Isn't
Champagne only made from Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir? Well, er,
no. Three other grapes are allowed - Pinot Blanc, Arbane and Petit Meslier. The
wine laws do not allow new plantings of anything other than the well-known
triad, but surviving vines of the aforesaid varieties are allowed to be
vinified and made into Champagne. Moutarde Pere & Fils who made the
champagne above also makes one with all six varieties, which must be the
champagne with the largest number of different grapes in the world.
The above wine is however a varietal Arbane, and Moutarde is the only winery making it in the whole world. I first came across the existence of such a grape (and champagne) in Peter May's website (www.winelabel.org) which I had blogged about previously. Then a few months ago, I got a promotional email for pre-ordering this, of which an average of around 1500 cases are made annually from around a total planting ( Moutarde as well as others) of 1 hectare or so in the Aube where it was native. Of course I bought it, as you would by now expect.
We had it in the wine dinner I blogged about on 3rd of this month. Pale straw and with fair number of streams of fine bubbles, it had a fragrant fruity nose with dominant apple notes. It was not very dry on the palate, with the apple notes and general fruitiness contrasting a pronounced acidity. There was a fresh acidic prickle, but the mousse was not well sustained. Acidity was pronounced from just after the entry until long after swallowing. It cut through the triple creme St Felicien like a treat!
The above wine is however a varietal Arbane, and Moutarde is the only winery making it in the whole world. I first came across the existence of such a grape (and champagne) in Peter May's website (www.winelabel.org) which I had blogged about previously. Then a few months ago, I got a promotional email for pre-ordering this, of which an average of around 1500 cases are made annually from around a total planting ( Moutarde as well as others) of 1 hectare or so in the Aube where it was native. Of course I bought it, as you would by now expect.
We had it in the wine dinner I blogged about on 3rd of this month. Pale straw and with fair number of streams of fine bubbles, it had a fragrant fruity nose with dominant apple notes. It was not very dry on the palate, with the apple notes and general fruitiness contrasting a pronounced acidity. There was a fresh acidic prickle, but the mousse was not well sustained. Acidity was pronounced from just after the entry until long after swallowing. It cut through the triple creme St Felicien like a treat!
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