I have heard this too from elsewhere.
Cazals I’ve only had once - doesn’t seem to reach these shores very often and it’s not cheap - so I can’t speak to a general profile, but it was a superb bottle of Champagne in a classic blanc de blancs profile with a bracing structure and fruit starting to exhibit some richer honeyed/confiture notes. Definitely competitive with a great Mesnil.
La Vigne d’Antan I’ve got quite a bit more experience with, having been through at least a dozen of the 1998/99 blend and a few bottles of the 2000. When young, they can be pale and very mild and there isn’t much to say about them other than that they’re pleasingly fresh and pure. About 2 years ago I noticed some bottles starting to turn the corner and showing some real personality - everything you want in a matur(ing) Champagne - with a precision and lightweight elegance that wouldn’t normally be able to carry such expansive, sumptuous fruit, but it pulls it off, and perhaps that’s where the ungrafted vines factor in.
The only negative is that there seems to be a very high level of variability from bottle to bottle, with some seeming years less advanced than others (and not correlated with disgorgement date, either). I’ll open a perfect, amazing bottle and want to show it off to people, and then the next bottle I open tastes like it’s turned back the clock to when they were too young to show much of anything. I’m hoping that future releases are more consistent.
Suzanne,
I had it a couple of months ago and liked it a lot but I didn’t think it was as complex, at roughly equivalent age, as a bottle of the '96 a few years ago; that one really knocked me out – extremely fresh and bright but already showing layers of flavor.
I recently had a bottle of the ‘90 Comtes that was really super so learning that it’s got a lot of Les Chetillons in the blend now has me thinking of that vineyard in particular and Champagne vineyards in general; I’ve always liked Peters’ NV but have never tried their Les Chetillons so now I’ve got a mini wish-list for the New Year.
We had the '99 Philipponnat Clos des Goisses back in 2008 at the now defunct Rubicon. Needless to say, sampled well before its time, although it did show an impressive overall structure.
It is, and it’s maybe my favorite single vineyard champagne, followed by Tarlant’s and Cédric Bouchard’s Clos des Ursules.
Keith,
In regard to Les Chetillons and Taittinger’s Comtes, I probably should have been more specific. Les Chetillons is not going to be more than 10% of the Comtes BdB blend and is normally closer 5%, but this is a large amount for any one vineyard to make up the final Comtes blend. When young, I can’t necessarily pick up the Chetillons character (which isn’t surprising considering that there is another 90-95% of non-Chetillons in the wine), but with age, the Chetillons really starts to take charge. If you ever have a chance to have a 35+ year old Pierre Peters Chetillons and Taittinger Comtes BdB from the same vintage side by side, the similarities are quite remarkable. The fact that one vineyard making up only 5-10% of a blend can exert itself in such a way is another example of just how powerful and remarkable this vineyard is.
Brad,
Are we missing any other great single vineyard (or single commune) Champagnes?
Kevin,
In my opinion, it is more fun to see what other folks will name first and, of course, opinions will vary. Lots of good ones mentioned so far, but only two that I would consider the best of the best have been noted. For the last two years, I’ve been looking into and researching not only the best single vineyard wines, but the best vineyards in general (don’t assume that the best vineyards always have a single vineyard wine that is released publicly). While I never thought this would be easy, it has been more challenging than I thought as you really have to spend time with different producers who own/farm/source the land and you have to taste new and old from different producers. What I have is still a work in progress so I hesitate to put anything down that I might change over the next year. I will try to add a few that haven’t been named by tomorrow. There are a good number of really nice, top notch vineyards in Champagne, but I think you can narrow down the truly elite to less than ten. These “elite” have something special that really sets them apart and history has bore this out.
The Jacquesson wines have not been mentioned yet. Any of the four.
I see Astor still has 2004 Boulard Rachais for $56. This is an absolute steal.
Russell,
Do you really think any of those are the best? I think they are the best of what Jacquesson has and fit their vision of wanting to express individual vineyards, but don’t necessarily rank with the elites or larger top group just below the elites.
What about CsH?
Brad,
You are getting close to needing to the spill the beans on your “elites”!
Here are a few of my guesses:
Salon (commune not SV I realize)
Krug Les Mesnil (same)
Philipponat Clos des Goisses
Krug Clos d’Ambonnay
Pierre Peters Chetillons
Billecart Salmon Clos St Hillaire
Other elites (if not Jacquesson)?
Kevin,
You still have only two - same two that were mentioned earlier.
I’m not considering village/commune wines as that changes the game so I’m not considering wines like Salon.
Would you include Selosse Substance and Contraste?
No. Substance isn’t a single vineyard and Contraste wasn’t. Selosse’s Pinot Noirs that are now out on the market are single vineyards from Ambonnay (Le Bout du Clos) and Ay (La Cote Faron). I like both, but don’t think they are in the elite group.
*edited for clarity.
chetillon for sure. so distinctive and so right up my alley. chalk, white pepper, ginger. so long and so well defined. to me the ultimate expression of BDB.
and while i am at it, definitely NOT Clos des Goisses. historical site yes, why? i for one haven’t been able to find out why. many many examples from different vintages at different age been had, but not one was anything more than pretty good. this includes 95, 96 99 vintage and older examples.
yes consumed few weeks ago, very primary and one dimensional red apple and baked apple flavours. next day apple cider. disappointing.
Oh no I don’t think Jacquesson are in the top flight, and they are too expensive.
I’ll have to have a think but not today, hard day on the slopes of the Alps!
Rasoul,
I understand not liking the wine, but IMO Clos des Goisses is the most unique vineyard in Champagne. I will add in that it sits at either number one or two in terms of what I consider the best site in Champagne. Why is it unique? Besides the fact that the soil is very good, it essentially has its own micro-climates (the micro-climate seen on the south slope isn’t duplicated anywhere else). On its steep south facing slopes (which happen to be positioned relative to the Marne canal in such a way that you get a very positive effect), you get extreme ripeness and good health in this portion of the vineyard especially with the Pinot Noir; even in the worst years, you can get good grapes that reach maturity and avoid rot in this portion of the vineyard. The other parts of the vineyard tend to ripen slower and this helps to balance everything out. Also, the fact that both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir thrive here is something that isn’t always seen - again, this helps to balance out any year. Add in a rather large size of 5.5 ha and you have a total package that is not duplicated anywhere in Champagne. That is a quick summary, but historically, this has always been a prize in Champagne - even when a producer made crap, they managed to do good things with this land.