The best festive fireside fizz.
Only one language has a term for wines intended to drink slowly, thoughtfully, without food – and it isn’t French.
The term vino da meditazione was coined by Italian wine writer Luigi Veronelli to represent, in his words, wine that is ‘very complex and unusual… that should be enjoyed on a long winter evening, sip by sip, by the fire.’
Italians tend to conjure broad, aged and complex reds in this scenario: Amarone and Brunello, deep and dark and brooding.
Red wine is having a bit of an identity crisis, however. Even in Italy it now only represents 37% of the market, down from close to half at the turn of the 21st century, according to industry analysts OIV.
Perhaps a general desire for wines with lower alcohol is at play; sink into a bottle of Amarone at 16% alcohol, and it’s not just the fire doing the warming, after all.
Lower-alcohol reds don’t often seem to cut it, though – they’re wines for the beginning of things (meals, parties, days), but not the end. If you’re deep in meditation over the ebbs and flows of life itself – but also mindful of tomorrow’s 7am start – perhaps a Champagne, full of complexity but sneaking in at 12.5%, could fit the bill?
Blanc de noirs Champagne: Warming, savoury and wintery
Blanc de noirs Champagnes – meaning literally white from black – are the region’s boldest, broadest wines, made only from the black grapes Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.
It’s here that the link with Champagne’s past as a red wine region (and its ties, in the south, to Burgundy) are most closely felt. It’s a specialised style. So specialised, in fact, that many of the major houses don’t regularly produce one.
Of those that do, however, it’s the houses based in the famous Grande Vallée of the Marne river around the historical villages of Aÿ and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ that hold a track record for Pinot Noir.
Bollinger is often first to come to mind, with its PN series (the latest of which, PN VZ 19, is the finest yet) offering a huge amount of complexity from reserve wines stored in magnum.
Nearby Philipponnat in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ is another Pinot Noir specialist, famous for its Clos des Goisses, a monumental Champagne from a steep, walled vineyard.
Rarer, but just as extraordinary, are Philipponnat’s blanc de noirs. Try La Rémissonne 2015 for a deep, resonant and enveloping Pinot Noir treat from the clay-rich soils of Mareuil. The house’s Blanc de Noirs 2018 is a fine entry to the style, too.
Independent producers often draw out complexity with low-yielding Pinots and barrel fermentation.
Even without the lengthy lees-ageing or reserve wines of the grandes marques, these can still be complex and evolving wines to let unfurl over a few hours in front of the fire.
Pierre Paillard, in the grand cru village of Bouzy in the Montagne de Reims, released a set of 2019s that included possibly the most impressive edition of the single parcel Les Maillerettes yet. With a little time on cork, this is a wine to sink into with relish – although it’s hard to find.
Luckily the beautiful entry-level Les Parcelles XIX also hits some of those warming notes of crusty bread, allspice and roasted red apple.
The subtlety of extended ageing
Vintage Champagne (sandwiched between entry-level and prestige bottlings) can offer engaging complexity when caught at the right time.
Most tend to benefit from further ageing, but it depends on the house and the year. The hot 2015 vintage has its ups and downs – with most of the crop of prestige cuvées released so far struggling to warrant their price tags – but the best vintage-level wines can be more attractive purchases.
The new Bruno Paillard Assemblage 2015, from a small evolving, quality-led house led by Alice Paillard, is a case in point.
Similarly open, sunny and a little less intense is the 2018 vintage: top grower-producer Huré Frères has turned out a beautifully layered, energetic version of its Instantanée, from the village of Ludes in the Montagne de Reims.
For settling in and letting a bottle breathe, though, Champagne’s extra long-aged or late-disgorged cuvées are stunning rarities that any intrepid bubble enthusiast needs to experience. These are special editions of previously released wines that have been given long periods of ageing on the lees – often 10 years or more – before disgorgement and release.
Although Moët et Chandon is known for its household non-vintage cuvée, available in almost every corner of the world, Champagne insiders have quietly hunted out long-aged versions of the Grand Vintage, known as Grand Vintage Collection.
Cellar master Benoît Gouez has just released the Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage Collection 2009, after 13 years on the lees. While the standard Grand Vintage ages under a crown cap during its lees ageing (as does the vast majority of Champagne), Grand Vintage Collection ages under cork. Gouez attributes some of the wine’s shapeshifting complexity to this cork closure, which brings ‘reductive characters, more layers, and more texture,’ he says.
Even if we weren’t feeling meditative to start off with, these are all wines to give us something to think about, wines that are as happy as any Amarone or Brunello to sit open for a few hours as the fire crackles. If that’s not the sign of a vino da meditazione, then I’m not sure what is.
Hewson’s top picks for festive fireside Champagnes:
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