Old Vintages – Champagne Guru

Perrier-Jouët chef de cave Hervé Deschamps retires

*Hervé Deschamps glass in hand at Maison Belle Époque*

On Friday 30 October I received a note from Hervé Deschamps, the ever-smiling chef de cave at Perrier-Jouët, saying it was last day at this famous house. Only the seventh cellarmaster since 1811, he’s worked at Perrier-Jouët for 37 years, the last 27 as the chef de cave. He joined in a great year for Champagne, 1983 and he leaves immediately after another, this time the third of a trio of fine vintages.

He’s been the creative spirit behind the wines, the consistent presence at this historic house under four different ownerships, three of them giants of the wine and spirits business in their time, Seagram, Allied Domecq and currently Pernod Ricard. While they have guided the marketing strategy, with variable success, he has sensibly been left to get on with making the wine. Over the past three decades he’s also been the friendly, welcoming face of the house, particularly for visiting journalists.

If the press has a good feeling about Perrier-Jouët, and I think it’s fair to say they generally do, he has had had a lot to do with it. He’s seen chef de caves at sister house G.H. Mumm come and go. While he’s ruled the roost at 28 Avenue de Champagne, in Epernay, there have been five different occupants there at 34 Rue du Champ de Mars in Reims.

The role of cellar master has changed radically over the past three decades. When Hervé started the job in the early nineties, he was not just making the wine, he purchased the grapes and all the dry goods needed in champagne production and he was also responsible for organising the considerably larger workforce then employed in the cellars.

As he comments, in Susie Barrie’s podcast https://bit.ly/3l1RRc3 celebrating his time at Perrier-Jouët, his predecessor only made one official trip outside Champagne during his reign as cellar master. Hervé, on the other hand, reckons over the past two decade or so, he’s spent 50-60 days a year travelling, principally to the brand’s main markets of Japan, the USA and the UK.

Herve Deschamps with some Chardonnay just picked in the Grand Cru of Cramant

I first met Hervé soon after he became chef de cave in the early nineties and I have continued to meet and taste with him regularly in Epernay and London, over the past two and a half decades. He’s never been anything other than charming company, always smiling and at his happiest sharing a bottle of his own wine.

Just a few years ago I asked Hervé for a brief summary of the Perrier-Jouët style. The thoughts he proffered were: “white flower, stylish and sea-salt”. I’d just been tasting the newly launched Belle Époque Brut Vintage 2008 with him and while that wasn’t exactly my tasting note, all those things are evident in the very fine, dazzling fresh 2008 release. It’s perfumed, with a noticeable grip and mid palate chalky intensity. And no-one would say it lacked style.

It plays between the elegance and freshness of Chardonnay from Cramant, Avize, Chouilly, Mesnil and Vertus, set against the power and structure of Mailly, Verzy and Verzenay Pinot Noir. “But don’t forget the 5% Dizy Pinot Meunier,” says Hérve. “It acts as a link between the two, like the hyphen between Perrier and Jouët.” A lovely descriptor, I’ve always thought.

A beaming Hervé, sits behind a collection of the Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque magnums that he has made and we’ve just had the pleasure of tasting

I’ve been lucky enough to experience several vertical tastings of Belle Époque with Hervé over the years. Notably in September 2006, we worked our way back from 1999 white and rosé, through 1998, 1997. 1996, 1995, 1989, 1988, 1985 the first vintage he himself made and then on to ’82 and ’79.

But what I shall remember best is having a relaxed lunch with him on a summer’s day, on the terrace overlooking the glorious garden at Maison Belle Époque, sharing a glass of Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque Blanc de Blancs, his very own creation first made in 1993, specifically to celebrate the Millennium. His winning smile and infectious giggle will be sadly missed on future trips to Champagne.

Last month Hervé handed over the keys of the cellar to his successor Séverine Frerson

Waitrose still boasts one of the best Champagne ranges in High Street

While the Waitrose Blanc de Noirs, currently our ‘wine of the week’, is no longer on offer, with Father’s Day fast approaching there are still a couple of other champagnes on a deal that are drinking really well and represent great value.

The Waitrose Brut Vintage 2007 (the ‘05 preceded it), which has been the grocer’s vintage champagne offering for well over a year now, is at or near its apogee. It’s a rich, generous style with a majority of Chardonnay in the blend (52%) plus Continue reading “Waitrose still boasts one of the best Champagne ranges in High Street”

Dom Pérignon launches 2002 P2

Dom Pérignon 2002 P2 and the original release

Bruno Paillard, who has long championed the use of disgorgement dates on his own champagnes, and those of the brands in the wider BCC group, has an anecdote he is fond of bringing up to emphasize the importance of post-disgorgement ageing. He feels the more venerable the wine, the longer it needs to recover from the shock of disgorgement. In much the same way as an older person is likely to take longer to recover from a serious operation than a younger one. It makes sense. Champagne is unlikely to perform at its best Continue reading “Dom Pérignon launches 2002 P2”

Robuchon dies after long illness

Very sad to hear the news (yesterday) that celebrated chef and restaurateur Joël Robuchon has died after a long battle with cancer. He’s the man whose restaurants have been awarded more Michelin stars than anyone else – they hold 23 round the world currently. I have been lucky enough to meet him, and eat his sublime food, twice in the past five Continue reading “Robuchon dies after long illness”

Message in a bottle

One of the main reasons that champagne houses covet working with the leading airlines is they like the exposure for their brands. They want to be seen as the preferred pour in the first or business class cabin. Partly because this is an affluent audience that’s difficult to reach, they will even agree relatively unprofitable deals to get the listing, though of course they are at pains to deny this.

But they know there is a large potential downside to this exposure. Will the cabin staff pour the champagne in front of the customer, thus showing Continue reading “Message in a bottle”

Dom Pérignon launches P2 2000: an exploration of extra lees ageing

Vincent Chaperon, right hand man of Dom Pérignon chef de cave Richard Geoffroy, was in London earlier this month to launch the P2 version of Dom Pérignon 2000. Interestingly, he also bought along the original 2000 release aged on the cork since its disgorgement several years ago in 2007. We went along to see him and asked him to talk us through the quite considerable difference in tasting profile the same wine has when it gets a decade and a half of lees ageing.

See the interview video:

Gosset Celebris tasting: 1988 to 2004

Over the years I’ve come to like the champagnes made by Gosset more and more. As Didier Gimonnet said to me on a recent visit to Cuis, producers should be judged on the quality of their whole range, not merely on one super-charged cuvée that they produce in minute quantities, as he suggested some commentators are apt to do. But as with the excellent Gimonnet wines, I’d be very happy drinking any Gosset champagnes, Continue reading “Gosset Celebris tasting: 1988 to 2004”

Fifteen prestige cuvées from 2002

The prospect of tasting 15 prestige cuvée champagnes in one sitting later this week is a mouth-watering one. Especially as they are all from the celebrated 2002 vintage, which will probably, with a little competition from 2008 & ’09, go down as the finest vintage of the past decade. But it’s interesting to speculate — before I have seen the actual list — who will be included in the line-up?

I imagine Dom Pérignon, Cristal and Krug will be there, the last named only released to a rapturous welcome early this year, while Cristal will potentially boast considerable bottle age, given it was first made available over seven years ago. I guess Dom Ruinart, fabulously rich and powerful in 2002 and Clicquot’s La Grande Dame will complete the Moët-Hennessy quartet in the line-up.

Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill and Salon are two further acclaimed ‘02 releases, and I’m pretty sure Taittinger’s Comte de Champagne will feature (see my piece on the recent Finest Bubble vertical tasting of Comte 1996-2006 which included the 2002). To these eight we can probably add Continue reading “Fifteen prestige cuvées from 2002”

Bollinger shows how it restores old bottles in larger formats

Before last month’s historic tasting of old vintages of Bollinger dating back to 1830, the year after the house was founded, on our tour of the cellars we saw the restoration work the winemaking team does by hand, using ancient methods.

In this short video we can hear Bollinger assistant winemaker Denis Bunner describing how the winemaking team, working in the cellars, are restoring Jeroboams of Bollinger ‘RD’ 2000. Disgorging the wines by hand (à la volée), tasting them all and then topping them up, before giving them their final cork, all of which is done by hand, using traditional skills.

Comte de Champagne vertical tasting 2006-1996

Historically Champagne has not been seen as a wine appropriate for investment purposes, certainly not in the same way as say red Bordeaux. The three most commonly traded prestige cuvées have in the past been Dom Pérignon, Krug and Louis Roederer’s Cristal. Vintage Krug and Cristal, both produced in far smaller volumes than Dom Pérignon, tend to have the higher values, though which comes out on top depends on the Continue reading “Comte de Champagne vertical tasting 2006-1996”