Category Archives: Pinot Noir

Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Reserve

Happy New Years from Grapestorm! This year on New Year’s Eve I picked up a bottle of Nicholas Feuillatte Brut Reserve Champagne on the way home from skiing. There’s a lot to cover when talking about Champagne:

In order for a wine to be called Champagne it must come from Champagne, France. All other sparkling wines world wide may not be called Champagne technically…although many people make that mistake on a regular basis. Champagne located north of Burgundy and East of Alsace.

Champagne is typically made with a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes. You might be wondering how they make white wine with a red wine grape but the secret is how they press the grapes. They press them gently and separate the juice from the skins during fermentation therefore yielding a white wine. There are other varietals allowed in Champagne but they are rarely used: Arbanne, Petit Meslier, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Meunier.

Some versions of Champagne are made entirely from one grape or another. Blanc de Noirs refers to wine made from red grapes (Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier) while Blanc de Blanc refers to wines made from 100% Chardonnay. Rose Champagne is made by either a) allowing skin contact during fermentation or b) simply adding still (non-sparkling) Pinot Noir to the mixture. In fact Champagne is one of the only regions that allows Rose production by addition of wine and not skin contact.

This leads to another important fact about Champagne: There aren’t vintages on the bottles. Almost all Champagne is produced by mixing grapes from various vintages. Producers are more concerned with consistency rather than having a unique wine from year to year. This is one of the reasons they may add still Pinot Noir to produce Rose rather than gamble with skin exposure as that may come out different year to year. There are exceptions to this rule though and every so often there is a spectacular vintage a Millesime is declared and producers will bottle and label their wines with only grapes from that vintage. These wines are expected to be of higher quality and warrant cellaring where regular Champagne is meant to be consumed immediately.

The label will tell you whether you’re buying a sweet or dry Champagne:

Brute Nature (no sugar added)

Extra Brut

Brut

Extra Dry

Dry

Demi-Sec

Doux (Sweet)

The most common variety you’ll find on the shelf is Brut. Also important is that many producers are known for making different styles ranging from light to medium to full bodied wines. Unfortunately the only way to know what you’re buying is to learn the producers or ask for help at the store.

Lastly, let’s talk about how to properly open a bottle of Champagne. We always see in the movies or on TV people popping open the bottle, cork goes flying, and fizz erupting from the bottle. That’s not how you do it….all that fizz/foam is wasted bubbles and wine! Here’s how to do it properly: First step is to remove enough of the foil to expose the wire net. Carefully remove the wire while maintaining pressure on the cork. While holding the cork rotate the bottle in your hand at an angle to gently ease out the cork. While it may not be as glamorous and fun…this will prevent cork missiles, flat, and wasted wine.

Champagne is meant to be served chilled just like other white wines. The classic method is an ice bath of 50% mix of ice/water for 20-30 minutes. However here at the Grape household we like to get creative sometimes. Since we don’t drink Champagne often we don’t have an ice bucket so I made my own while Moby was still at work. I took a gallon water contained, cut off the top, and voila…instant ice bucket.

colonelgrape: 81. I’m not a huge Champagne fan, most bottles just don’t do it for me. It has 2 strikes against it before I even open a bottle: I don’t like Chardonnay or carbonated beverages too much. That being said I can appreciate a good bottle when I taste one and nothing says celebration like Champagne. This bottle was definitely on the dry side of Brut but it was still fun. Moby definitely enjoys her bubbly more than I do but for New Year’s, a wedding, a Birthday, or a major accomplishment no drink does it better. If you’re looking for a light-medium body Brut Champagne you’ll do well with this $35 Nicolas Feuillatte. Personally I think I’d be happier with a dry or demi-sec to cut the Chardonnay flavor a bit.

MobyGrape: 80. I’ll be the first to admit, I do enjoy a nice glass of the bubbly. There’s just something about drinking a glass of champagne (or sparkling wine, if you’re a snob like the Colonel) that makes you feel happy and fancy. Even if you’re drinking it while in your pajamas eating pizza, (not that I’ve ever done that) you feel like you’re a Bond girl. This was definitely a drier champagne which isn’t really my style, however it didn’t stop me from drinking 3/4 of the bottle because it still had a nice flavor. If you want something sweeter though, steer clear. Happy new year to me!

2005 Pere & Fils Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chenes

Leave a reply

Let’s start with a little fact check/geography on this wine because as we’ve seen in the past the French assume you know you’re wine geography when they label their wines and that makes it very difficult for the average consumer:

Vintage: 2005

Wine Type: Pinot Noir

Geography: Burgundy –> Cote d’Or –> Cote de Beaune –> Volnay –> Clos des Chenes

Producer: Pere & Fils

Now that we’ve got that down let’s talk about the wine. We enjoyed this wine on Christmas eve with a beer can chicken, stuffed mushrooms, and twice baked potatoes with gruyere cheese.

colonelgrape: 91. I really enjoyed this wine. It had a very nice ruby red and not too dark color with tastes of ripe cherry and minerals balanced by excellent acidity. There was a bit more tannin than expected but it was still smooth and had a long tasty finish. Definitely not as in your face as the Mercurey we tasted last month. I’d recommend this with any light-medium non-red meat meal.

MobyGrape: 73 – I’m not sure how well I remember this one, it was pretty
dry as I recall and I didn’t get much fruit from it. Worked well with
dinner but I don’t think I would enjoy it on its own very much.

2010 Walnut City Wineworks Pinot Noir

Leave a reply

Everyone pile into the covered wagon, we’re headed down the Oregon Trail. Our friend at Vin Bin recommended this Willamette Valley Pinot Noir the other day at a tasting. We were looking for a softer red to drink with more mild dishes like chicken and fish and ended up in Oregon. Apart from the screw top, I have an irrational hatred for screw tops, it was a decent wine for $15. We enjoyed it with baked chicken breast and green beans.

MobyGrape: 75. This wine had an overwhelming smell and taste of grapefruit. Definitely worked better with food, where it tasted more like wine instead of someone accidentally spilling grapefruit juice into some wine and claiming it’s a wine cooler. I’m taking some heat from the Colonel for not commenting about the other attributes of the wine. PS it was red and wet.

colonelgrape: 78. I thought it was a fairly average pinot noir. It had a translucent bright red color, you could see through the glass easily. It was an acidic wine but I didn’t get the same grapefruit taste Moby did….more strawberries and bright fruit. Hardly any tannins and not very dry, this was the perfect style red to have with a light meal. Considering it was only $15 it’s hard not to be pleased however I think at the $30 price point this region could produce some seriously delicious pinot noir.

2009 Clod Paradis Mercurey Premier Cru

Leave a reply

Colonel’s log, star date 1120201.2. Moby and I have ventured into the great unknown that is Burgundy. We pre-gamed a bit tonight with some Lobster Reef Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand while getting our beer-can chicken in order. A little olive oil, some seasoning, and a can of Guinness where the sun don’t shine and on the grill it goes with indirect heat for 1-1.5 hours until it hits 165 degrees. It’s an easy, inexpensive meal that delivers surprisingly moist chicken. I even started carving this guy up before we thought to take a picture. What goes well with any kind of chicken? Stove top…with butter. Enough said.

Let’s get to the wine! Tonight we had a 2009 Clod Paradis Mercurey Premier Cru bottled by Michel Picard. I’ve been excited about this bottle for a while now, every time I planned on opening it something would come up. I wasn’t disappointed but Moby was on the fence:

colonelgrape: 92. Initial leathery and dark fruity smell. The color is a brighter shade of reddish purple. Initial tastes of blackberry with moderate acidity. Smoother than I’d expect but definitely on the dryer side. The tannins are there but not in your face like a big cabernet. It has a mild spiciness to the ending, I get the same feeling in my mouth when I eat a piece of cinnamon gum. Would pair well with a variety of light, medium meals, and spicy meals.

MobyGrape: 82. This smelled like the bottom of your shoe if you stepped in a puddle of wine. Then I drank it and I’m pretty sure I could use it to take my nail polish off. I’d drink it again, but I can’t figure out what’s going on in this glass. Maybe this is what mercury tastes like? But it has Picard on the bottle, so I expected better from this. Captain’s log – don’t drink this by itself, you’re gonna need to eat something.

There’s a lot to digest when looking at a burgundy label. What’s a Cru? Isn’t mercurey spelled mercury and poisonous? I don’t know french, help. We’ll get into burgundy in an upcoming post. If you aren’t afraid to take risks, spend some money, and like pinot noir…I suggest setting a course for Burgundy, maximum warp.