The Great Rebirth of an Estate: from Father to Son
– Yields were cut
– Dosage was lowered tremendously
– Single plot Champagnes were bottled
– They age the wines on the lees for much longer (18 months for the regular cuvees)
– They made a (brilliant) Pinot Blan
– Intransigeance Was Vinous / Neal Martin’s Top Sparkling Wine of the Year
– Most of the wines are now allocated
An Important Note on Allocations
– All of the Single Vineyard Wines Are Allocated
– The Single Vineyard Wines Are Elite Champagnes
– And Significantly Underpriced
– My Single Vineyard Allocations Are Determined by Selling the Entry Level Bottlings
– Your Single Vineyard Allocations Will Be Determined by Selling the Entry Level Bottlings
NV Marie Demets Blanc de Blancs “Harmonie.”
– A Stunning Blanc de Blancs Value
– Bready and Yeasty Nose
– So Clear and Airy
– Tons of Salinity
– Clear Mineral Expression is Just so Wonderful
– Green Apple Skins, Pear Skins
– Crisp Orchard Fruit
– Lemon Cake, Mandarin Oil, Lemon Zest
– Tart Stone Fruit
– Palate: Juicy, Lean and So Incisive
– Clean and Mouthwatering
– Stunning Mineral Sweetness
– Amazing Tension and Purity
– I Gave This a 9.4 – Almost a 9.5
– Incredibly Well Made for Under $40 .. It Will Cost More Eventually
The Look of Recognition
As most of you know, I am fortunate to have Sven Enderle as my driver on my trip to France. He is one of the kindest people I have ever met. The 16 hour days on these trips can be a tad stressful. Sven keeps me on an even keel.
We were having dinner one night in Beaune after a long day and I saw a bottle of 2010 Roses de Jeanne Blanc de Noirs “Cote de Bechalin” on the menu for a reasonable price (no 3 tier system in France) so I ordered it and it was fantastic.
Flash forward a week and we are tasting at the New Marie Demets. The wines are shockingly great. And I’m looking at Sven … and Sven is looking at me and I know what he’s thinking and he knows what I’m thinking.
Are these wines better than the Cedric Bouchard we shared the other week?
And the answer is yes.
The Great Rebirth
As most of you know, Marie Demets Intransigeance was Vinous’ (Neal Martin) sparkling wine of the year in 2022. Well – there’s a reason.
Usually when a winery makes a significant improvement from one year to the next we call it The Leap. Stefan Steinmetz from 2018 to 2019. Francois Buffet from 2018 to 2019 and Laurent Boussey from 2018 to 2019.
But what if a winery makes such a change that The Leap is not adequate to describe the changes at the winery? It’s not a leap. It’s a rebirth.
Well that day is here and the winery is in fact a Fass Selections old favorite, Champagne Marie Demets. It feels more like this is a new and completely different winery. I’ve never had this happen in my career. It’s an overhaul change in philosophy. I was more blown away at this visit than at any other visit on my entire visit to France and maybe
ever. Nothing could prepare me for what I was to experience at Champagne Marie Demets. But first a bit of history.
When we first started with Marie Demets, who has been with us since we opened up, the wines were Champagnes that were “vins de plaisir.” Delicious wines that were not that complex, had wonderful fruit and balance and provided many clients with wonderful and affordable Champagne. They were great when one had a hard day at work and needed a glass of bubbles that could give one unbridled joy. They have been ordered for customer weddings, parties and all sorts of occasions like that. For what they were, they were wonderful Champagnes at the best pricing one can imagine and provided great joy to many many customers for over a decade.
Those days are now over.
History Part 1: The Father
Previously, the father of Pierre Demets, the winemaker, did things his own way and his philosophy was behind the very well made old style Marie Demets Champagnes. He blended from all the vats and never separated any particular parcels. What he was doing worked and there was no reason to change it. It worked and what wasn’t broke doesn’t need to be fixed. He sold the wine out every year. He made a lot of wine drinkers very happy. He raised a very lovely family. These are the accomplishments that matter over the course of a lifetime.
History Part 2: The Son
Pierre Demets when I met him I could tell was somewhat frustrated with the sameness of the wines. This was a man who asked questions and wanted to improve quality but there was the interia of the success of the old style. In 2017 they hired a consulting oenologist and the changes started to happen at a rapid pace.
– Yields were cut
– dosage was lowered tremendously
– single plot Champagnes were bottled
– newer, modern labels were created
– they age the wines on the lees for much longer (18 months for the regular cuvees)
– they made a (brilliant Pinot Blanc)
– most of the wines are now allocated
We Are Ahead of the Recnognition Curve and Prices Reflect the Previous Regime
The Marie Demets glow up has now happened and the only thing that remains from those salad days is they remain incredibly affordable. Not just affordable but I would argue, the among the greatest values in all of Champange.
The Wine
Today, we have the new iteration of the Blanc de Blancs for $39.99 Net. It’s called the NV Marie Demets Blanc de Blancs “Harmonie.” The older version before the rebirth was very good but the dosage was a bit high and it was too creamy for my palate. But the new one has around 1.5 grams and is extra brut and is a stunning Blanc de Blancs value if I have ever seen one.
This 100% 2021 and has 1.5 grams of dosage. Bready and yeasty nose that is so elegant and so woodsy. It’s also so clear and airy with tons of salinity and wood shavings. Wow the clear mineral expression is just so wonderful. So saline and airy with glorious potpourri and spice. Tons fresh and toasty bread and maybe some green apple skins. Some pear skins. After air it just explodes with crisp orchard fruit, lemon cake, mandarin oil, lemon zest, tart stone fruit, pastry cream and nutmeg all on a the deepest bed of minerals one can imagine. The level of detail and refinement at this level has to be smelled to be believed. 9.6 nose.
Palate is juicy, lean and so incisive. So clean and mouthwatering and mega juicy. Amazing tension and purity. This is stunning. Inner mouth aromas are just incredible as is the concentration. This deep and concentrated, with racy acids and a long, penetratingly saline/iodine finish. This is fresh, so nimble, so elegant and and deep. Saline and so yummy. Long, elegant and mineral. Amazing. The fruit which is there needs a day to reallly become expressive. What palate presence, and the palate develops a mineral sweetness that is stunning. Wow. This is sick. The palate presence of great BDB cannot be denied. A masterpiece. This has 10-12 years of age ahead of it. There is top flight finesse and elegance and purity you would need to pay $75+ for in the 3-tier system. Almost a 9.5.
Please call Cheryl at 949 378 5251 after emailing with your first order if you are a first time customer (we prefer not to receive credit card numbers over E-Mail).
OFFICE HOURS 4-7 PM
I love drinking and selecting wines – but my passion for teaching people about wine is almost as big. I’m happy to announce a block of time each day where people can call me just to chat about wine in general. These blocks are NOT intended to sell wine (I do that all day). This is to talk to me about wine pairings or great producers or how long to age wines or styles of wine making or the latest wine controversy. My goal is to help people learn more about wine and enjoy it more. Call me at 917-912-4355 from 4-7EST Monday – Friday.
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A Word about Fass Selections and Social Media
I am big into certain social media and I want people to take pictures of the wines they have received or will receive and tag me in them and share their thoughts. I a am on Instagram. Please tag me there. I also am on Delectable which I love a lot. It is Iphone/Ipad only, but it’s like Instagram meets Facebook for wine. Tag me there and find me there as well. I want to know if you liked the wine, were not moved by the wine, hated the wine or the wine gave you a religious experience. I want to know it all. Feedback is key and I will answer all feedback e-mails as quickly as I can.
For all billing and invoicing inquiries please contact Nick at accounts@fassselections.com or 646-498-6078