Tannic Teeth

Champagne goes straight to my head. Well if you’re like me and immolate every meal in half an hour and have to constantly eat throughout the day then -yes- champagne on an empty stomach is asking for trouble. CO2 from the carbonation forces open your pyloric sphincter so you get a gut-full of alcohol. Not to mention the CO2 helps surcharge the assimilation into the blood stream. Ooooeeeee!!!

Taittinger Brut NV Champagne France RRP $100 AUD

‘Deep straw in colour on the nose wafts of lime with a certain flintyness. Brioche and general stocking of baked goods in there too. The complexity of the wine, is not overshadowed by the racy acidity, though it is in its own right quite tart. Layered over the palate, the mousse is fine, withfinesse of notable length. Two outstanding points to note. Fine mousse. Balance of fruit characters with aged complexity.’

To cut a long story short; Prestigious Champagne House ‘Louis Roederer’ of Reimes eyes off north-east corner of Tasmania as perfect climate/soil for the first Australian Sparkling. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are planted in roughly the same proportions in Champagne, vines reach maturity, sparkling wine is made. And it becomes one of Australia’s finest. The name JANSZ has become synonymous with Tasmanian Sparkling.

With a tongue-in-cheek marketing campaign as Méthode Tasmanoise, JANSZ is one of the few Tasmanian producers specialising only in the bubbly stuff. Vintage Cuvée, Late Disgorged Vintage Cuvée and Non-Vintage Cuvée comprise of mostly Chardonnay dominant strain of sparklings where as the Non-Vintage Rosé and Vintage Rosé are Pinot dominant. Needless to say the technical brilliance of the wines shine forth, I was taken back by the immensity of the structure this wine had to offer; Vintage Cuvée 2002 is outstanding. Poise and finesse are impressive, value for money-wise cannot be beat when comparing to the real French bubbly.

Jansz Vintage Cuvée 2002 [Tasmania] 13%

‘A whole punnet tray of ripe granny smith apples, nice and tart with lip smacking zest. Good wafts of shimmering baked goods glazed in the much sought after honeyed character (not too dissimilar to Baklava). Autyolysis character (akin to agar plate) present in the middle palate, and the fine mousse lifted and finished everything off in balance. Poise that would ruffle a few feathers in the Champagne houses back home; and a certain heaviness experienced with other Australian sparklings was mostly absent. Supple, fresh and lingering.  In a seemless package which will seriously give the French ivory towers’ something to think about over a glass or two.’

Ok it’s Good Friday, possibly one of the holiest days of the Catholic Church. I haven’t been [to mass] in years and gracefully my parents haven’t dragged me to any services. This could possibly have to do with my Dads increasingly Buddhist outlook on life- respectfully applaud worthy, but coming from very strict ‘Vatican’ Grandparents on both sides- I guess they’ve bucked the trend.

I’ve abstained from red meat today opting for fish and various protein drinks to fill my quota. I guess it was serendipitous that an enterprising fly beat me to the uncovered BBQ’d kangaroo kebabs from yesterday, depositing a cache of eggs left off centre, rendering my potential sinful meal un-kosher.

This brings me to my sin for the day: alcohol on Good Friday. I would like to know, if it really is a sin to drink alcohol on Good Friday? Come on, it’s a glass of fine French Champagne in a finer Italian crystal flute, and if my memory serves me correctly, they DO serve wine during mass.

The intention for this post was for a wine review, so I guess the following should redeem myself from the prologue of utter intoxicated babble.

Charles Heidsieck – Brut Reserve N.V.

‘Colour deep straw, the beading shows consistency and integrity. On the nose aged characters, and definite barrel aging; Toasty oak, little butteryness and also a good whack of yeasty complexity. Palate was A-OK, restrained white stone-fruits, crisp apple, good secondary characters of autolysis. But the finish seemed a little warm and disjoined for a French Champagne retailing above $80, how would I say, it was lacking the finesse of the below aforementioned. There were almost warm alcohol characters tipping it off balance and even a slight phenolic ting to it, despite being at the optimal temperature- comparing back to Bollinger and Taittinger NV’s; which both presented flawlessly. ’

‘Recanting [or upon second inspection] now- because the review took some time- the Champagne has ‘opened up’ though it has lost all carbonation. Lying at room temperature, there lays more secondary characters suggesting yeast less contact in bottle, and bottle age –yummy honeyed biscuit/ shortbread aromas. More evident toastyness on the nose, and also on the palate. Acidity now appears complimenting towards the roundness on the palate. It seems more in balance now but doubtless to say no one would ever dream of serving/ drinking Champagne flat and at room temperature.’