Zero-Dosage & Brut Nature or even Pas dosé on labels for these wines – wines with no added sugar, so they are bone dry in the mouth. A style you may not be used to.
I was at a Grand Cru Champagne zero-dosage tasting hosted by MW. Ned Goodwin at Cumulus Inc., Flinders Lane, Tuesday afternoon.
The Champagne pictured here was the only Champagne out of a dozen Grand Cru wines to jump out at me in the lineup and say WOW. Mind you, I didn’t know the price tag of this wonderful wine at the time. Now it’s WOOOOOOOOOOW!
Purely because of the power and strength in the mouth, this Champagne demanded, due to the sheer weight and body of this wine. Zero-dosage Champagne is a style I don’t usually support or enjoy.
Tasting all the Champagnes from white wine glasses so we could better evaluate the nose and palate of the wine.
Nose: A little toasted almond, vanilla with hints of cool white stone and minerals.
Palate: Classic Champagne yet so wonderfully powerful; A complex mix of both freshness and richness, with toasted almonds mid-palate. With a texture that was precise and powerful, with a long mineral/acid finish with no part of the palate left out, a workout for the senses.
The standout Champagne for the day after tasting 20 Grower Champagnes at Hazel restaurant for the first half of the day.
With a two-hour lunch break. Then off to a tasting with MW. Ned Goodwin at Cumulus Inc and a dozen Grand Cru zero-dosage Champagnes in the second half of the day.
Now this is where it gets a bit tricky. I can’t find this wine anywhere in Melbourne yet.
I have looked on the net, and I have looked on their website. And yet, here I am drinking a good-sized glass of this Champagne right now as we speak, and I can’t track it down. But it is in Australia somewhere!
However, I must state that for $1700.00 a bottle, you think they would have spent a little more on the label.
Looks like the managing director let their 3-year-old loose with a marking pen. Really, guys, if I am going to spend a lot of money on a bottle of Champagne, I want it to look the part!
I have said it before, and I will say it again: Champagne is just like every other wine we drink:You just have to find the one that you are meant to be with.
However, at $1700.00 a bottle, I think I will just have to get used to the long periods of separation.
To spite the fact that it just oozes sex appeal.
Food: I enjoyed this Champagne with a fresh-baked soft white roll filled with warm lobster chunks tumbled with a generous dab of Japanese mayo with a light dusting of white pepper.
Yes, a good food match is simple yet elegant. For a champagne that demands much, much, more!
Michael Lillis
