Comments on: Grower Champagne and Two Huge Announcements. – Episode #114

By: John J.

John J. — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:55:00 +0000

qotd: Barnaut
Great episode Gary, love to see you bringing the lesser known Champagnes to the forefront. I’m so tired of all the bandwagon stuff. Speaking of which, it would be a joy Gary, to see you do an episode on vin jaune’s. An episode on tasting the different charbono’s out there would be fun.

By: Merry Christmas | Eat It, Atlanta

Merry Christmas | Eat It, Atlanta — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 19:09:10 +0000

[...] I am still learning a lot about wine, and I’m particularly inexperienced with bubbles. So I was quite excited about a Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs (white from whites – 100% chardonnay), and a grower champagne none the less. Grower champagne is champagne where the grape grower also does the vinification, instead of just selling the grapes to a large champagne house for production. If you are interested in reading more about why grower champagne is special, check out this very useful document here. Gary Vaynerchuk did a grower champagne tasting a few hundred episodes ago and discusses some aspects of this topic as well (link here). [...]

By: carlie

carlie — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 21:38:16 +0000

I just bought a bottle of the H. Billiot this weekend for my husband’s and my first wedding anniversary. I had it for the first time last week on a girl’s night out and oh my goodness, it was yuuuuummmmmy. I’ve done Krug, Cristal, Dom, Veuve, etc., etc. and while a couple of those are of course fun to drink, I really like the intensity of the flavors in the H. Billiot better. It’s definitely much more complicated. Love it.

Thanks for the other growers recommendations. Can’t wait to try them!

By: Deeve

Deeve — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 06:02:15 +0000

OK, how the heck did those bottles move all by themselves?

When the cursor is right under the M in .com, the bottles move all by themselves!

Freaky.

By: TheSuperTuscan

TheSuperTuscan — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 09:56:16 +0000

Gary,

The best grower champagne I have ever had for the money was by a small grower named Franck Pascal. Kermit Lynch is bringing him in along with a number of other great growers. Another great one is Francois Bedel. Both are predominantly Pinot Meunier but distinctive and tremendous values. However, the greatest champagne i have ever tasted was Salon “Le Mesnil” 1995.

By: De Long Wine Moment » Blog Archive » Grower Champagne

De Long Wine Moment » Blog Archive » Grower Champagne — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 16:18:43 +0000

[...] Wine Library’s episode on Grower Champagne. The inimitable Gary Vay-ner-chuk makes a compelling case. [...]

By: TGN Hit the Big Time at The Grape Nuts Blog

TGN Hit the Big Time at The Grape Nuts Blog — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 14:11:14 +0000

[...] Gary Vaynerchuk mentioned this blog on Episode 114 of Wine Library TV. Gary focused on grower champagnes during this episode including 4 of the wines we will be tasting at our November 4th wine gathering. If you haven’t checked out WLTV, you should give it a try. [...]

By: jason

jason — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 19:47:07 +0000

My favorite is Egly Ouriet !00% Pinot Meunier

By: Brandon M

Brandon M — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 23:33:22 +0000

phig…that has got to be the longest post of alltime…nice job

By: phig

phig — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 15:17:45 +0000

Hey Gary
one of the very best shows you’ve ever done. All the champagnes you tasted are wines that I like though I think my preference goes to the Peters which is leaner (something I like in bubbles). So I can’t name one producer because champagne is mood wine, something the need for which strikes me at a particular moment. And it is always one flavor profile I want. It is one of the great pleasures of having a cellar–I have at least six producers to choose from at any time. So here goes. My favorite all in all in terms of QPR is Diebolt-Vallois. I also adore Gimonnet’s champagnes. Other than that Gaston Chiquet for a slightly simpler spritz. I used to drink a lot of Jacquesson but I think the quality has dropped somewhat. Drappier certainly is in the mix. It goes on and on. Without thinking about price, Krug hands down.
Now, as to champagne being the most profound wine, I can’t go there. The history of champagne is that a poor wine growing region with extremely variable weather (it is the northern most Chardonnay growing area in the world if I’m not mistaken) found a way to sell what was often screetchy wine (high acidity low sugar). They would spike it with sugar and add bubbles as well as mixing different vintages together to even out the flaws of any given year. There is a simple test I would conduct to assess the true greatness of any champagne (and I know that Krug passes this). How does your champagne taste once it has gone flat. There are very few that come away tasting all that exciting. Some are decent, most are not. All of the commercial biggies (thanks for calling them what they are, factory wines) taste like nothing at all. If what gives champagne at least half its character is bubbles, then I can’t rate it as great wine. Tough to rate non-vintage wine as such as well. That being said, I drink my fair share of champagne. I absolutely adore the stuff and there is nothing more festive in the world than a mag of something you like. It just screams party and good times. And it is food friendly so if you start with a big bottle, even with four people, you can continue drinking it with you fist course, for example.
Now, on another issue, the pricing. For the same reasons I described above, champagne is not underpriced but overpriced. There is no other region in the world that produces so much wine in any given year and has the kind of prestige attached to it that champagne does. This is a the product of a long and brilliant marketing strategy. It really isn’t that much different than Beaujolais. There is absolutely no reason that most champagne should not be selling for $8 a bottle. That is exactly what it is worth. The Clicquot’s, Mumms and Taittengers of this world are producing litterally dozens of millions of bottles a year that are made from grapes purchased from all over the (overly) vast appelation of Champagne. The only thing that gives them there price is labeling, marketing, and the demand such a long-term selling scheme has produced.
Now, back to the bottles shown here. These are all great wines. My tastes tend towards slightly leaner wines than Gary. But the message here, and let me translate for you because Gary is too nice: If you buy factory champagne, YOU ARE AN IDIOT. Before you had an excuse, now you don’t. The wines Gary showed, are worth the price. They may be a little over priced in the absolute (I think it would be appropriate if Veuve were $8 and the little producers were selling at $15-25) but given what you have to pay for the other guys, and the fact that champagne is not a luxury but a necessity (smile), this is what you should be buying. One thing I would hope, and Gary this is something you could look for your stock, is that more of them come in large formats. It ages better, and they are simply more fun. Champagne and Magnum just go together.
One last thing. Gary, I too started my wine geekdome with Bob Parker as a guide. With the help of a friend whose taste I respect more than anyones, I slowly weened myself from both Bob and from Bordeaux. You remain attached to Bob but your scores, if you were to look back over all your episodes, are now almost always very different from his. So why bother mentioning him rather than say, Tanzer or Meadows? Parker is not god, though he thinks he is–and his scoring has become completely rediculous–particularly with respect to places like Spain. As for the WS, there is virtually not a singly time when you agree with them. Those guys are on crack. I’m sorry. I can never tell what the heck they are tasting. With Parker, at least I know what appeals to him and think I can predict what wines would get a good score from him. With WS it is completely off the wall. I understand why you use them as a benchmark but, I guess what I am saying is, is that I am more intersted in your palate which I think I have a pretty good bead on now. Its not mine, but I greatly enjoy watching it at work and I think I can tell the places where it intersects my own–thus making it possible to decide which wines you taste and like I might get. New world wines aren’t among them.
Thanks again for a great episode