Les enfants du\nchampagne in Modena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The desire to\nhave our session in Modena at the “Hosteria Giusti” with Matteo\nMorandi and his family had been boiling in the pot for a long time. To tell the\ntruth, some of our group, myself included, had recently been with Matteo,\nguests of Vincenzo Tardini for a historic tasting of Champagne Krug, an\nunrepeatable experience (see Oinos n. 35). Supporter, more than the others, of\nmaking this evening was Leo Damiani, Matteo’s friend for many years.\nUnfortunately Roberto Schneuwly and Maurizio Tarquini were not present at the\nevening. At the tasting-dinner there were six of us Les Enfants du champagne:\nStefano Azzolari, Leo Damiani, Marco Maffei, Valerio Mearini, Orazio Vagnozzi\nand myself. Guests of the evening were Alberto Lupetti, Carlo Cavicchioli and\nVincenzo Tardini. The latter has been present at other of our evenings and is\nconsidered our alternate member when someone from Les Enfants du Champagne is\nmissing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The evening was\ndedicated to magnum formats of champagne, vintages 2002, 2008 and 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My reflections\non the vintages, 1996 was a very important vintage for me for champagne. The\n2002, contrary to what has been said, was a somewhat inflated vintage as the\n2010 vintage was, again for me, in Montalcino.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I followed some\nMaisons in the 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008 vintages and I found that the quality\nof the champagnes, in general, went up with the rise of the vintages mentioned.\nFor example, I remember well the Perrier Jouet with the Belle Epoque, which\nwith the 2008 vintage reached its peak of pleasantness compared to the 2002,\n2004 and 2006. Finesse and elegance, rich olfactory variety, fine bubbles and\ngood persistence. The 2011 a little lacking in structure but with very generous\nfreshness. The 2012, also from the Belle Epoque, which recalled, with a\nslightly lower tone, the 2008. The 2013 was the big surprise: finesse, elegance\nand power. But let’s not go off topic by talking only about the Belle Epoque..<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each bottle\nmakes its own story, as demonstrated in this tasting by the magnum of Cristal\n2008 with an unexpected scent, for me in a negative sense, of green banana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Surprising for\nme was the Thienot Cuv\u00e9e Alain 2008 in which I felt a strong mineral note of\nflint and popcorn, which made it look like Dom Perignon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There were\nseveral surprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everyone knew\nwhich champagnes would be served but not the order of service. For me, the\ntypically woody champagnes, such as Bollinger and Jacquesson, were\nunmistakable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Grande Dame\n2008 was surprising for everyone both for the color and for the youth that it\nexpressed both to the nose and to the taste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We had 10\nchampagnes, 9 in magnum format and one in 0.75 liter format due to the\nnegligence of a Les Enfants Du Champagne. Sin is said but not the sinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matteo served\nthe champagnes matching them perfectly to his dishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He started the\nevening eating dumplings with cold cuts in the courtyard, drinking what turned\nout to be the Gosset Grand Millesime 2012 which had an incredible flavour. With\nthe Belle Epoque 2012 and with the Mum RSRV Blanc de Blancs 2012 we were served\na fabulous tagliolini with butter and parmesan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Followed by\nmacaroni with duck sauce accompanied by Cristal 2008 and Alain Thienot 2008.\nWhat about the Guanciale paired with Dom Perignon 2002 and Cuv\u00e9e Louise 2002?\nPerfect match!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Continuing this\npleasant food and wine walk with stewed cod with peppers and fried dumplings,\nthe two champagnes were rightly served which had a little presence of wood and\nexactly the Bollinger RD 2002 and the Jasquesson – Mill\u00e9sime 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally we were\nserved the fried cotechino paired with the Grande Dame 2008, a perfect pairing\ngiven its youthful taste expressed by a rich freshness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a\nbeautiful evening, we all wanted to relax and enjoy the pleasure of company,\nfood and champagnes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the end of\nthe evening, since all the bottles were not empty, I enjoyed the Dom Perignon\n2002 and the Thienot 2008 together with Valerio Mearini.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then someone\nenjoyed a good cigar, I smoked the “Presidente” cigar from the Tuscan\ncigar family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We were all\nsatisfied with the splendid evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The scores of\nthe champagnes of the evening follow, scores expressed by the six Les Enfants\ndu champagnes present and by Vincenzo Tardini aspiring substitute member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
| \n Dom Perignon \n <\/td> | \n 2002\n <\/td> | \n 95\/100\n <\/td><\/tr> |
| \n Louis Roederer Cristal \n <\/td> | \n 2008\n <\/td> | \n 95\/100\n <\/td><\/tr> |
| \n Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque\n <\/td> | \n 2012\n <\/td> | \n 94\/100\n <\/td><\/tr> |
| \n Bollinger R.D. \n <\/td> | \n 2002\n <\/td> | \n 94\/100\n <\/td><\/tr> |
| \n Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame\n <\/td> | \n 2008\n <\/td> | \n 93\/100\n <\/td><\/tr> |
| \n Thienot Cuv\u00e9e Alain Thienot \n <\/td> | \n 2008\n <\/td> | \n 93\/100\n <\/td><\/tr> |
| \n Jaquesson Mill\u00e9sime\n <\/td> | \n 2012\n <\/td> | \n 93\/100\n <\/td><\/tr> |
| \n Gosset Grand Mill\u00e9sime \n <\/td> | \n 2012\n <\/td> | \n 91\/100\n <\/td><\/tr> |
| \n Mum\n RSRV Blanc de Blancs\n <\/td> | \n 2012\n <\/td> | \n 91\/100\n <\/td><\/tr> |
| \n Pommery\n Cuv\u00e9e Louise \n <\/td> | \n 2002\n <\/td> | \n 90\/100\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n Personally I can\nsay that I did not recognize the Cuv\u00e9e Louise which I remembered was rich in\nboth the nose and the taste of fresh parsley and celery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The same goes\nfor the Cristal 2008 which I drank several times in a 0.75litre bottle in which\nI don’t remember ever smelling the green banana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Surprising for\nme was the Alain Thienot 2008 which I had initially mistaken for Dom Perignon\ndue to its very rich minerality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bottles were\nrevealed after the tasting-dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAISON\nGOSSET<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n GRAN\nMILL\u00c9SINE, vintage 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Grapes\n: 67% Chardonnay e 33% Pinot Noir)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Straw yellow color with gold\nreflections. The bubbles are initially coarse and then become quite fine and\nnumerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rich and varied nose made up\nof scents of brioche bread, minerals, iodine, parsley, slightly unripe rennet\napple, Marseille soap, slightly unripe pineapple, saltiness, white flowers\n(hawthorn) warm starched cloth, ending with memories of Coccoina glue (coconut\nand almond milk).<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the palate the bubble is\na bit big.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wine with medium body,\nsufficient, and mineral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The freshness and minerality\ndominate the alcohol mass making the wine well balanced. The body goes away a\nlittle, weakening its persistence which however is supported by the freshness\nand therefore the wine becomes persistent with a yellow grapefruit finish. For\nme it is better on the nose than on the taste. (91\/100)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n MAISON PERRIER JOUET<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Belle Epoque, vintage 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Grapes\n: 50% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir e 5% Pinot Meunier)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Golden yellow color with\ninitially quite fine bubbles and then fine and quite numerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Olfactory mix made of\nintense aromas of flint and Coccoina glue (coconut and almond milk) followed by\nKaiser pear, anemone, grilled salted almond, flower root with earth and broken\ncyclamen stem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the palate it has fine\nbubbles, medium body and is sapid and mineral. Well balanced wine with\nfreshness that envelops the whole mouth and does not make the alcoholic mass feel\nin the least. Its persistence is long with a lemon finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beautiful fine and elegant\nchampagne in the footsteps of the 2008 and a little different from the 2013\nwhich also has a little more structure. (94\/100)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n MAISON MUMM CORDON ROUGE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n RSRV Blanc de Blancs, vintage 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Grapes: 100% Chardonnay di Cramant)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Golden yellow coat, shiny, with fairly fine and quite numerous bubbles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aromas of flint, lemon, chamomile, core of rennet apple, blond leather,\nCoccoina glue, lemongrassa, light zabaglione and lemon hard candy rise from the\nglass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Very savory and mineral taste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bubble is a little alive, but caressing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well balanced wine with freshness that completely dominates the alcohol\nmass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The body is initially medium and then tapers off a bit but remains persistent thanks to the freshness. Final taste of lemon and yellow grapefruit. (91\/100)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n MAISON\nLOUIS ROEDERER<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n CRISTAL,\nannata 2008<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Grapes:\n60% Chardonnay e 40 % Pinot Noir)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bright golden yellow with\nfairly fine and quite numerous bubbles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Surprised to smell the green\nbanana scent. I have no recollection of such scent in this champagne. Followed\nby aromas of pastry, chalk, ripe rennet apple, intense blond leather, zibibbo\ngrapes to end with whispers of the helichrysum flower (licorice).<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the palate the bubble is\nfine and the wine is sapid and mineral. The body is medium and the wine is well\nbalanced between alcohol and freshness while the tannins are a bit drying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You feel the upper gum pull\na little. This bottle didn’t have any particular flaws, however I didn’t\nrecognize the Cristal 2008 that I knew, so the bottle wasn’t perfect! (95\/100)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n MAISON THIENOT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n CUV\u00c9E ALAIN THIENOT, vintage 2008<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Grapes\n: 60% Chardonnay e 40% Pinot Noir)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Quite intense golden yellow\nwith bubbles that are initially a bit coarse and then quite fine and numerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intensely mineral nose,\naromas of popcorn (for me a symptom of a lot of minerality), chalk, white\nmelon, toasted peanuts, intense Coccoina glue (coconut and almond milk) sweet\nfrom the outside of the sugared almond, slight chamomile, with an intense\nfinish of parsley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The taste reveals a medium\nbody and a lot of minerality and flavor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well balanced wine with\nalcohol and freshness in perfect harmony with each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Long is its gustatory\npersistence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The champagne spreads\nthroughout the mouth giving you a very pleasant minerality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For me it is the most mineral champagne of the evening. (93\/100)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n MAISON MO\u00cbT & CHANDON<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n DOM P\u00c9RIGNON, vintage 2002<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Grapes : 52% Chardonnay e 48% Pinot Noir)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Shows an intense golden yellow with quite fine and numerous bubbles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sense of smell is characterized by the aromas of flint and an intense\nnote of juniper berry, followed by notes of hard almond shell, sweet dried\nfruit, LPG gas, to end with intense aromas of Coccoina glue (coconut and almond\nmilk) , zabaglione and helichrysum (plant with mixed aromas of licorice, mint\nand chamomile).<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the palate it reveals a pleasant fine bubble and an important medium\nbody. Almond flavour. The wine has a rich acidity which, with the mineral note,\nmakes it the winner on the alcohol mass and makes us understand its potential\nfor longevity. Its aromatic persistence is long, with a finish of Coccoina\nglue. (95\/100)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n MAISON\nPOMMERY <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n CUV\u00c9E LOUISE, vintage 2002<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Grapes:\n65% Chardonnay e 35% Pinot Noir) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Shiny golden yellow colour.\nThe bubbles are initially coarse and then thin out a bit and are quite\nnumerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The nose is not particularly\ngenerous but stands out among all an intense aroma of pastry followed by the\nrennet apple, slight blonde leather (the fresh one), ending with hints of\nbroken cyclamen stem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the mouth the bubbles are\nfelt a little, they do not go unnoticed. The body is initially medium\nsufficient but immediately tends to undress. The freshness dominates the\nalcohol mass making the wine balanced. Long but not very long is its intense\naromatic persistence with a finish that reminded me, due to its bitter note, of\nbrewer’s yeast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I had other memories of this\nchampagne as in other vintages the parsley and fresh celery were clearly\nperceived. (90\/100)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n MAISON BOLLINGER RD, vintage 2002<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (bottiglia\n0,75 lit) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Grapes\n: 60% Pinot Noir e 40% Chardonnay)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Shiny golden yellow dress.\nThe bubbles are fine and quite numerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the glass rise aromas\nof pastry and intense green banana, blond leather and bois\u00e9. The wood note is\nsomewhat its characteristic and we find it more or less always.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The oral cavity is caressed\nby very fine bubbles. The body is medium and the wine has a good gustatory\nbalance between alcohol and freshness. The tannins from the wood dry out the\nupper gum a little. flavors of green banana, hairy peach, rue leaf and tomato\nleaf. its gustatory persistence is long with a bois\u00e9 finish. (94\/100)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n MAISON JACQUESSON, vintage 2002<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Grapes\n: 57% Pinot Noir e 43% Chardonnay)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Intense and bright golden\nyellow dress. The bubbles are fine and numerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The nose seems to be\nevolved, it has intense notes of zibibbo grapes, cold coffee, mango, papaya,\nhelichrysum (mix of licorice, mint and chamomile), ripe rennet apple, cooked\napple with final memories of woody distillate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the palate the bubbles\nare fine. The wine has a lot of structure even if it is balanced with the\nalcoholic mass which is imperceptible. Taste of cold coffee already felt on the\nnose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Its persistence is long with\na sweet finish of dried fruit, especially dried apricots. Its intense aromatic\npersistence is long. (93\/100)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n MAISON\nVEUVE CLIQUOT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n LA\nGRANDE DAME, vintage 2008<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Grapes:\n92% Pinot Noir e 8% Chardonnay)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A light straw yellow with gray\nreflections shines from the glass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bubbles transform from\nquite fine to fine and are numerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Olfactory mix made of aromas\nof parsley, fresh celery, flint, blond leather, lemon, Coccoina glue (coconut\nand almond milk) to finish with pleasant whispers of freshly made popcorn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the palate it manifests,\nas it did on the nose throughout its youth. The bubbles are fine, the wine has\na medium body and is savory and mineral. The generous freshness makes the wine\nwell balanced with the imperceptible alcohol mass. During the examination of\nthe gustatory persistence one feels that the body thins a bit and it is the\nfreshness that sustains it during its journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Surprising in color and flavours. Very young. (93\/100)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Les enfants du champagne in Modena. The desire to have our session in Modena at the “Hosteria Giusti” with Matteo Morandi and his family had been boiling in the pot for a long time. To tell the truth, some of our group, myself included, had recently been with Matteo, guests of Vincenzo Tardini for a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12305,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[489,362,544,137],"class_list":["post-12334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","category-uncategorized","tag-hosteria-giusti","tag-les-enfants-du-champagne","tag-modena","tag-paolo-baracchino","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/IMG-20220530-WA0019.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pav13q-3cW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12334"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12336,"href":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12334\/revisions\/12336"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} |