worth, Brian, I offer my TN of the 2014 Les Crayeres below.

• 2014 Marguet Champagne Grand Cru Extra Brut Les Crayères - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (1/5/2020)
  Damn, I respect Keith and his take on wines, as he’s earned his voice with all of the wine he has sampled and shared through his notes over the years. However, the bottle I opened last night and am retasting a day later from the remnants I kept stoppered overnight, I have to take a different take on the wine than Keith did. Disgorged 02/2019, no dosage, 100% PN. This did need some air last night to fill in some of the austerity, as it started out savory with a salinity. As I tasted the wine later last night, a thought popped into my head of Raspberry Pop-Tart. It’s one of those times where my perception just anchors on a very specific reference, and this sensory reference of baked fruit pastry was what popped through. In tasting the wine again a day later right from the fridge from the remnants and without food, I find the same salinity, lime zest and the austerity when cool. As it warms, a zesty raspberry note comes through, along with some of the barrel tones from the barriques, along with the dried herb note that I often find in Benoit’s cuvees. It finishes with a citrus, dried herb note and the saline. I don’t think this vintage of Crayeres is as good as 2012, which is a gem, and it does reflect some austerity but overall, I enjoy the 2014.

Posted from CellarTracker

Thanks for the notes, gentlemen.

Of course one of the cases I just had delivered was from Robert Panzer and I forgot I ordered a Marguet Shaman and Avize & Cramant to try out. Will see how these go in the next couple weeks.

I have only had a couple of wines from Marguet. I liked the wines, but like you I wished they had more acidity.

I don’t find these wines short on acidity.

Frank may just need to drink more riesling like us, Howard

To be fair, I have only had young wines. I know of wines that show more structure with age after some baby fat goes away. I will withhold judgment for a few years.

And, also, I tend to like wines with higher acidity. Not only German wines, but also Burgundy and Loire Chenin Blanc. So, tastes differ a lot.

I don’t own any Riesling, but pleaseeeee, don’t hate me for that decision.

And if you could hear the ridicule I take regularly from my group concerning my love for acidity…you both would cry until your eyes bled with joy.

I’m still learning more and trying more bottlings from this producer, but one thing that I really like is that despite being extra brut and high acidity, they don’t come across as shrill or as only about the acid. I generally consider myself a fairly high acid drinker, but some extra brut or brut nature bottlings are too much for me to really enjoy.

I should add that I typically (with notable exceptions) prefer white Champagnes to rose Champagnes and the two wines I have had from Marguet were roses. They each had beautiful fruit an flavor but I wished for a bit more structure. I am saving my others for a few years to see what happens to them with time.

Howard, I assume then you had the Shaman Rose and/or the Ambonnay Rose? I like those wines but for me, to cut one’s teeth into Marguet, you would want the site driven plots in your glass, like Les Crayeres or La Grande Ruelle. If you have some of these single plot bottlings, why not open one?

^um, unequivocally this. Champagne itself is as marginal as it gets (and these wines are done without dosage), these wines aren’t lacking acidity in the slightest. Legit, have this wine next to a premier cru Chablis and you will be able to see that these aren’t lacking for acidity (and neither would be the Chablis)

I definitely would have liked it better if it had served up some Raspberry Pop-Tart!

The wine I bought and opened was a 2012 Ambonnay Rosé. I also have had one from a friend at a wine dinner and do not remember what that was. The way I typically try new producers is to try one or two bottles of their wines and then explore the range more if I like those. Frankly, given that the prices I have seen for the better ones are somewhere between Delamotte 2008 and 2012 and Taittinger CdC, while I would be happy to try some if offered to me, I don’t see myself running out to buy them.

Are the Crayeres or Grand Ruelle white or rose?

White. Both 100% Pinot Noir.

IMO Marguet Crayeres is the best Crayeres