A review from VinePair FYI/FYE
REVIEW: CHARTOGNE-TAILLET ‘CUVÉE SAINTE ANNE’ CHAMPAGNE NV
Courtney Schiessl@takeittocourt NEVER MISS A STORY:
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Upon finding out that I spend quite a bit of time opening and tasting wine,
very often I am asked the same question: “What’s your favorite kind of
wine?” Now, that’s a difficult question; what’s the occasion? What’s the
weather like? What mood am I in? What am I eating? I’m hard-pressed to pick
just one style of wine to label, above all others, to distinguish as my
favorite. But if I had to pick just one type of wine to drink for life, one
of those desert-island type scenarios, there’s no question that I would
pick Champagne.
It’s important to qualify that I’m not talking about sparkling wine, though
there are many excellent sparkling wines out there; I’m talking about true
Champagne, the one that comes from the region of the same name located just
about an hour outside of Paris. I both blame and thank my former boss’s
obsession with bubbles for my own Champ-addiction; when presented as a
young sommelier with the opportunity to taste many of the region’s top
wines on a regular basis, it’s impossible not to become a bit infatuated
with Champagne. The problem with my so-called desert island wine is that,
while I firmly believe that Champagne is versatile enough to be an everyday
wine, Champagne is typically not budget-friendly enough to be an everyday
wine. But with the uptick in grower-producers — winemakers, typically on
the smaller side, who not only make Champagne but grow the grapes that go
into the cuvées — being imported to the U.S., there are now more
entry-level bubbly options that remain extremely high-quality and
terroir-driven. The Chartogne-Taillet ‘Cuvée Sainte Anne’ is one of those
wines.
On first glance, Alexandre Chartogne looks like a rough-and-tumble, rugby
player-like guy, but when he opens his mouth to speak about his wines, he
speaks like a poet. The subject that he can wax on most about is soil,
which is why there are few details about the grape varieties that make up
the Cuvée Sainte Anne (it’s usually Pinot Noir-heavy with Chardonnay making
up the rest of the blend), but many about the soils in which they are
grown. The influence is clear; while there is plentiful, bursting apple and
lemon zest in the wine, there is also clear-textured minerality,
mouth-watering salinity, high-toned focus, and layered complexity. While
the Cuvée Sainte Anne is more approachable than most of Chartogne-Taillet’s
other wines, it acts as an introduction to the mineral-driven style of the
producer at a price unheard of for most other Champagnes; it averages
between $40 and $45 but can be found for as low as $35. Fair warning: This
may be the gateway bottle to your own Champagne addiction. If it is, I’ll
happily take the blame.
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James Ellingson cell 651 645 0753
Great Lakes Brewing News, 5219 Elliot Ave, Mpls, MN 55417
James(a)BrewingNews.com BeerGovernor(a)gmail.com
