WTN: Champagne Gonet-Medeville Brut Tradition NV

Premier Cru

I knew nothing about this house, but decided to take a chance when I saw it on sale at Garnet's Wines and Liquors in New York for $23.99, with a ten per cent discount.

Here is what I learned on the Internet: Xavier Gonet, oenologist of this small Champagne house, is married to Julie Gonet-Medeville, of the Sauterne estate Chateau Gillette.

The wine is a blend of Chardonnay (60 per cent), Pinot Noir (30) and Pinot Meunier.

Moderate yellow in the glass.

Greath frothy mousse when pouring and fine, steady beads in the glass.

Lots of toast, nutty, vanilla and, perhaps, brioche, on the nose.

Lemon, green apple, quite nutty, good acidity, clean and refreshing, vanilla, almond, marzipan. Quite rich and delicous.

A long finish, nutty, vanilla, with a light bitter-dirty note.

As I said at the start of this WTN, I had never heard of this house before but after reading a few on-line reviews of this wine, I believe I purchased a NV champagne that was, perhaps, just a bit past its prime, which might explain why it was being offered at such a good price. However, having said that, it was quite delicious and not at all what I had been expecting.

A good example of what a bit of age can do for a NV champagne.

[David M. Bueker]

I allow virtually all of my NVs to age, so I am not surprised at your result. I'm glad it worked out well.

Thanks for the note. Sounds rather nice. Im a huge "nutty" fan when it comes to champagnes so sounds like it might be my kind of wine, especially at that price. I also agree that aging NV (actually ANY) champagnes can make a HUGE difference in the taste/style/enjoyment. Laurent Perrier Brut L.P. is a typical favorite NV of mine. They have always been a prime example, for me, of how the very same wine can give virtually night and day impressions due solely to the bottle age it's seen. And I dont mean it just barely deepens in color with a tiny better harmonizing in balance than it previously had. I mean it literally is like two totally different wines! I usually order half bottles of L.P. and cellar several while tasting others down the road and I've had the fresh/lighter/paler examples that is typical when you pop it in the first year or so all the way to a bottle that was mellowed, creamy and literally tasting and smelling of caramel apples and more mature qualities. And both these were the same exact half bottles (package form-wise)! Being a NV I have no precise idea if the latter had been sitting for 5 years, 7 years, 10 years+ before I got ahold of it but it is nonethless rather striking the differences between such bottles just simply due to age. Of course I'm rather biased but its one of the reasons I love champagne so much, for those surprise caramel/nut bottles (assuming you like that element better than the brisker citrus taste - some dont). It's why I love getting half and quarter bottles of my favorites as much as I can (and when they're available). Besides being my preferred size for when just one or two people are sharing a glass or two, they also have a tendency to mature faster anyways. I've had some good luck getting these "surprise" bottles with halfs and quarters.

I don't want to make it sound like the drastically distinct bottles are a common occurence between NV bottles (or any bottles). Generally, champagne is all about subtleties and for the most part they all just taste of apples/citrus and show themselves in an elegant or, at their very best, a silky seamless manner. You love it because its the most delicious/romantic/special (i know my bias is showing again... ) wine in the world, not because you expect to find earth shattering differences between them. At its heart, champagne is a intimate wine not a particularly obvious one. Yet you can get that ocassional bottle, usually due to aging or some other special magic, that will really jump out at you when you really werent expecting it and make you say, "Wow, i dont know where this bottle has been or if it would even be considered "healthy" at this point but, man, that's kinda different. I didnt really know you could get hints of burnt caramel and nuts in a champagne! It's probably a little oxidized or maderized or something but you know what? For the 10 minutes that it's fresh in my glass here, i like this!"

Ah yes, such is the romance of my favorite wine... You just never know until you pop the cork. That's the beauty of it!

Yours Truly,

Jeff