D-Fly In Da House

To set the scene for this post - Champagne Magazine recently released its annual list of the top 100 champagnes. I sent the list to a friend of mine who has an interest in champagne, saying that I was a little disappointed with it as it seemed like a marketing exercise for the big producers. I don't really need a magazine to tell me that the big brand names that cost hundreds of pounds are good. I also can't believe that there aren't any smaller producers who can't compete in that field, especially because I think I've drunk some. And to top it off, does anybody besides rap stars drink Cristal, so how relevant is all of this anyway?

Two days later I had to drink my words about Cristal. We were at Ransome's Dock for dinner with some friends. There on the wine list was a new addition - Louis Roederer Cristal 1996. Part of what we love about Ransome's Dock is that the chef doesn't believe in price gouging on wine. If he buys the wine at a reasonable price, he marks it up to a reasonable margin, so the Cristal was on offer for a far better price than any rap star is paying. Don't get me wrong, it still cost more than my entire outfit that night, shoes and handbag included. But comparatively, it was a bargain, so we ordered a bottle.

This champagne has the most unusual nose, which the chef helped us place - freshly-made cooking stock. It's actually a bit strange, because it's not what you expect from a champagne. The flavour is where Cristal hits the mark. It tastes like a perfectly made lemon tart, balancing buttery richness with tart (not sour) citrus and a creamy finish. It is incredibly well made, well balanced, and very, very good. It has interesting bubbles, too - big, fat, and plentiful on pouring, then calming down into a fine stream as you drink. This pleased me, as some of the other older champagnes that I've drunk have been lacking on the bubble front. I can see what the hype is about.

That said, it does still come down to a relative value proposition for me. While it was interesting to try this once, if I were spending the money again, I'd rather have three bottles of Billecart-Salmon than one bottle of Cristal.

A Sweet Accompaniment

On our recent visit to Majestic Wine, my husband selected a bottle of champagne that I ordinarily would not have bought - the demi-sec Carte Blanche from Louis Roederer. I'm not a big fan of sweet champagnes, but he was keen to try it, so we put a bottle into our mixed case.

We drank it on Saturday with a flavour-ful red Thai chicken curry and it was a surprisingly good pairing. The champagne had a clean, fruity-sweetness to it - tasting of very ripe fall fruits like apples and pears - and lots of bubbles so that the sweetness didn't cling to the palate for too long. While I don't think I could just sip this wine on its own, it was a great match with the mild spice and coconut of the curry. I was amazed that I liked it as much as I did. Well done to my husband for insisting we try a bottle.