Second Leaf

This post represents my entry for the 25th installment of Wine Blogging Wednesday, the monthly virtual wine tasting event where wine bloggers from around the world submit posts based on a theme selected by the host blogger for the month. This month’s theme, selected by Becks & Posh, is Champagne.

Perhaps more than any other appellation in the world today, Champagne is suffering from an identity crisis of sorts. It’s not that Champagne is not well-known, mind you. Far from it. It’s how Champagne is known that is the problem. The fact is that most consumers consider sparkling wine and Champagne to be one and the same. And I would be surprised if most people outside of Champagne didn’t know that Champagne was an actual place. To right this “wrong”, the European Union has been leading the charge in recent years to protect the namesake of Europe’s most prized appellations. Although the EU has had laws on the books for years that protect the “designation of origin” for many product types including wine, cheese, ham, and beer, it wasn’t until the Wine Accord of last year that the EU was able to garner some support from the US for this cause. And this issue isn’t isolated to Europe, either. In June, the Napa Valley Vintners association successfully blocked Fred Franzia of Bronco wines from using the word “Napa” on his labels if less than 75 percent of the grapes used in the wine came from Napa County. Clearly it will take time to change the perception of Champagne in the eyes of mainstream consumers and hopefully this post will contribute, in a small way, to that end.

To select a Champagne for this tasting, I consulted the legendary purveyor of fine French wine in Berkeley, Kermit Lynch. They quickly recommended J. Lassalle Premier Cru Brut as an excellent representation of Champagne. Named after Jules Lassalle, this small family Champagne house is run by his widow and daughter. Their production is a only 6,000 cases annually. Domaine Lassalle’s methodology is traditional and draws solely on Premier and Grand Cru vineyards.

For pairing, I decided to go with a hearty scrambled egg breakfast. We hadn’t done the “breakfast for dinner” thing in a while so we decided that since it was Wednesday and we were already going to be drinking Champagne, why not!

This wine was fantastic! The complex, rich, and creamy mouthfeel, certainly the contribution of an unconventional malolactic fermentation, combined with the immaculately crisp finish was simply beautiful. And the pairing with the eggs and potatoes was just perfect as the wine cut right through the creamy eggs and starch.

Tasting Details

Appearance

light amber · small bubbles · pearl-like

Aroma

green apple · honeysuckle

Taste / Texture

creamy · clean · crisp · nutty · cantelope · melon · honey · green apple

Overall

rich · opulent · gorgeous

Price: $30 USD

Tasting note built using Scrügy.