Summer Seminar Series: Champagne Tête de Cuvée

Champagne is the greatest of all winemaking tricks, since the region’s famous bubbles are produced from a thin, screamingly high acid base wine made from grapes that struggle desperately to ripen in poor chalky soils on the northern limit of what can properly be construed as a winegrowing latitude. And yet the resulting wines are creamy, deeply layered examples of complexity and elegance, ineffably associated with all things luxurious and sophisticated. Perhaps this comes from the second fermentation in bottle that characterizes the champagne method, perhaps it comes from the added tweaking of sweetness and acid that comes in the form of added dosage before bottling or perhaps its layers of nuance and flavor come from the years spent lying in the dark, dank cellars of the Champagne region, carved out of old limestone quarries centuries ago.

A “tête de cuvée” typically refers to the top bottling from a champagne house, and these are vintage dated bottlings that receive the most time developing underground, made from premium grapes sourced from top parcels, crafted by top-tier champagne houses, or grower producers who provide gorgeous examples of more local conditions. Join us this Saturday as we taste through the top examples of France’s premier luxury good, with an appropriate champagne paired snack.

• Dom Ruinart, 2004
• Dom Perginon, 2009
• Louis Roederer, ‘Cristal’, 2009
• Taittinger, Blanc de Blanc ‘Comtes de Champagne’, 2006
• Pol Roger, Brut ‘Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill’, 2006
• Gosset, Extra Brut ‘Celebris’, 2002
• Leclerc Briant, 1er Cru Brut Zéro ‘Blanc de Meuniers’, NV
• Egly-Ouriet, Brut Grand Cru, 2006

The Seminar begins promptly at 3pm, please arrive a few minutes before.
Seating is limited to 35 people.
Reservations are required, by email or phone 505.983.2100
$50 Seminar Fee, credited with a $250 order of these wines.