French Champagne

[petemac]

I was recently given a bottle of French Champagne, namely Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin.
Looks like it's origin is Reims, France.

I couldn't determine the date, although on the top label it reads "Maison Fondee A Reims en Mil Sept Cent Soixante Douze." I took Latin, not French, and my guess is the date is Sept. 1962.

My question, however, is what is the reputation of this particular vintner
in the field of champagnes? The only
other possible descriptive field I see
on the bottle is the word "BRUT" on all
4 corners of the bottom label.

Thank you in advance for any information
you can provide me.

Petemac

[Botafogo]

Veuve WAS one of the great, quality oriented, family owned houses for literally centuries. But, alas, just like the movie "Wall Street" where Gordon Gecko wants to buy the airline to take it apart for "shareholder value" it has been gutted like a fish by its new corporate owner, LMVH which owns such luxury brands as Louis Vitton, Pierre Cardin and industrial fizz giant Moet & Chandon. They seem to have sold off as much as five years worth of inventory at the alleged Millennium last year thus lowering the average age of the cuvee considerably. While the current bottling is a nice bottle of Champagne in a crisp, lemony, aperitif style, the reputation of this house was built on huge, structured, toasty and yeasty bubbly firmly in the British style. We firmly believe that if the actual Veuve ("widow") Clicquot was alive today she would be in jail for murder having stormed the offices of the new operators with a pitchfork!

Enjoy that bottle with lighter first courses and then try something from Bollinger, Billiot, Gosset or even Charles Elner to see what Veuve USED to taste like.

Roberto @ WINE EXPO
Champagne World Headquarters

[This message has been edited by Botafogo (edited 12-08-2000).]

[mrdutton]

WELL! HUMPHFFFFF!!

I sure wish you had something intersting like this to contribute to my postings on the two smaller houses I managed to find, somehow, without your help. BIG GRIN

[Botafogo]

Senor Dutton, did I forget to ask you who the importers were? I meant to....We are SOOOO busy (plus I had to spend an hour on the phone with TIME magazine who are doing a story on Grower Champagnes for next week's edition of "Consumer Trends").

Have you SEEN some of the very un-Veuve-like reviews the Yellow Label has been getting lately? "Lemony, crisp, refreshing, tropical fruit" SAY WHAT?!?!?!?

Roberto

[petemac]

Thanks!