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2018 Bouzy Brut Grand Cru Millésime MAGNUM

Paul Bara
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Champagne lovers like to talk about how great Champagne pairs with food. Not all bottlings from this revered region fit that bill. Non-vintage, entry level Champagne tends to sing best all by itself, or perhaps with just some simple appetizers. Vintage bottles on the other hand have more grip and a bit of weight than their blended counterparts and often have their best moments at table. The 2018 Brut Grand Cru from Bara is one such wine. Don’t just pair with classic white wine dishes, but stretch your imagination and try with lighter red wine pairings—roasted bird, pork chops or tenderloin, or hearty vegetable dishes.

Clark Z. Terry

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Technical Information
Wine Type: sparkling
Vintage: 2018
Bottle Size: 1.5L
Blend: 90% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay
Appellation: Bouzy
Country: France
Region: Champagne
Producer: Paul Bara
Winemaker: The Bara Family and Christian Forget
Vineyard: 35 years average
Soil: Clay, Limestone
Aging: Ages in bottle for 8 years before release
Farming: Lutte Raisonnée
Alcohol: 12.5%

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About The Region

Champagne

map of Champagne

True Champagne must not only sparkle, but also must come from grapes grown in the Champagne region of France and be made using méthode champenoise—a process that involves prolonged aging of the wine as well as a bottle fermentation used to add the sparkle to the finished product. Though wine has been made in this region since at least the 5th century, Champagne as we now know is a relatively new creation. It wasn’t until the 19th century that sparkling wine production took hold on a large scale in much part due to improvements in the strength of glass for bottles and the embrace of French nobility of the sparkling wines of the region.

Only three grape varieties may be used to make Champagne: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier. The chalk-heavy soils not only provide complexity and texture to the finished wine, but also act as a natural humidifier thus keeping the vine’s roots warm during colder months of the year. There are grand cru and premier cru designated vineyard areas but unlike Burgundy, there are few lieu-dit vineyards (though in recent years there has been a greater interest in producing vineyard specific Champagnes).

Kermit’s first foray into the region came in 1981 when he began importing the wines of J. Lassalle and Paul Bara—two producers whose wines we still import. In the mid 2000s, Kermit began importing the wines of Veuve Fourny et Fils.

Of Champagne, Kermit says, “You might be surprised to learn that I don’t like a goût de terroir to dominate the taste of Champagnes. If it dominates, you lose finesse. I want some, obviously—but only enough to keep things interesting.”

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Where the newsletter started

Every three or four months I would send my clients a cheaply made list of my inventory, but it began to dawn on me that business did not pick up afterwards. It occurred to me that my clientele might not know what Château Grillet is, either. One month in 1974 I had an especially esoteric collection of wines arriving, so I decided to put a short explanation about each wine into my price list, to try and let my clients know what to expect when they uncorked a bottle. The day after I mailed that brochure, people showed up at the shop, and that is how these little propaganda pieces for fine wine were born.—Kermit Lynch

Read the whole story

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