High above Kings Cross  in the Gothic clock Tower,

Dominique Demarville presented us with his superlative Vintage Veuve Cliquot 2008 .

Vintage Champagne is only made in the finest years .

Thousands of days of careful ageing are required to produce this complex and elegant expression of Champagne .

It seemed fitting that Veuve 2008 debuted in such a fine horological setting .

 

 

I was fortunate enough to interview Dominique prior to the tasting.
Chef de Caves since 2009 this is his first Vintage . I warmed to him instantly.
Humility, passion,drive and charm combined.

He has a clear vision for the future of Veuve Cliquot and explained how their Champagnes have a great fruit intensity freshness and complexity.

To add to the occasion we commenced by tasting the base wines (Vins Clairs )

We identified the differences between barrel produced and aged compared to stainless steel.

It was an interesting and literally mouthwatering precursor to the star of the show .
We were treated with some words of wisdom from the erudite bespectacled Joe Fattorini of ‘The Wine Show’.

 

 

The Chardonnay De Cramant In barrel had toasty notes and a fuller texture .
We then compared two 2015 Pinot Meuniers De Villedmange which exhibited a more subtle difference
Finally the Pinot noir De Bouzy rich fruity and fuller bodied .

 

And then the rewards of patience .
vintage 2008 Veuve cliquot served from bottle and magnum .
Fascinating.

As Joe mentioned if you didn’t know, these could easily have been two completely different wines.
The 750ml 2008 is exuberant.An open flower in mid summer bloom showing off all its joys .

Complex,floral, stone fruits with nuts toast ,sweet pastries and a wonderful honeyed note .

So long on the palate it followed me home . The magnum by contrast is still a baby ,Its delights withheld until a later date .

Dominique and Veuve Cliquot are clearly on the right track .
It’s my birthday later this month. The all important wine choice is no longer a dilemma !