Bottle vs Magnum Champagne Tasting with Essi Avellan MW

Guests arrived and were greeted with a glass of either Bollinger La Grande Année 2005 or Pol Roger 2006 from Magnum, kindly donated by the houses and a few well chosen canapés to help line the stomach; well just a little. Everyone was seated and in front of each person were 13 empty glasses and a spittoon (I’m not sure many people used the spittoons as the Champagne was too good to spit out!). All we needed now were the Champagnes.

Nick Baker introduced us to Essi and himself and explained that all of the Champagne was to be tasted blind, so that no-one could have any preconceptions as to what they might or might not like in terms of the houses. It also meant that we could truly judge whether we preferred magnum or bottle and in one case whether we preferred, magnum bottle or jeroboam. This gave 67 Pall Mall a huge job, opening and pouring the Champagne quickly, no pre-pouring as you can with still wine as the bubbles would dissipate and the Champagne would warm up. Nick explained how the on-line voting worked and what we needed to do and we eagerly awaited the first two Champagnes;  after a few of the less technical amongst us had a little help to log on and register to give our votes.

Now it transpired that getting hold of 2002 vintage, described as the best vintage in about 100 years, is not easy, in fact it was near on impossible for some of the smaller houses. So the tasting included a Champagne from 2008 and another from 2006 with the rest from the stunning 2002. Essi explained what to look for with regards to different vintages and also the typical characteristics between bottle and magnum. Information on board, we were now let loose to identify the Champagne house, the vintage and the size of vessel.

Flight 1

The first two Champagnes came out and judging began in earnest. Both Champagne one and two were very youthful on the nose, with very subtle notes of green apple and brioche.  The palate too was very fresh, with delicate apple and floral structure, great fresh acidity and a long lingering finish. This led me to believe that it was from a more youthful vintage and my guess was the Louis Roederer Vintage 2008. Results were in and out of the 33 guests who voted, 18 believed that number one was the magnum and 15 thought it was bottle, and vice versa for wine two, so the larger majority voted for number one being the magnum. In terms of the brand, this was split across all Brands but a slightly larger number (8) chose Louis Roederer. Result – Louis Roederer 2008 Glass One – Magnum, Glass Two – Bottle

The next two wines were not dissimilar in colour to the last two and I would have thought that a 2002 would have a lot more colour so I guessed that this must be the 2006. The nose was a little more pronounced with less of the green apple and little more of the floral, lemon and mandarin notes, however it didn’t have the really toasty, brioche flavours that I would associate with the 2002 vintage, so with both colour, nose and palate pointing to Taittinger 2006, that is what I decided on. The first of the two wines was a little tighter on both the nose and the palate so I surmised that this was going to be the magnum and the other the bottle. Voting went a little differently with 10 votes for Gosset and 9 for Taittinger and the rest for the other brands.  This time more votes were cast for the first being the bottle and the next being the magnum. Result – Taittinger 2006 Glass Three – Magnum and Four – Bottle

Flight 3

We were in for a treat next as we were poured three glasses, one for the bottle, one magnum and one jeroboam. The colour on this wine was much more golden and the nose showed lovely honeyed, brioche and toffee apple with hints of nuts and toast.  This was definitely a 2002, it had all of those beautiful ripe flavours with amazing acidity. The first and third wines were more restrained than the middle, so I plumbed for the bottle being the second wine of the three. Choosing between the magnum and the jeroboam was a little more difficult and I have to admit to getting it wrong and thinking the magnum was first and the jeroboam last, when in fact it was the other way round. Voting for the brand was on this occasion pretty good as 22 decided that it was Pol Roger 2002, the split between the sizes was interesting as most people like me thought that the first glass was  the magnum the second the bottle and finally the jeroboam. Result – Pol Roger 2002 Glass Five – Jeroboam, Glass Six – Bottle and Glass seven – Magnum

Flight 4

It was now becoming a process of elimination with only three brands left. A delightful somewhat lighter style of champagne but with a lovely bouquet of ripe fruits and crème brulee. On the palate some honey character with a nutty finish. This had to be Laurent -Perrier 2002. My guess here was also that the first glass was the magnum as it was a little less forward and the second was much more developed and therefore had to be the bottle, surely! The results were in and remarkably 17 people voted for LP but even more remarkably 2 voted for Pol Roger again even after being told the last flight was indeed Pol (we were on glasses 8 and 9 now so perhaps the memory was getting a little fuzzy). Result – Laurent Perrier 2002 Glass Eight – Magnum and Glass Nine – Bottle

Flight 5

With just two to go, Bollinger and Gosset a 50/50 chance of getting the producer nailed and one of the Champagne houses I know quite well, so fingers crossed I should manage this one. The glasses arrived and on the nose there was a faint hint of mushroom with a smattering of lemon and ripe fruits. On the palate the fresh acidity came through and enhanced those lemon and fruit flavours, I guessed this as Gosset as it hadn’t got the familiar nose or flavours of Bollinger. Now to figure out which was the bottle and which the magnum; again here I am going for the Magnum first and the bottle second.