Palmer Grands Terroirs 2003, the richness of Montagne de Reims

Grands Terroirs is a Champagne made from Premier and Grand Cru vineyards in Montagne de Reims that even in a hot year like 2003 demonstrated convincing savoir-faire.

Champagne has just concluded one of those harvests that after the heat waves of June, July and early August kept half the Chefs de Saves in the region awake at night but that in the end appears triumphant for the aromatic quality of the grapes, while maintaining a nice acidity. Climate change here is a reality but not necessarily in a catastrophic way given that this year produced Chardonnay in Vallée de la Marne and Côte des Blancs that had great intensity and a sugar level that easily reached the desired threshold of 11g/l. Acidity in Champagne has never been a problem, if anything, the problem has been achieving a good phenolic ripeness before the autumn rains and the consequent problems regarding the health of the grapes.

Recent vintages have confirmed that although the growing season has been shortened from the traditional 100 days, from blossoming to harvest, to 83 days and temperatures have risen (this year hitting a high of 42.5°C in July), the area of Champagne has benefitted with wines expressing unprecedented balances and a propensity to age that many doubted were possible.

All this is necessary to understand the recent, surprising products from Champagne Palmer & Co, a wine cooperative founded in 1947 by seven winemakers that today has 415 hectares of vineyards in some 40 villages, many of them Grand and Premier Cru in Montagne de Reims. With its tradition of sitting long on the lees during secondary fermentation, up to some four years for the non-vintage and ten for the vintage bubbly, Palmer has tackled the challenge posed by the hottest years of the past decade by producing a super-vintage wine that matures and later ages for 16 years in Reims cellars.

From the beginning Grands Terroirs has been a blend of grapes from Grand and Premier Cru villages in Montagne de Reims, where the Chardonnay also has boldness and structure as well as lovely tension. This above all thanks to villages with northern and northeaster exposures, between Trépail and Villers-Marmery. The same is true of the Pinot Noir from the northern towns of Mailly, Verzenay, Rilly-la-Montagne, Ludes and Chigny-les-Roses. In such a rich year like 2003, the decision to produce only magnum bottles, to reduce the risk of impact of micro-oxidation in the bottle, resulted in a decidedly vital Champagne, distinguished by a bouquet that is slightly more evolved than the mouthfeel.

The cooperative’s CEO and enologist Rémi Vervier made a very interesting choice on how to present this vintage during a tasting: three glasses of different sizes in which the Champagne was served at different temperatures. The first was a tulip glass with the wine at 7°C, which exalted the tensions of the Chardonnay; the second was a white wine glass with a temperature of 11° that emphasized harmony; and the third was a broad, red wine glass where the wine was 14°C and this brought out its soft and opulent notes. The result was that many who had had their doubts about the few vintage bubblies produced from the 2003 harvest had to re-evaluate their positions as they did for the wines from Dom Pérignon and Krug. And although the Grands Terroirs may not have had the same complexity as the famous latter two, it was an interesting demonstration of savoir-faire that Palmer & Co can be proud of, a homage to those terroirs the cooperative has had for over half a century.

Grands Terroirs 2003 Champagne Palmer & Co

92/100 – € 350

A limited edition of only 1,703 magnum bottles that was a blend of 54% Pinot Noir, 63% from Grand Cru vineyards in Mailly and Verzenay and 37% from the Premier Cru villages Ludes, Rilly and Chigny; and 46% Chardonnay from the Premier Cru villages Trépail and Villers-Marmery della Montagne de Reims that had greater structure and body and was more similar to the Chardonnay from Mersault in Burgundy. The wine matured sur lattes for over 12 years and two years sur pointe after which it received a dosage of 7.5g when it was disgorged in November 2017.

The tulip glass, in which the wine was served at 7°C, was undoubtedly the one that best allowed the wine to express its aromatic intensity and structural balance and we were able to appreciate how it evolved in the glass. The initial scents of acacia flower and rhododendron honey, the freshness of verbena and Sorrento lemon and the notes of yellow plum and passion fruit progressively opened the way to sensations of apricot and peach typical of Pinot Noir and ushered in a creamy mouthfeel and progressively flavors of almond paste, candied pineapple, hazelnut praline and toasted barley.

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