The week in pictures

Douglas Blyde visited Champagne Lallier (1906) in Aÿ to taste the still base wines from the promising 2022 vintage with chef du cave, Dominique Demarville, who joined the maison in January 2021 – the year following its acquisition by Campari group, making it the first Italian owned Champagne brand. These included an already depthful Chardonnay reaped from the Loridon vineyard, located high within the predominantly red grape planted landscape of Aÿ, versus its more grapefruit accented sibling, still under fermentation, drawn from the same prized plot but subject to a bespoke yeast based on those found over several points of the calendar within the vineyard. There was also the opportunity to try the vin clair of Pinot Meunier reaped from 60-year-old vines sown in the Côte des Blancs which had a seemingly indefatigable aftertaste. From the 2021 vintage, meanwhile, Blyde tried an assemblage of deeply hued Pinot Noir from the brilliantly named village of Bouzy from the barrel, which bore Chambolle-like characteristics. “We have beautiful jewels in our hands,” appraised Demarville.

Blyde also met Patrick Leger at Château de Bourg-Charente, Cognac, the home of Grand Marnier, which, since 2016, has proved to be another string in the bow of Campari Group. Within the cellars of the dry moated mansion, which has aspects dating back to the fifteenth century, the master distiller and blender showed the house’s premium expressions in addition to the core Cordon Rouge. Featuring five to nine year old Cognacs, Louis Alexandre felt richer and drier than the standard expression, with a longer finish. Centenaire, featuring upto 35 year old Cognacs, and which was launched in 1927 to mark the centenary of the firm, had a more pronounced perfume of orange cream and a clearer Cognac presence. Revelation, which was launched in 2021, had half the typical amount of the essence of citron bigardia which gives Grand Marnier its signature lift, with notes of leather and lit cigar. It adheres to the recently introduced XXO (“Extra Extra Old”) designation for Cognac, and has upto 45 year old Cognacs present. Finally, Quintessence, tasted in view of the reclaimed statue of “St. Marnier” in the castle’s Paradis, saw Grande Champagne Cognacs of over 100 years old meet the signature orange essence which for this expression, was macerated in pure Cognac rather than neutral spirit. The sensation of balance along with an elongated aftertaste characterised the delicate, velvet, cedar, cherry, marzipan and lemongrass evoking liquid which was poured from a bespoke Baccarat decanter, of which just 1,000 were produced. “We are guardians of the temple”, said Leger of the candelit Paradis.

This week, we attended a Bordeaux Blending session, where guests were invited to immerse themselves in the world of winemaking. École du Vin tutor Abbie Bennington took guests through an introduction to Bordeaux and the key grape varieties before challenging participants to put their blind tasting skills to the test at the École du Vin Casino.