It's Love! It's...More Grower Champagne!

Brooklynguy is in love with Champagne. I mean seriously, it's just so good, I can hardly stand it. I've been thinking about it all the time, when I'm jogging, when I woke up at 3:30 AM the other night in need of water (too much whiskey at the ol' poker game), when I'm working...and maybe most tellingly, when I'm drinking other wine. SORRY OTHER WINES, but I cannot be true to you right now, because I've found another and I'm in love.

I had the distinct honor and pleasure of tasting as much of the Terry Theise Grower Champagne portfolio as I could last week, at the Michael Skurnik tasting last week at TriBeCa Grill. What an opportunity! I mean, this stuff is more expensive at the entry level than Burgundy, so to be able to taste the whole lineup like this, to learn this much at one time about Grower Champagne, to determine which are the wines that I want for my own cellar...fughedabadit.

By the way, having attended a few big tastings lately, I can confidently say that the Skurnik crew put on a classy event, one that actually encourages tasting and discussion. I found ample room at each table, as they were not loaded on top of each other, knowledgeable and friendly Skurnik folks pouring the wine, and time to breathe, think, and talk between swirls and sniffs. I had a BALL, and I learned a whole lot.

I am still developing my personal tasting scaffolding in Champagne, the structure that everything else will go on top of. So I really am not the guy to evaluate the wines. But I will tell you this - there were some utterly thrilling and gorgeous wines, wines that honestly haunt me now and it's a week later.

I learned that I love the wines of Rene Geoffroy. I tasted five of the wines, and two of them were as beautiful as anything I've ever had - the 1995 Cuvee de Rene Geoffroy (must be about $250 for a magnum), and the NV Cuvee Volupte (about $70/bottle?). Too rich for you? Me too. But the basic wine, the NV Brut Expression is just fantastic, it really is a calling card for the other wines, and you should be able to buy it for about $35. At 50% Pinot Meunier, this wine is deep, nutty, and juicy, and at the same time elegant and crackling with bright minerality and acidity. Geoffroy uses lots of Meunier, and the wines were all long and intense. Right now I'm in a place where if I were told, "you can take one case of one type of entry level Champagne to a desert island," it would be this wine.

But I also loved the Chartogne-Taillet lineup. And you know what - the top wines might not completely crush you wallet-wise. The 1999 Vintage Champagne, at 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay is really deep and fleshy, with roasted nuts, brioche, and other yummy things on the palate, and you might find it for about $55. This is a special Champs, holiday special. So is the 2000 Cuvee Fiacre, with an unbelievable nose of flowers, although that will cost you about $65 per bottle. The entry level NV Cuvee St-Anne was beautiful - delicate nose of white flowers and a balanced palate with sweet fruit and elegant acidity. And at about $33-36 per bottle, it's like you're stealing from the producer. Really, what I'd like to do is take half Geoffroy and half this wine to the desert island.

There are others from this tasting that could easily make you weep with joy - Jean Milan's 2002 Selection de Terres de Noel at about $85/bottle, Billiot's NV Cuvee Laetita at about $80/bottle, Lallement's NV Brut Reserve at about $55/bottle, Gimmonet's 1999 Special Club at about $75/bottle, or basically anything by Vilmart & Cie. And my palate wore out before I could taste some of the wines, like the Varnier-Fanniere or the Hebrart wines. But I bet they were real good too.

If I can say one thing based on this tasting, and on other recent tastes: buy Grower Champagne! Try one of these bottles before the holidays come and see what I mean. You'll pay maybe $8-10 more than you would for Perrier-Jouet or Duval-Leroy, but they're so much better, with such character and personality. You know what, buy one of these and one bottle of Duval-Leroy, the NEW 93 POINTS wine according to Wine Spectator. Bag them and taste them blind, and let's see what happens. That's right, I just challenged you to a tasting.

Okay sorry, my testosterone is in check now. but these wines are really getting me excited. Try and see for yourself, and please let me know what you think.