Grower Champagnes

As many of you know wine is a big passion of mine. The holidays that my wife Erika and I take almost always revolve around some type of food and wine experience and my trips to Australia's wine country in the last few years have been proof that when you get to meet the passionate people behind the scenes you have an even greater appreciation for the wine but more importantly you get to start a relationship. 

I have been doing a lot of tasting recently for our list and am starting to whittle down my selections for the few spots I have for our first list. One tasting in particular was rather unexpected. I was to taste a few champagnes from growers who not only supply many of the major houses but set aside a small amount of their harvest for their own production. The term in the business nowadays is "grower champagnes" and up until now I have only tasted a few examples of these small production, high quality and extremely terroir driven gems. 

That day I tasted from 3 grower/makers who are making extremely high quality bottlings. The first of which is Nicolas Maillart, from Montagne de Reims, who blew me away with his NV Brut "Platine" with hints of peach and toasted hazelnuts, a medium to long finish and beautiful compact bubbles that would stand up to any of the big houses. I have chosen this as our house champagne, and cannot tell you how excited I am to bring it to all of you. The good news is we are the only restaurant in Singapore to carry it by the glass!

The next producer was my personal favorite, Champagne De Sousa from Avize. This champagne had beautiful minerality with floral undertones and a super long finish that was balanced and pointed. No doubt that this champagne is made from the best grapes and by a winemaker who is a perfectionist. I have also decided to keep this on our list by the bottle because I appreciate its stylistic purity and also because De Sousa is a firm believer and practitioner  in organic agriculture. 

The final pour came from a very small producer who has garnered some international fame of late for his very high quality and extremely well made champagnes. Diebolt-Vallois from cramant makes minuscule amounts but that doesn't mean that each isn't made to exacting standards. The blanc de blans from his Cuvee Prestige brought to mind the term "greyhound" for its lean and muscular body and long finish. This is a wine of great pedigree with balance and just the right amount of acidity to amplify the soft subtle flavors of lemon and cream. This too made the cut and will grace the list. 

I am truly excited to be able to carry wines from theses three great producers. I am sure you will agree once you have a taste, that these champagnes can hang any day with the big guys. This selection and tasting process is another example of our tireless work to bring only the best to table.  Cheers!