Ah.. the bubbles.

I am not sure quite how many I had during my three day stint in Champagne. By all estimates I am quite sure I registered at or near 3 trillion. We enjoyed, Paul Misson, Jannison Baradon, Abele, Pol Roger, Pommery and Dom Perignon. We also saw the Champagne caves at Pommery and realized quickly they are not hurting for money.

My esteemed travelling companion, Joe set us (Mike, meg and I) up at a tasting with Richard of Dom Perignon that covered 11 wines, touched on several vintages and well, made me feel as though I had somehow snuck into the upper echelon of society. But as I sat and listened, I realized the pretension and pomp I had expected was non-existent and it became as warm as an experience I have ever enjoyed in wine.

Regardless, I can assure you, I quickly kicked myself back out as soon as the opportunity arose. But for those few fleeting moments on July 11th from 11:30 to approximately 2:33:15.0076, I armed with well versed tastebuds was sitting with my esteemed friends at that table drinking as if my bank account and ancestry was that of a very well to do aristocrat.

Quite frankly, Richard didn't just allow me to sit there he made me feel I belonged there and there is no higher compliment I could ever give to a host. The highlight of the wine tasting was the tastebud tantalizer, the 1969 Oenotheque with a close follower the 1975 Oenetheque. I left with a deep respect for a Champagne house which has become one of the most recognizable brands on our big green and blue marble. Our tasting was completely eye opening, and as the vintages shuffled back in time, my respect and understanding of the history, style and ageability of Dom Perignon immensely increased. Despite my years in the wine business, I had never been afforded the opportunity to taste older vintages of Dom Perignon. Quite frankly because "money doesn't grow on trees" and more simply because no one else ever ponied up the cash and invited me.

I can now re-confirm and attest that something mysterious happens to great Champagne as it ages. It becomes philosophically revealing as layers upon layers emerge. And as one tastes, one changes themselves.

Richard is the winemaker and as I have found with several of the great winemakers of our time, he is also a full time philosopher. I am working on organizing my individual notes and if you would like to read them upon completion please let me know, I am sure they will be available by 2010.

Just so you know... here is what is coming down the pipeline for Drinkabout. Thanks for reading and thanks for encouraging me to post more. In particular a shout out to Carl and to my nephew Gabe. Just in case you start seeing some random posts about trains please know there is a very smart 3 year old checking this blog every other night and telling me to, "Post more Uncle Jake." Gabe already knows that no one in the world has a better train system than the French...now you do too.

SOON:
Alsace with Christian Artzner (formerly of Schlafly and soon to open his own Alsatian Brewery). An unexpected foray into a German Brewhaus with him. Pictures and notes from Alsace's incredible cuisine.

Notes from our tasting at Dom. Zind Humbrecht and all that is right with the wine world.


It would be wrong at this point to not afford you the opportunity of a sneak peek into those notes.

The highlights...
"The style of Dom Perignon is not technical it is blending, it is creative"

Heavens speak. So our tasting began in early afternoon and by 1:30 we still had yet to see the sun as both Reims and Epernay were overcast with layers of slow moving clouds. We were sitting in a long narrow room just off of the church in what f my memory serves me correctly was once the library. The room was painted with warm colors and we sat at a long dark table in a room that wouldn't be considered flashy nor would one say it was stark by any means. It was one of those rooms designed to invite one to stay awhile but was also uncluttered and without visual noise. Therefore allowing one's attention to remain focused on the bubbles in the flutes before them and the people around them.

So as we tasted the 1969, the clouds mysteriously parted and sun beamed in the windows. Joe took notice and Richard delivered very poignantly, "Welcome to Dom Perignon."

After three days in Champagne consuming insanely large amounts of bubbles, only once did I joke, "I really need to have something other than Champagne." To which, I believe Joe remarked simply, "Champagne"