Tasting the wines of Champagne Esterlin

Welcome to Champagne Tasting with me, Jimmy Goode. And your most esteemed brother-in-law, William. Right, so what we've got now is we have a selection of five champagnes from Champagne Estelain, a producer based in Épinay that Both of us are unfamiliar with it, so this is going to be interesting—a discovery. Tasting. Had you ever even heard of the name of this producer? No, no. And there's only one wine merchant on your right, I suppose, perhaps. where this comes from, but there's only one in Portia in the UK. Which is Bar Thing Ho Wines? Oh, it's down there, is it? Yeah, it's on the thing. Oh, excellent. Okay, great. So I need something to open this. This first wine is the Brut Nature, and it is very difficult to open. Come on, you can do it, Jimmy. I'm making some progress. Why would a champagne cork be so difficult to remove? I don't know, this It's really hard. Oh, it's coming. So The first wine is the Brut Nature 2009, and on the information on the back we have that it was on the date of issue, 10th May 2010, and disgorged in March 2022, so this is like 11 years on the lees. Zero dosage, 12% alcohol. I'm hoping to find something from this. Tell me about it. That glass you have there. Well, that's a Josephine Champagne glass. given to me on Father's Day by my children, and I think you have a Josephine glass as well. Yes, I have the universal white wine glass. here, which I'm going to fill. So yes, I'm looking forward to it. Trying this. So zero dosage. And one tiny bit. So mouth-puckeringly dry. It's a bit warm, isn't it? Wow, it really is. It's fresh, lively, Nice citrus, quite toasty. Extremely, extremely dry. I mean, Wow, it's almost like you instantly get thirsty as soon as you take a sip. Yeah, it's a bit salty too. Yeah. Where does that saline element come from? I don't know, but it would be really good. We have some oysters later. I think This is going to go well with the oysters. That's a good idea. It's like drinking warm seawater, and actually it's really good. It is Really good. This is fantastic, really good. Then the second wine we have is Brut Eclat. I'm not going to pour mine away, so I'll drink it quickly. This one. was triggered in July 2019 and then disgorged in May 2025. So this one has been on the list for nearly six years. So that's Also, this shows us that there is some seriousness. in the approach of this Champagne House, because that is much more than is normal for what I suspect is in this range Regular non-vintage cuvée. And sorry, what's the dosage on that? Oh yes, seven grams per liter. This is easier to get out, yeah. Wow. Very impressive start. Yeah, I mean that's Delicious. This is probably a bit less expensive than the last one. Why would zero dosage be more expensive? Because it's older. It's vintage 2009. But that's just coincidental in this case. wine, right? Zero dosage doesn't have to be. They've turned it into something of a Prestige Cuvée, I think. So this second one, nice color. Yeah, they're all very golden, aren't they? Really delicious. Fine toast, a hint of spice. And we're assuming these are all All three grapes, right? Yes. Really nice citrus drive to this. A hint of toastiness, a hint of peach, a hint of pear. Really good. As soon as you say pear, I get it, yeah. This is really good. It is. Nicely complex. It has the appropriate dosage. It has a slight saltiness. Really good. Delicious. That's really good. Two down, a few to go. So we've got the Blanc to Blanc now. The Blanc to Blanc is non-vintage, but it was bottled in 2014, disgorged In 2018. So four years into the lease, eight grams a liter dosage. Just remind me, what's the normal Dosage? For a Brut? Yeah. You know, anything between seven and ten. It's fairly normal. Okay. So this should be absolutely normal. The last one was seven, this one is eight. The first one was zero. Yeah. What's going on? With these corks? Why are they so hard to pull out? I think we've had them in the ice. Oh really? And maybe that's made it. Yeah, I don't know. Let's see what this is like. So I'm a big fan of Blanc to Blanc. I think if you ask me any style of Chardonnay, I'm sorry, Champagne is what I'd go for. I think the default would be Blanc to Blanc. Why is that? Because I just think there's often a great deal of precision and focus involved. Some people like the richness that Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier provide. exuberant fruity character— that's my experience, but Chardonnay is often linear. The nose on this one, I think, is the best so far. Oh, that's good. That's really good. Gosh. That's lemony, crisp, This is really nice. It still has the baked apple. Flavor as well, but these are all excellent, aren't they? I'm really impressed with all of these so far. This one, I think, is the best so far. Yeah, totally. It's just fantastic. Linear, focused, citrusy. Really alert. It just popped into my head, Dom Pérignon. Don't make, or Veuve Clicquot don't make Dom Perignon in a Blanc to Blanc. Why is that? So Dom Perignon remains distinct. Verve Clicquot is separate. So Verve Clicquot... I thought Verve Clicquot owned Dom Perignon. No, LVMH. Oh, LVMH. Veuve Clicquot owns Dom Perignon. Okay. Oh yes, okay, right, yeah. And Verve Clicquot's Grandam, which we've had together, is a Pinot Noir-dominated wine that tastes like it's a Blanc to Blanc. It tastes like Chardonnay. It's really interesting. This is fantastic, yes. I suppose my more intelligent question is, I wonder why Dom Perignon never Thought of making a Blanc de Blancs? Why do they use all three grapes? Good question. Well, I guess they just make one kind of wine. Well, Let's look at it the other way around. Salon is only Blanc to Blanc, right? Yeah. Yeah, okay. But Salon doesn't make X million bottles. I have a great story about that. I went to see Verve Clicquot, and we had some Dom. Perignon over there, and the young ladies serving the Dom Perignon refused to quantify how many bottles of Dom Perignon Made here. Nobody will give you an official answer. I think they kind of implied it was 50,000 we got out in the end, which, as you emphasized many, many years ago, cannot possibly be correct because you find Dom Perignon in every nightclub, Every duty-free, everywhere in the world, so it can't be 50,000. Most Estimates range from five to six million bottles per year. That sounds right. It's fantastic. Goodness, this is really good, isn't it? That's Really good. So now we're going to just take a a detour to make the Rosé, the Rosé Eclat, and this was bottled in 22, Disgorged in 23, so a very short time on Lees, which I think is good for Rosé. Why? Because you want to achieve that fruity character. You don't want the toasty one. You know, development has been ongoing for a long time on Lees. I really like these labels. I mean, they give you a good amount of They have information at the back, don't they? So this one is Rosé with a dosage of seven grams per liter. Let's see. What it's like. So these are all, the common denominator, so far, these are all towards the lower end of dosage without the, You know, there's a zero, but seven is the lower end of the range. I think seven is kind of like the new norm for Brut. Oh really? Yeah, yeah. So, what does this look like? Yeah, this looks good. It's juicy, it's lively, it's got cranberry, it's got raspberry. Lots of raspberry, yeah. It has citrus notes, a touch of sweetness. It's actually quite real. a crowd pleaser. Why don't you give the impression of having that sweetness you picked up on, even though it has the same dosage as the other? It's a combination of fruit, fruitiness and sugar, and the way you perceive the sugar depends on the aromas. When you have excessive Sweetly, well, obviously an aroma can't be sweet, Sweetness is a taste. When you have aromas associated with sweetness like raspberries, cherries, and strawberries, then you perceive the sweetness in your mouth as being sweeter than it actually is. So your brain is telling you it's, It tastes sweet because it has a fruity flavor, as it were. Yeah, this is fantastic. It's very good, isn't it? Right, that's really good, and a different sort of league from the others. I mean this. is just about pleasure, the others are a bit more serious. So now We have the final one, which is the Cleo, obviously the Prestige Cuvée. And this is 2012. And they've chosen to do it in Blanc de Blancs. as a Blanc de Blancs. So this was put under, bottled in July 2013, and disgorged on March 24, so just shy of 11 years On these, and an eight-gram-per-liter dosage. So let's see. So this is quite exciting now, because we were really quite impressed by all. Of these. Yeah. I'm making a mess of opening this. It's going to happen though. Right, let's get the muesli and plaque off. What's a muesli? Muesli is the wire cage that holds The plaque above the cork. I've never heard that term before. Why haven't you yet written a book entirely devoted to champagnes? I told you 15 years ago. Well, my plan is to write a book on The science of champagne and sparkling wine. Oh yes, okay. And with Brad Gretricks of Nightimber, because he's an actual winemaker. Oh really? Yeah. So you've really thought about this? Yes. It's coming. It's coming soon. Whenever it comes, it comes. So this is the Prestige Cuvée. Okay, so here's my question. Why would, as a Producer, why would you choose to make your Prestige Cuvée? as a, using only Chardonnay grapes? Maybe it's your best vineyards or your best vineyard sources. So you think this is, maybe you think this is the best expression of the place and I think, personally Speaking, I think Chardonnay is a good choice for a Prestige Cuvée. Okay, well there are plenty of Prestige Cuvées which are, I'm not blind to blondes, I'm thinking of Conch. Oh, this is good. This is really, this is excellent, isn't it? This is legitimate. It's linear, it's focused, it's precise, with some toasty notes from that. Extra time on Lee, but it's not, it's not an artifact, it's genuine And then there's good acidity—fresh and precise. and truly excellent. And by far the most powerful, you know, in the length of your mouth that we've had so far. That's really, you I can taste it—saline, spicy, toasty—this is very good. Gosh. So what a discovery, yeah? Really impressed with these. There is only one in Port in the UK, which is, What's the name again? Farthinghoe, Farthinghoe Fine Wines And you guys have done an excellent job. I mean, Personally, I think this is excellent, wow. So, on that note, we'll sign off. And we shall taste you. Cheers. Happy Bank Holiday.