More Champagne Friday: Pierre Moncuit Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs

By: Gary Westby | K&L Champagne Buyer

I have been recommending the Pierre Moncuit Champagnes here at K&L for nearly 15 years, and just received a shipment of their latest wines. The Moncuit’s farm 37.5 acres of grand cru vineyard in Mesnil, Champagne’s most sought after and expensive cru for Chardonnay. Nicole Moncuit has been making the wine here since 1977 and prizes old vines for their ability to transmit the maximum of this great terroir into the wines. The average age of the vines at the property is 30 years old, much older than the average in Champagne. She also has some very old vines that she makes her namesake wine from, the tiny production cuvee Nicole Moncuit.

Pierre Moncuit "Cuvée Pierre Moncuit-Delos Grand Cru" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne ($39.99): When I tasted this electric batch of Pierre Moncuit I would have bet that it was based on 2008. I have a call in to Charles Neal, the wines importer but didn’t want to wait to send this email out until he called back- I am afraid the Nicole Moncuit could disappear before then! This wine has a big nose that is Meursault like in its scale but without the oak. I found it full of ripe fruit and fragrant wild flowers. On the palate it is dry and cutting on the back end but full and ripe up front. This all Mesnil, all estate Champagne really shows its class on the finish, which is very, very long for its low price. So good!

2005 Moncuit-Delos Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne ($54.99): This Champagne has an immensely creamy nose with hints of brioche and ripe pear. On the palate it shows the best of the 2005 harvest in Champagne with plenty of exotic, candied fruit and fancy pastry dough. This is rich and full bodied blanc de blancs and has a very good finish, which is focused but not austere in any way. I can’t wait to try this with some scallops!

2004 Pierre Moncuit "Cuvée Nicole Moncuit Vieilles Vignes" Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne ($74.99; wait-list only): Champagne doesn’t get better than this- I could not believe how much class this 2004 had, even though I have been lucky enough to have many, many past vintages of this cuvee. This great bottle of Mesnil Grand Cru is made from two over 90 year old plots, some of the oldest vines in all of Champagne. The nose is restrained, detailed and multifaceted: I found perfect baguette, savory spice and fresh-from-the-tree pineapple in the bouquet. On the palate it had both the lush richness of ancient vines and the fabulous mineral focus of some of the best chalk vineyard in all of Champagne. This wine sings with both ripe fruit and mineral freshness…

On another note, we managed to get another little allocation of 2002 Dom Perignon Rose at $299. These bottles were available for pre-sale, but sold out very quickly. If you click to 'add to wait list' on this or any other out-of-stock Champagne on our website, you will be notified by email the moment more becomes available, in the event that we are able to get more. You can read about the 2002 Dom Perignon Rose on the blog here and about Dom Perignon in general here.

A toast to you!

Gary

Spanish & Portuguese Wine News: Bodegas Riojanas in the House! Special Tasting Thursday 4/11

By: Joe Manekin | K&L Spanish & Portuguese Wine Buyer

Greetings all,

BODEGAS RIOJANAS will be in the house here in Redwood City next Thursday 4/11 from 5pm-6:30pm. You will definitely want to join us as we will have some tasty Spanish themed snacks and both Sara (export dept) and Pablo (winemaker) here to explain what distinguishes this traditional, historic Rioja bodega from many others. As you probably know, these are some of our favorite Riojas on the shelf and it's always a pleasure to taste through them, particularly when we have a knowledgeable winemaker to walk us through the line-up. Just $5 to taste and snack!

rsvp on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/klwines?ref=hl#!/events/287689771363901/

link on K&L Local Events: http://www.klwines.com/local_events.asp

Hope to see you there.

Saludos,

Joe

---

Joe Manekin

Spanish, Portuguese, Latin American Wine Buyer

K&L Wine Merchants

Ph: 877.559.4637 ext. 2748

joemanekin@klwines.com

Celebrate Mike Grgich's 90th Birthday with 2 Special Tastings at K&L in April!

Miljenko “Mike” Grgich celebrates 90th birthday this April. A native of Croatia, Mike arrived in Napa 1958 and worked at Souverain, Christian Brothers, Beaulieu Vineyards, Robert Mondavi Winery, and Chateau Montelena, where he crafted the Chardonnay that triumphed in the 1976 Paris Tasting, before founding Grgich Hills in 1977 in Rutherford.

Happy 90th Birthday Mike!

Mike Grgich, winemaker and founder of the famous Grgich Hills Estate, turned 90 years old on April 1st of this year. It was Mike Grgich, then winemaker for Chateau Montelena, who crafted the 1973 Chardonnay that 'beat' the French competition in the historic Paris Tasting of 1976. To celebrate this milestone birthday, K&L is hosting two special Grgich Hills Estate tastings in April in our Northern California stores. We invite you to join the party! Current releases of Grgich Hills' Chardonnay, Fume Blanc, Zinfandel, and Cabernet Sauvignon among other wines will be featured at both events. Come and raise a glass to one of Napa's great winemaking legends.

Thursday April 18th (5pm-6pm): Special Grgich Hills Tasting at K&L Redwood City ($5) rsvp on facebook 

Friday April 19th (5pm-6pm): Special Grgich Hills Tasting at K&L San Francisco ($5) rsvp on facebook 

For additional information on this event and other upcoming special events and tastings taking place at any of our locations, visit K&L Local Events on KLWines.com.

More About Mike, from Grgich Hills Estate

Mike's life sounds like a Hollywood movie, journeying from a peasant upbringing in communist Yugoslavia, to winemaker winning the Paris Tasting, and then becoming a winery owner in the Napa Valley. Mike arrived in the Napa Valley in 1958 after a four year journey from Croatia and worked for some of Napa's iconic wineries: Souverain, Christian Brothers, Beaulieu Vineyards and Robert Mondavi Winery, before becoming winemaker at Chateau Montelena. At Montelena, he crafted the Chardonnay that beat the best white wines in France in the now-famous 1976 Paris Tasting, helping to shatter the myth that only French soil could produce the world’s greatest wines and drawing international attention to Napa Valley wines.

Judges deliberating during the Paris Tasting of 1976. Image courtesy of Grgich Hills Estate.

On Independence Day 1977, Mike and Austin Hills broke ground in Rutherford to build Grgich Hills Cellar. Since starting Grgich Hills, Mike has continued receiving international awards for his wines and has been recognized for being a leader in sustainable vineyard practices.  Mike celebrated his 50th year of making wine in 2008, the same year he was inducted into the Vintners Hall of Fame. Today, all of Grgich Hills’ 366 acres are certified organic and the winery has converted to solar power and is completely estate grown.  

Check out the 2009 Grgich Hills "Estate" Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($49.99) and other Grgich Hills Estate wines in stock now at K&L.His influence has been so far-reaching that his famous beret, the suit case he carried to America, and a bottle of the 1973 Chardonnay that won the Paris Tasting are on display in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History’s first major exhibition on food history—“FOOD: Transforming the American Table 1950–2000”.  In addition, a Croatian TV documentary about his life, “Like the Old Vine,” premiered at the Napa Valley Film Festival in November 2012.

Visit www.grgich.comto see all of the winery's events, including a special Gala on April 13^th, and the inaugural release of the Paris Tasting Chardonnay, crafted by Mike Grgich in the same style as the Chardonnay that won the 1976 Paris Tasting. Given Mike’s proven track record of creating elegant wines that improve with age, this Chardonnay is sure to become a collectable. The winery will launch a birthday cake decorating contest with the chance to win a trip to Napa Valley and celebrate Mike’s 90 years of accomplishments with the famed winemaker.

Grgich Hills Estate, located in Rutherford, CA, was founded in 1977 by Vintner Hall of Fame inductee Miljenko “Mike” Grgich and Austin Hills after Mike’s Chardonnay outscored the best of France in the now-famous 1976 Paris Tasting.

Today, this iconic winery farms 366 acres naturally, without artificial pesticides or herbicides, and uses its passion and art to handcraft food-friendly, balanced and elegant wines. Mike is assisted by his daughter, Violet Grgich, Vice President of Operations, and his nephew, Ivo Jeramaz, Vice President of Vineyards and Production. For more information, visit www.grgich.com.