TN: mini Champagne tasting: 2014 Courtin "Efflorescence"; 2012 Remy Massin Brut; NV Hebrart Rose

5 tasters participated in this tasting. I think everyone felt the Courtin was the best; opinions on the Rose were somewhat varied; everyone enjoyed the Remy Massin.

I recall prior conversation on this board about the Hebrart Rose: unfortunately, my experience mirrors the unfortunate experiences detailed by others — to put it bluntly, the wine was “just weird,” and not particularly pleasant. It did improve somewhat with air, and a relatively warmer serving temperature, but it never got to “good.”

The Remy Massin was, perhaps, the most intriguing wine of the trio, notwithstanding the fact that I preferred the Courtin. The Courtin is simply more my style. But that Remy Massin — it really came across as being pretty packed, and situated for a greater future. It is surprisingly dense for how dry it is. I will likely buy a couple more to see how it develops in the cellar.

2014 Marie Courtin Champagne Efflorescence Extra Brut - France, Champagne (12/12/2020)
– popped and poured –
– tasted non-blind over 2 hours –
– 100% Pinot Noir –
– etched code at bottom of bottle: LE14D1119ND –

NOSE: very light — light-fruited for a Blanc de Noirs; pleasant, but pretty straightforward.

BODY: frothy; light bodied.

TASTE: excellent; vinuous — “winey”; a bit salty; dry; 12% alc. not noticeable; easily a re-buy for me; I do wonder if a year or two might help this flesh-out some, not that it needs it, however, as I find it quite pleasant right now.

NV Marc Hébrart Champagne Premier Cru Brut Rosé - France, Champagne (12/12/2020)
– popped and poured –
– tasted non-blind over 2 hours –
– 55% Chardonnay, 38.5% Pinot Noir, 6.5% Mareuil Rouge –

NOSE: light; a bit leafy; very light aroma of red berries.

BODY: salmon color; medium-light bodied.

TASTE: something a bit milky and weedy going on — fairly weird; medium-strength raspberry jam note on the finish. Not a re-buy for me.

2012 Remy Massin Champagne Brut Millésimé - France, Champagne (12/12/2020)
– popped and poured –
– tasted non-blind over a couple hours –
– 60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir –

NOSE: a bit yeasty and buttery; this has an overall “bright” aromatic profile.

BODY: medium-light bodied.

TASTE: concentrated light fruits; high acidity; dry, but with a surprising richness to it; attractive QPR @ $40; this certainly seems like it will age well, for those so-inclined; it’s a re-buy for me. Gut impression: low 90s.

Have some of that Effllorescence; I appreciate the notes.

It’s a good one, Joshua. As luck would have it, that wine was one of my lucky mistakes: I bought a few, then, a few months later, having forgotten that I had already purchased some, I bought a few more.

Graf, happy holidays buddy. Have not seen you since in a long while, hope you and everyone there in LA are well, dude.

Thanks for posting about the 2014 Marie Courtin Eff. I’ve had four bottles of it this year, and my view in to that wine is that it’s special stuff. Three of us just split on another case of it from Portland, so I’m fortunate again to own more of it. Broadly, I think Dominique Moreau is one of the finest growers now in Champagne. Bottle after bottle, whether it’s Presence (Chard and Pinot Blanc), Eloquence (which is 100% Chard and a beauty) or Resonance (the sibling to Efflorescence, but done in stainless), the wines are just gorgeous. Dominique’s notoriety is going to continue to grow, as more Champagne people discover her talent.

• 2014 Marie Courtin Champagne Efflorescence Extra Brut - France, Champagne (11/26/2020)
  Happy Thanksgiving everyone. It’s been a helluva year for many, us included. This bottle is a BEAUTY, just like the other three I’ve had earlier in the year. It’s on my short list for my Champagne of the year, along with 2015 Ulysse Collin Pierrieres, 2014 Laherte Freres Les Crayeres and 2012 Miniere Influence. All of these were fantastic, and this Efflorescence is right there with them. Disgorged April 2019, 100% Pinot Noir, no dosage, farmed biodynamically and elevage in neutral wood. The texture on this is what gives me such great admiration. There is a richness here that defies any bias about the lack of dosage. It’s got a saline core that blows my mind every time, along with lime zest, red apple, cranberry and a light smokiness that infuses the aromatic and palate. Finishes with a bit of bread dough and some suave, creamy berry tones. Dominique Moreau is one of the finest growers in all of Champagne, her wines consistently shine. Thank you Dominique for making our Thanksgiving table even better today.

Posted from CellarTracker

Hi, Frank! Thanks for chiming-in here — I know myself and others appreciate your input. Happy Holidays to you and yours, good sir.

I’m glad to hear you’ve had positive experience with Resonance — I’d never tried it until I opened a bottle of the 2015 last week. Honestly, I did not really like it. Next to zero fruit on it — it did get marginally better with air over 2+ hours, but it never came to life. I have two more bottles; I might open one soon, as my experience is pretty different than most detailed in CT; the third one (if not the second and the third) will likely be allowed to rest for a couple years to see if it fleshes-out some. I do note that you had good experience with that vintage because I saw your TN in CT … head-scratcher.

Thanks for the note on the Massin. I loved the '08. Best value of l2019 for me. So the '12 was a quick buy as soon as the Envoyer email dropped. Planned on waiting on them though.

I bought their Special Clubs also which are funny because in '12 it’s Pinot Noir but in '14 it’s Pinot Blanc. I’ve tried to fix it in CT but have failed thus far. I need to post it on the forum there so the devs can get them right.

Weird … so Remy Massin changes-up the composition of their Special Club from year to year? Presumably based on what did best in any given vintage? Interesting, albeit frustrating/challenging for the consumer-buyer.

Special Club is ‘special’. It’s not really a particular bottling in the way tete de cuvees are or SVD’s. It’s that thing voted on by the organization that is made up of the member houses. So it can be whatever is submitted that year. I think in most cases it is going to be whatever that house does best and wants to present. Say Blanc de blancs, blends or blanc de noir. But it could be anything in any given year wines are submitted I believe. The houses are not tied to any sort of bottling. Apparently Massin was proud of their Pinot Blanc, went for it and won the special bottle.

I have experienced some weirdness and lactic aspects on the Hebrart rose from time to time as well. I’ve also gotten something I call bitter almonds, which isn’t the same as just plain bitter. I wonder if that’s in the same range as your “weedy” impression.

I question my judgement on this one because so many people here love it and Jonathan likes it. My own impressions are mixed.

Could be, Sarah. It wasn’t until after I wrote my Hebrart note that I recalled your prior, similar, experience. I have one more bottle at the moment, and I have it lined-up for consumption sooner, rather than later (figure I might as well just get it out of the way), so I’ll have an opportunity to give it a bit more thought and will report back. I was pretty bummed about it b/c Hebrart’s NV BdB is my current go-to QPR/house bubbly (Aubry’s 1er Brut can re-join the party whenever Envoyer next offers it!)

Exactly the same for me and the Hebrart BdB! How funny. Just reloaded another 5 cases of that at a good price. It ages very nicely.

Please do report back on your next bottle of the rose. We have more of those coming in, too. Making the Dear Husband happy makes me happy.

5 cases!?! Yowza! Here’s hoping they all show well and bring joy to the occasions.

What was the disgorgement of the Hebrart?

Sarah and Brian,
I haven’t found the lactic note in Hebrart’s Rosés, but haven’t opened that many. I wonder if a variable level of malolactic fermentation causes some bottles to show this.
Cheers,
Warren

David, probably 10/15/2019. And I say “probably” because I forgot to make note of disgorgement date on the bottle I drank, but the other bottle of the same from the same purchase has the 10/15/19 date on it.

Many thanks! Jonathan believes in buying NV house champagne once and not thinking about it again for ages. So far, that approach has served us well.