Saturday Night – Bubble Wars – Part 1

This past Saturday night it was our turn to host the usual Saturday night dinner with Mick and Amy.  I was struggling on what to make for the night and in the end Kathy suggested ordering in Sushi.  We hadn’t had this in a while and if we went with Sushi that meant Champagne as the pairing so suddenly Sushi was sounding like a great idea.  I was running low on Champagnes on the wine rack so I hit the LCBO and picked up 3 new Champagnes that we’d never tried before.  I decided to go with two of the three Champagnes in a little head to head contest.

 

The two Champagnes were a non-vintage Pierre Paillard and a non-vintage José Dhondt. I will review the Pierre Paillard here in part 1 and José Dhondt in part 2.

The nose on the Pierre Paillard was an easy to find mix of fresh orange, yeast, hay, Brazil nut and vanilla aromas.  Tasting the wine, you will find ginger and lemon flavours with a touch vanilla and star-fruit lurking in the background.  The structure on the wine was interesting as the wine hits your tongue in a big burst of fresh and crisp flavours but quickly fades to nothing on the finish.  I liked the crisp acidity but at times the wine had a slight bite in the mid-palate which I wasn’t as fond of.  It did however work as a really good pairing with the Sushi as the ginger and lemon flavours really popped with the food.

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 88, Mark – 89, Kathy – 84, Amy – 87, Overall – 87.

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

PIERRE PAILLARD GRAND CRU BRUT CHAMPAGNE

VINTAGES 364737
750 mL bottle
Price $ 49.95
Made in: Champagne, France
By: Champagne Pierre Paillard
Release Date: Feb 15, 2014
Wine, Champagne
12.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Style: Rich & Complex
Varietal: Champagne
Sugar Content: 10 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: D - Dry

Tasting Note  -  (60% pinot noir and 40% chardonnay; disgorged January 23, 2012): Light, bright gold. Toasted bread, pear nectar and honey on the nose and palate, with a subtle touch of rhubarb adding an earthy quality. Spicy, nicely concentrated orchard fruit flavors pick up a bitter citrus pith nuance with air and show very good intensity. Closes on a smoky, leesy note, with firm grip and lingering toastiness. Score - 90. (Josh Raynolds, International Wine Cellar, Dec. 2012)

I liked this Champagne and feel at its $50 price point it was a good value.  I prefer the Louis Roederer due to its bigger body and longer finish but it is $68 at bottle.   On the other hand the Pierre Paillard was probably a better Sushi pairing than the Roederer usually is so if I was doing Sushi again I’d probably opt to go with it over the Roederer.

Click here for Part 2