Thursday, March 12, 2009
No one's ever said the wine industry doesn't throw great parties. And nobody throws better parties than the Champenoise. Especially when it comes to popping corks on old vintages.
Last weekend I poured a bit of wine for a couple hundred people at the new wine shop in Grass Valley. The event was fun and successful. But it was nothing like the fete put on for a small group of hand-picked wine experts on the other side of the pond.
Twenty ancient bottles spanning 178 years were brought out from the cellars at the boutique Champagne House Perrier-Jouët. There they were poured for a dozen of the world’s top wine and champagne experts (and arguably, 12 of the luckiest people in the trade) who'd been invited to taste 20 historic vintages.
World's Oldest Champagne (1825)
The tasting included the oldest bottle of champagne in the world (according to Guinness) - the Perrier-Jouët Vintage 1825 (photo at left).
Each sip would have been worth hundreds of dollars at auction, according to the Head of the International Wine Department at Sotheby’s, Serena Sutcliffe MW, who co-hosted the tasting with Perrier-Jouët Chef de Cave, Hervé Deschamps.
“It is virtually impossible to assign a value to the 1825 vintage – we’ve never seen anything like it on the market! This was, quite simply, the opportunity of a lifetime tasting such exceptional, historic vintages.”
And if ever there was a party interested in seeing such a wine on the market, it would be Ms. Sutcliffe of Sotheby's. Or her counterpart at Christie's, though her work on this event means you'll ever raise a paddle on a bottle of P.J. at a Christie's auction.
Her presence also stakes the reputations of Sutcliffe and Sotheby's as to the authenticity of each bottle's provenance. Though such concerns are relatively small when the wine comes from the producer's own cellar, this would not be the first time for such shenanigans.
Most Expensive - 1874
In addition to the world's oldest bottle of Champagne, the tasting also included the renowned “Perrier-Jouët 1874”, which earned fame long ago when it was became "the most expensive champagne in the world", a title it has held for 124 years, ever since it was sold at a world-famous auction in 1885. I can't tell you if it stilll holds that title today, as my research time is short. It would be amazing to learn the price paid in 1885 is still a record in today's currency.
Even at the Grande Marquees, the majority of bottles produced are non-vintage -they carry no date on their labels because the wine is crafted to reflect the house style year after year. This consistency The private tasting was a promotional event for the upcoming release of Perrier Jouet's first vintage Champagne from this century - the Perrier-Jouët Millesime 2002 (photo).
is achieved only through blending, the Cellar Master's artful use of different varietals, vineyards and vintages of still wine that constitutes the final blend in the bottle before its secondary fermentation.
Vintage-dated champagnes such as the Millesime 2002 from Perrier-Jouët, are produced only in rare and exceptional vintages. And while I can only wish my reputation qualified me for such tastings, I'm pleased to see that even the likes of Perrier-Jouët take this occasion to pop the corks on old bottles from their cellar!
The Wines Tasted
Cheers!
Dave the Wine Merchant
[email protected]
Quote of the Day:
"The night you open a '61 Cheval Blanc, that is the special occasion"
~ Virginia Madsen as "Maya", from the movie "Sideways"
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