A big bottle can be quite intimidating. One has to think of a suitable occasion to
broach these wines in magnum or larger.
However, it’s never an issue when we get together for our regular
gatherings at the A-Prentice residence.
She manages to have many good people turn up, and most are keen on good
wine.
So SWMBO and I rocked up with an NV Champagne Gardet Brut Premier Cru. The bottle was a generous gift from a
significant wine retailer, The Pooler, who has been influential in the
marketplace, but who felt that we had done the wine industry good, for being
supportive of it. The reality is, that
like him, we just love good wine, and any service we offer stems from that
love.
It was the start of the evening, on a balmy day, and as
guests turned up, a cold and frothy Champagne was an ideal start. Everything about the Gardet is pretty much
classical. Dry, but not austere. Refreshing but with an ethereal
richness. Fruit character to burn, but
stylish in presentation, and balanced by just the right amount of bready-yeasty
autolysis. And none of the savoury
aldehydes that can put people off, or say “it needs food”.
The Gardet family have been growing Champagne from the late
19th century but moved to their base in Chigny-les-Roses village in
the 1930s. The ‘Brut Premier Cru’ is one
of their ‘traditional’ wines, with 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay from
Hautvillers, so has the gravitas to make it a wine with good presence. And so it was.
Strangely enough, we magnum bottle drained quickly, and we
wished we had another…
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