A great Champagne sealer!
August 11, 2012
Greetings Wine Lovers!
It is August in France, and I am drinking some Champagne. What better drink than a fine cool bubbly on a warm summer’s day? I stress: no affiliation with the product I am about to endorse. But the Peugeot Champagne sealer works very well. I had opened a decent Brut Champagne (non vintage) by Montaudon, which I had actually first encountered in Alexandria Virginia, thanks to my good friend Erich Wagner. And then sort of forgot about it. When I went to a French supermarket last month with a colleague from the Council of Europe where I work, I decided to purchase a bottle of this Brut.
It cost only about 20 euros and was worth every (declining in value) eurocent…
Champagne Montaudon Brut. Purchased for about 20 euros at a large French supermarket. Nothing very profound but tasty and zesty. Notes of lime, green apple, with some pleasing floral notes and hints of chalkiness on the nose, precede a palate this is brisk and savory on the attack, but could it be just a touch over rich on the mid palate? Served cold enough 🙂 it can be tasty enough – especially for a hot summer day. In a word: a decent Champagne that does not kill your wallet. Quite the contrary.
According to the producer, the particular Pinot Noir grown in Montaudons own vineyards, brings a consistent power to this wine. A soil mainly composed of yellow chalk as well as a quite specific climate in this area provides “a unique wine”. Well, I guess so. “The predominance of Pinot Noir provides the structure while a touch of Pinot Meunier rounds the blend. Chardonnay adds the elegance and finesse essential in a perfectly balanced wine.” So it is a mix of the three grapes used to make Champagne, and, again, worth the price of admission. Recommended as a good price/quality ratio, and perfect for non wine expert Champagne lovers.
In any case, I can only praise the Peugeot car company for making such an efficient sealer for Champagnes that we do not finish in one go. I actually forgot about this bottle and left it in the fridge for about five days… as you can see in the video, below, Peugeot deserves much praise.
For Gruet, it all began in Champagne, where Gilbert Gruet started making bubbly back in 1952. In the early 1980s the next generation planted its flag in this country with high-altitude vineyards in southern New Mexico. At an elevation of 4,300 feet on mountain plateaus, the days are hot but the nights are cool, conditions conducive to growing good chardonnay and pinot noir, the main grapes of Champagne and most American sparkling wines.