WTN: An exquisite still red from Champagne and a Burgundy.

Coteaux Champenois AOC - Ambonnay Rouge Cuvée des Grands Côtés 1995 – Grand Cru - Egly-Ouriet – Alc. 12%.

“Only sparkling wine is produced in Champagne” says Robert Parker (5th edition Wine Buyer’s Guide)!!! This statement is factually inaccurate and leads consumers to overlook superb products, like this one, as well as the better known Bouzy rouge which has been readily available in Paris for many decades, even centuries.

C: Quite light and transparent.
N: Wonderful freshness, finesse and elegance with typically pinot fruit showing notes sour cherry and plum.
P: Light bodied but superbly proportioned, elegantly sensual and long with silky mouth-feel, gently complex aromatics, roundness and “gras”. This wine was still as fresh as a previous bottle opened some 5 years ago and, though quite light, was assertive enough to be an excellent accompaniment to “magret de canard” topped with foie gras. A really lovely bottle; 17.5/20.


Beaune Marconnets – AOC Beaune 1er cru – 1990 – Albert Morot – Alc. 13%.

C : Medium depth of carmine.
N: Subdued at first but developing dark cherry notes.
P: Noticeably rounder and deeper than the previous with good fruit and mouth-fill and without the candied notes of some 90s but seeming pedestrian and lacking in elegance after the Ambonnay. Also, from memory, less ingratiating than Beaune Teurons 90 from the same stable. Nevertheless a solidly performing Burgundy; 16/20.

Thanks for the note, Tim. I hope this is a better bargain than the Bolly red.

[Jenise]

“Only sparkling wine is produced in Champagne” says Robert Parker (5th edition Wine Buyer’s Guide)!!! This statement is factually inaccurate and leads consumers to overlook superb products, like this one, as well as the better known Bouzy rouge which has been readily available in Paris for many decades, even centuries.

I didn't realize it existed until I brought home a bottle of what I thought was red bubbly. Because of my thwarted expectations it was a bit hard to regroup and have a positive experience, but it was definitely interesting.

Tim - the first - and possibly the only time I had a bottle of Bouzy rouge, I definitely was expecting a red bubbly, perhaps because of the shape of the bottle and the champagne cork closure with a thick wire over the top holding it in place. We thought it had lost all its bubbles. It was some time later we found out it was meant to have no bubbles.
Jenise, my experience was more along your lines.
I haven't seen Bouzy rouge for years, but it would nice to have the opportunity to taste it again, knowing right from the outset it is 'still' and pinot noir.

[David M. Bueker]

“Only sparkling wine is produced in Champagne” says Robert Parker (5th edition Wine Buyer’s Guide)!!! This statement is factually inaccurate and leads consumers to overlook superb products, like this one, as well as the better known Bouzy rouge which has been readily available in Paris for many decades, even centuries.

The availability is so sketchy anywhere other than within a 4 hour drive of Paris that it might as well not exist. It's not overlooked it's nearly nonexistent.

That is unbelievably arrogant, David! Bouzy rouge is a classic in its way. Incidentally, my bottles were bought in London, well over 4 hours drive from Paris!

Re: expectations -

Jenise/Sue

Of course, neither the pseudo-champagne closure nor factually erroneous reporting by the likes of Parker help people to understand what they are getting with a Coteaux Champenois. I suspect that Parker, like a lot of consumers, is unsympathetic to the point of overlooking (and perhaps denying the existence of) any lightly coloured and lightly bodied red, however elegant and aromatically distinguished it may be.

Good examples, like this Ambonnay, are very versatile gastronomically and, for example, can be excellent with fish. They are well worth seeking out in restaurants in Europe with some guidance from the sommelier, even if they do not make the trip across the oceans.

BTW Egly-Ouriet make a superb Blanc de Noirs Champagne from Pinot Noir VV at Ambonnay. The European price for this Champagne and the Coteaux Champenois is around 40 EUR plus retailer's mark-up.

[David M. Bueker]

That is unbelievably arrogant, David! Bouzy rouge is a classic in its way. Incidentally, my bottles were bought in London, well over 4 hours drive from Paris!

Tim,

No intended to be, but London or not the availability of the wine is so limited that its being overlooked is no crime at all.

Cream Sherry is a classic - there's no crime in overlooking that.

That is unbelievably arrogant, David! Bouzy rouge is a classic in its way. Incidentally, my bottles were bought in London, well over 4 hours drive from Paris!

And my bottle was bought in New Zealand. I don't think you can drive from Paris to New Zealand

Re : crime

David, there is a serious point here, I think.

The crime, or shall we say professional fault, lies in Parker’s statement “only sparkling wine is produced in Champagne”. At best, it is the product of extremely lax research and, at worst, of......arrogance. I can forgive him (just) for not liking the style of the wines but not for denying their existence.

It is a strange argument that wines should be brushed aside because of limited availability. That would disqualify many of the world’s finest, including the micro-cuvées of German riesling which you so rightly champion.

As for the analogy with cream sherry, I think that this is poor one. The Parisian gourmets and their disciples in the 19th and 20th centuries who made the reputation of Bouzy rouge deserve respect from their modern equivalents for their gastronomic opinions, unlike the Victorian aunts who developed that cliché, cream sherry.

A better analogy is the wines of Edmunds St. John which gave rise to such passionate defence against a Parkerian attack in these columns and in “the other place”. As far as I can discover ESJ wines are not available in continental Europe and are even difficult to find in parts of the USA. This does not prevent me from taking an interest in the debate, in being keen to try them and in making an effort to seek them out (I think that there may be a source in the UK). I would expect the same attitude from serious wine lovers towards Coteaux Champenois rouge, which after all has a much longer track record than ESJ, when the opportunity arises, perhaps in London or Paris; these are far from being the least visited cities in the world by tourists and business people!

“Only sparkling wine is produced in Champagne” says Robert Parker (5th edition Wine Buyer’s Guide)!!! This statement is factually inaccurate...

I'll be darned! I would have bet my pay check that Champagne only made sparkling wines. Thanks for the info.

I'll be darned! I would have bet my pay check that Champagne only made sparkling wines. Thanks for the info.

What is true is that only the sparkling wines from the region are entitled to the designation AOC Champagne. The still wines are called Coteaux Champenois. Perhaps this is what Parker meant, but said with rather sloppy prose.

-Paul W.

I'll be darned! I would have bet my pay check that Champagne only made sparkling wines. .

You'd have lost anyway. All Champage wine is made as still wine first

I probably should extend my Champagne knowledge beyond "it fizzes and tastes good". Over the years I've not paid much attention to Champagne because I have largely regarded it as a warm up beverage for the serious wines to come.