La glycine devant nos bureaux a très bien fleuri, et l'odeur infeste l'entrée tous les matins!

Le printemps est bien entamé, les premières feuilles sont sorties, la sève montée, les premières dégustations d'assemblage de la vendange 2008 ont commencé. Avec l'hiver joliment froid on a pu tailler tard profitant mieux des pleures, mais ces beaux jours sont arrivés très vite derrière et il n'y a finalement pas de repos entre la taille et les premiers liages.

Ce n'est pas de cela qu'on va parler ici, mais d'un tout autre événement du printemps, une dégustation très particulière de vignerons de Champagne, une dégusation qui parle du Champagne au pluriel!
Il y a plus de 20,000 récoltants en Champagne (vignerons et maisons) et les vignerons possèdent près de 90% de la surface totale plantée en vignes. En revanche, il y a environ 4500 vignerons seulement qui produisent leur propre vin, représentant à peine 25% des bouteilles de Champagne vendues.
Alors il faut encourager ces vignerons à prendre le pas, améliorer la tenue des vignes, et tout simplement profiter d'une croissance de la qualité des vins de Champagne.
Je ne vais pas vous conter cette dégustation sur ce blog, car d'autres l'ont déjà fait cette semaine, mais je vous invite à lire l'article de Peter Liem qui fait le tour du sujet, et vous invite vivement à y participer pour le millésime 2009 car ce petit groupe extrêmement dynamique occupe, avec d'autres, une place importante dans l'avenir de notre belle appellation. La dégustation s'est déroulée lundi dernier à Aÿ, et on a même pris le temps de choisir un jour Fleur.

ENGLISH

Spring is well underway, the first leaves have appeared, the sap has risen and our initial blending exercices for 2008 have started. Thanks to a wonderfully cold winter, it was easier to prune late and benefit from the rising sap and its cleansing process of the vine, but the sun has quickly taken over and the temperatures are high, which hasn't left much time to rest in preparation of the growing season.

But this is not what we're going to talk about in this note, it seems necessary to mention another Spring event, a particular champagne grower tasting that took place this week, a tasting that speaks of Champagne in the pural form!
There are 20,000 vineyard owners in Champagne (Growers and Houses) and the growers represent around 90% of the total surface under vine. On the other hand, there are only around 4,500 growers in the region who produce their own wine, and the total of their production represents less than 25% of the total sales of Champagne.
It is important to encourage growers to take the final step into Champagne production, as this positively effects vineyard management, and logically the general quality of the region's wines.
I am not going to elaborate more on the tasting itself, for many have written well, and objectively on the subject already so I offer a link to Peter Liem's article, and invite anyone who is interested to participate in the second edition of this tasting in 2009. This small yet extremely dynamic group of producers plays, with others, an important role in the future of our beautiful appellation.
The tasting took place this Monday in Aÿ, even the date was well chosen, on a Flower day.

Un Delamotte Blanc de Blancs servi en magnum a su s'adapter aux snacks différents et variés en amuse bouche à ce joli dîner catalan.

Nous avons tenté de traduire la version catalane des snacks, pas toujours évident!

Repas du 26 Fevirer 2009, organisé par Vila Viniteca,

au restaurant  El Celler de Can Roca, Girona.

• Cuisinier : Joan Roca i Fontané
• Maître Sommelier : Josep Roca i Fontané
• Patissier : Jordi Roca i Fontané

Vins servis au cours du Repas :

• Delamotte Blanc de Blancs Magnum
• Allende Blanc 06 DOC Rioja
• Ruppertsberger Gaisböhl Auslese 01 Pfalz
• Corullon 04 DO Bierzo
• La Bota de PX n°11 DO Jerez

Snacks

• Cruixent de sésam negre i grué de cacau / Croustillant de sésame noir et grué de cacao (éclats de fève torrifiés)
• Olives negres caramelitzades / Olives noires caramelizées
• Pastanaga amb tofona / Carotte à la truffe
• Escopinya amb campari i aranja / Coques au Campari et au pamplemousse
• Carxofes amb foie i taranja / Artichauts avec foie gras (?) et orange
• Bombo de colomi amb Bristol cream / Pigeon avec crème Bristol

Menu

• Timbal de poma i foie gras amb oli i vainilla

record d'una poma de "relleno."

• Parmentier de llobregant amb trompetes de la mort

Un mar i muntanya

• Cochinillo ibèrico SierraMayor con cebollitas, naranja y clavo

La cuina a baixa temperatura. Precisio en els temps. Una "coca de vidre".

Postres

• Postre làctic

Gelat de recuit, mousse de mato, dolç de llet i coto de sucre amb pols de iogurt.

La tendresa, un estat d'ànim. La guaiaba, un contrapunt rebel.

La blogosphère est remplit d'informations et d'appréciations du Champagne ; par nous producteurs, amateurs, journalistes, blogs affiliés aux webzines etc. Comme beaucoup de données circulant sur internet, la véracité des informations est souvent cohérente, le contenu parfois passionnant et les sources parfois mal vérifiées.

Aujourd'hui il est plaisant, et rare, de trouver des informations de sources sûres, exactes, nouvelles et assez exhaustives. En matière de Champagne les livres de Tom Stevenson et Richard Juhlin remplissaient ces critères, mais cela reste au stade du papier, du figé dans le temps.

Peter Liem est un journaliste/bloggeur/passionné rigoureux de Champagne qui vit acteullement dans la région. Depuis cette semaine vous trouverez alors en plus de son blog, son nouveau guide de Champagne 100% virtuel, évolutif et frais qui traite pour l'instant d'analyser une centaine de producteurs champenois, maisons et vignerons ; informations et images de première main !

www.champagneguide.net

The 'blogosphere' is full of information about Champagne; given by us producers, journalists, aficionados, webzines etc. Much like the rest of the information that circulates on the web, the exactitude of this information is often coherent, the content sometimes interesting and the sources not always verified.

In this day and age it is pleasant, and rare, to find well-sourced, comprehensive and new information all in one. In the matter of Champagne, Richard Juhlin's and Tom Stevenson's books reach this criteria, but they remain in the age of paper, frozen in time until the next edition.

Peter Liem is a rigorous journalist/blogger/aficionado of Champagne who has the advantage of living in the region. This week marks the release of his Champagne Guide, a welcome addition to the popular blog that he has been nourishing for the past few years. The guide is 100% web-based and constantly evolving, a fresh analysis of around a growing number of Champagne producers, houses and vignerons; first hand information and images!

And of course, to lubricate your information addiction, here are a few extracts from his comments :

On Delamotte : "It hardly surprises me that Japan is Delamotte's largest market, as there's something about the delicacy of these champagnes that seems to echo a traditional Japanese aesthetic. These are quiet, discreet wines, focusing more on subtlety and finesse than on power, and should be paired with cuisines that complement these sensibilities. Delamotte's wines are very slow to unwind, and tend to show best with a great deal of aging after disgorgement--the more the better. "

On Delamotte Rosé : "Rating: *(*)
Based on the 2004 harvest, this is 80 percent pinot noir from Ambonnay, Bouzy and Tours-sur-Marne, made as a saignée, and 20 percent of chardonnay from Le Mesnil. It's an intriguing counterpart to Delamotte's Brut--where the Brut feels like a chardonnay that's concealing a hidden core of pinot noir, the rosé feels like a pinot noir that's concealing a core of chardonnay. There's a subtle intensity of red fruit that builds slowly and discreetly on the palate, complemented by a silky texture and tethered by firm but not intrusive acidity. It finishes with a pleasant hint of phenolic bitterness that reminds you it was made by maceration, and the aromas linger on the finish with quiet, fragrant length. This is a wine that's easily missed--it's not a wine for blind tastings or for competitive analysis, but rather one suited to a serene, contemplative environment, paired with food of equal clarity and refinement. As is often the case with Delamotte's champagnes, I picture the perfect setting to be somewhere in Kyoto, as an accompaniment to kaiseki cuisine. Last tasted: 2/09"

On Salon : "As much as I admire Salon, I'll admit that I was slightly puzzled by the recent releases of 1990, 1995 and 1996. It's not that they were lacking in quality (the 1996, in particular, stands out in that trio), but I found their characters to be markedly different from the classical Salon style. It may be due to the vintages involved, as all three years share a certain muscularity and amplitude, which are not traits normally associated with Salon. However, even Salons from warm vintages in the past, such as 1982 or 1969, retain a prominent elegance and lacy finesse, and it will be intriguing to see how this trio of vintages from the 1990s develops with time. It may simply be that these vintages are unusually muscular and brash in their youth, and not a function of any changes on the part of the house, especially as the 1997 seems to resemble more the great vintages of the 1980s."

On Salon 1997 : "Rating: ***
The 1997 Salon has been strikingly compelling from the moment it was released, which is not to say that it isn't in need of further development to reveal its true complexity and depth, but rather that it demonstrates a balance, elegance and subtlety of character that is quintessentially Salon. [...] On my most recent tasting of this wine, in January of 2009, it seemed slightly creamier and more voluptuous in texture than previous bottles I've experienced, yet still bound by a rigid, almost severe expression of chalky minerality, along with a remarkably firm acidic structure for the vintage that gives it tension, detail and length. It shows a rich depth of aroma on the palate, ranging from fresh apple to stone fruit and even exotic citrus aromas, but these are ultimately dominated by the intense character of the Mesnil terroir. This is surely one of the finest champagnes of the vintage, and terrifically youthful for a 1997 as well. I continue to think that this feels much more classical than the previous three releases of Salon, and I hope to be able to see it develop over the next decade or even further. Last tasted: 1/09"