William Kelley has a habit of bumping up the prices and Aube without him is an expensive playing ground already. Best not go into names.
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That’s the spirit for a participant of an enthusiastic wine board!
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Thanks, Donald. You raise a somewhat sore point, in that I am keenly aware that a proper feature article on the Aube is overdue in TWA, and plans for such a piece have been delayed first by Covid, then by my taking over Bordeaux coverage for our publication. I am looking forward to doing it soon, however, and think it will be interesting exclusively to devote an article to this region which differs in so many respects from the rest of Champagne, and which is such a hotbed for innovation.
Maillard is one thing, but do look into the literature on the degradation of sugars to produce furfurals. That is clearly very important, too, and another facet of the importance of what sugar is chosen for dosage: cane, beet, or MCR.
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Board needs a thumbs down.
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Alain + Salima Cordeuil
Petit Clergeot
Dufour
Bicherie
Clandestine
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degradation of sugars to produce furfurals is taking champagne geekiness to an absolute new level.
When I started out with champagne, the obsession was with the big producers like Cedric Bouchard. However the more I taste , the more I think the differences between the next tier of producers is not as big as one thinks even though the prices say something different, The Champagne region today is totally different from 5 years ago or even 10 years ago, ten years ago it would be near impossible to find a champagne even anywhere close to Cedric Bouchard, there are a number of canditates but they are not in Aube,
I think it will be interesting to see William Kelley’s tasting journey in Aube and I am actually impatient for it to happen. Aube is very special, when one tastes in the north, Côtes de blanc, Montagne de Reims, Val de Marne, producers are really constrained by tradition. Aube however is much more closer to Burgundy in philosophy, most of the producers train or study in Beaune rather than in Avize and the degree of experimentation that takes place is something that just could not take place in the north.
I personally don’t think Cedric Bouchard could have done what he did, if he was in the North. Selosse for a long time was not taking seriously and he still has a grudge against numerous cavistes in the Reims area,
I realise the article is about Cedric Bouchard but I think one should not forgot the pioneering spirit of Vouette et Sorbée, Dufour and Horiot. Or the next generation with especially Marie Courtin or the totally underestimated Natalie Falmet or highly original Elise Dechannes. The new generation are however for me on the cutting edge of what is happening in the Champagne region, especially Ruppert Leroy, I think they have single handledly made natural wine practices sociably acceptable in the region, It really shocked and surprised us this year, when Emanuel Brochet said he admired Ruppert Leroy the most of all the producers in the champagne.
Alain and Salima Cordeuil in philosopy very similiar to Ruppert-Leroy without the price but this will change as demand is incredible. Clandestine is an interesting project, the Cedric Bouchard style with barrique rather than steel tanks, low pressure with an obsession in expressing terroir. Originally a join project with Vouette, now since the split up, they are going new ways also more down the natural wine route.
And then there is the other side, the perhaps more conventional producers influenced more by Marie Courtin and Natalie Falmet, foremostly Remi Leroy, each year a slow progression in quality and this year a massive jump up in quality, especially the crus but also one of the best Blanc de Noirs released this year. The same applies to Marie Copinet and Robert Barbichon, probably third tier or fourth tier producers but the prices are good.
And then more newcomers, probably one of the really big talents of the future La Borderie, alongside the likes of Domaine Vincey and La Rogerie from the north, a producer with the potential to really go to the top, when one tastes the current releases.
And then last but not least Petit Clergeot, this guy is either a genius or crazy, his first release unlike anything I have ever tasted.
The problem with all these producers, they are all highly allocated but never the less, if William Kelley does make it to the Aube, it might get more interesting.
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I’m planning a 4-5 day trip, I guess based out of Troyes or the environs, in the next few months. I guess maybe in February, given how much work I have to get through in the interim.
Again, please put down the canapes. Get out of Bordeaux coverage. Bordeaux is dead at retail in the US. Let Squires or someone else wander through the Gironde. We need you in Aube. Leve, Anson, Martin and the rest of the gang have Bordeaux covered. The future is in Champagne!
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While I’m with you Dennis, I’m far more interested in William’s POV on Champagne than Bordeaux, one can hardly say Bordeaux is dead at retail in the US. A quick search yielded …
“Sales of wines from Bordeaux in the US market have hit a new high, according to the latest figures, with value sales increasing 67% during 2021. US consumers bought $395 million (€349 million) of wines from the region last year , the Bordeaux Wine Council (CIVB) said, with volumes also rising 24% to 247,000 HL.”
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WK—need someone to carry your suitcase during that trip? I’m first in line.
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Ha!
Honestly, while I live in Burgundy and even farm a small vineyard and make wine here, I do have a lot of Bordeaux in my Beaune cellar (back to 1921 Montrose!) and quite appreciate the change of pace it brings after a day tasting Burgundy. Perhaps it’s because I cut my teeth as a taster around people who were rather Bordeaux-centric, something that was also true of the university where I studied. While there are obviously a lot of people writing about Bordeaux, there has also been, in the last decade, a lot of consensus (which I tend to think is unhealthy), and not much attention to evolutions in (especially) and even, at the technical level, winemaking. So I believe I have something to contribute—if not, I wouldn’t have agreed to take on Bordeaux when it was proposed. It has meant a lot more work and a lot of time away from the family this year, and a lot of rather tiresome Girondin politics to navigate, but I think the wine world as a whole needs Bordeaux, with its unique combination of quality, volume, and inventory, to fill its proper place in the wine market. And with that, I’m going to open a bottle of 1999 Sociando-Mallet and put another log on the fire here in Beaune!
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Like I said, absolutely dead, moribund, boring. (Help me out here, I am trying to get WK out of BD coverage. Quit pointing out those pesky sales figures)
I’m glad William is covering Bordeaux. There are so many different different wines out there besides the big guns, I would know where to begin to look. I’ve been finding wines in the $20-40 range (a number that William thinks well of) that for my palate are very enjoyable, and certainly less expensive than just about anything from Burgundy.
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Lol. Ok pesky sales figures aside, I’m not ITB and only know what a few Google searches gave me. Here are some wacky results for France sales of alcohol products to the US (2021 data more or less).
- Bordeaux and Champagne are about the same volume, but Champagne is roughly double the cost on average.
- Burgundy is smaller in volume than Bordeaux (slightly more than half).
- Cognac volume (total liters) is more than Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne combined. Yes! I checked this in a few different sources.
- Total volume from Italy is roughly twice that from France.
There is always something new to say about Bordeaux and your arrival, with a different approach, has certainly shaken things up. It’s rather ironic, in that TWA created that consensus in the first place, so to be the new disruptor must have ruffled a few feathers. But a change was long overdue, so keep it up! Hope the SM 99 was good!
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