WINE ...with David Bray
Champagne. Your reporter is in two minds, at least, about it. I enjoy the good stuff (which I have tasted rarely since I retired from writing about wine for the daily paper). I believe it tends to be expensive for what it delivers to most people, many of whom don’t particularly care for it.
It is often wasted by extravert newly rich people who spend hundreds and thousands on the most expensive bubbles, seduced by the well-known names on the label. I am well aware that people possessed of superb palates and eminent commonsense adore Champagne. Our Masters of Wine and Bernadette O’Shea for example. I have enjoyed learning from them in formal classes and informal tastings. Yet if today you were to offer me one bottle of the top fizz or a case of mid-price red, I would go for the latter.
All of which brings me to the point. We all recognise perhaps a dozen or more Champagne houses. There are scores more in that lovely part of France from which the drink legally and exclusively derives its name. (Well the Europeans are trying the enforce that exclusive bit but a major publication recently informed us that a particular brand of Champagne is produced in India.)
Here’s a new one, and it comes with a link, slight but real, to Australia’s history.
The importers (Woolworths) describe Duperrey Premier Cru Champagne brut nv as the product of a premium private label. It is made exclusively by La Maison G.H. Martel & Cie, established in 1869, in Epernay.
The blurb tells us “this exclusive Champagne is named after the famous French explorer, Louis Isadore Duperrey (1786-1865), who circumnavigated the globe in his ship, Coquille. In his travels, Duperrey mapped much of southern Australia and Tasmania. Just as Duperrey sailed over the waters from France to us long ago, so does this fine Champagne, named in tribute to him”.
There’s more: “This charismatic and finely tuned Champagne is an assemblage of 60 per cent chardonnay and 40 per cent pinot noir. The grapes are picked exclusively from Premier Cru vineyards. Chef de cave and oenologist, Christophe Rapeneau presides over the Gallo-Roman ‘crayères’ (chalk cellars that are up to 22 metres in depth), and combines traditional winemaking methods with modern technology to produce this beautifully balanced Champagne.”
Champagne Duperrey Premier Cru Brut NV has 12 per cent alcohol, is pale yellow with a fine and persistent bead and creamy mousse, as you would expect of the real thing.
Back to the blurb: “The aromas evolving are both subtle and complex, showing hints of white flowers, dried apricot, vanilla, hazelnuts and warm bread. The palate is fresh and full flavoured with a crisp dry finish. It shows fine balance between the elegance of the chardonnay and the generosity of the pinot noir. The palate lingers, with floral, dried fruit and brioche notes. A complex and persistent Champagne.” Inspired writing guys.
I like the wine. It comes at a fair price, between $45 and $50, depending on the outlet. If you are serving champagne, best do it in a flute –long stem with a tall, narrow bowl, thin sides.
The flat coupe which may still be found in lesser establishments just won’t do the job. Best serving temperature is 7 to 9 degrees. Open bottle by holding the cork and rotating the bottle at an angle.
Finally, and I know you have been waiting for this bit – “a sabre can be used to open a Champagne bottle with great ceremony. This technique is called sabrage”. Thank you, Wikipedia.
