Comte de Lantage 2005 Tasting Notes

Champagne Cuvée de Réserve 

We were delighted when, for the first time, our Cuvée de Réserve from Alain Mandois at Comte de Lantage was awarded a Bronze Medal at the 2004 International Wine Challenge in London - the largest and most prestigious blind wine tasting in the world.  Champagne is always the biggest and most competitive category and 124 champagnes were awarded a medal - but only one of them was less expensive than ours.  In fact the average price of the champagnes that were awarded a Bronze Medal was almost double the price of ours!  The judges’ comments on our champagne were published in last November’s edition of Wine International: “Concentrated and powerful.  Fresh spring blossom, dark spice and sliced pineapple flavours jostle for position.”

The complexity of flavours noted by the judges is the result of using a blend of all three permitted grape varieties - Chardonnay (55%), Pinot Meunier (25%) and Pinot Noir (20%) - and also the length of time the champagne spends on its lees.  For non-vintage champagne the minimum is 18 months but Alain leaves his for three years, and it is during this time of extended lees contact that the champagne takes up complex flavours from the dead yeast cells - a process known as autolysis.

In the UK we tend to drink champagne almost exclusively on its own, as an apéritif or for a celebration.  In France however it is often drunk with the meal - and really at this price you can afford to spoil yourself once in a while.  Along with its array of flavours champagne is normally quite acidic and this also makes it good with food.  Try it with smoked salmon, poultry or seafood - and it also goes very well with Chinese cuisine.