One of the Top 2-3 Producers Who Is Not Yet a Big Deal in the US
NV Persevel Farge Brut Nature 1er Cru “Les Goulats”
– One the Greatest Champagnes I Have Ever Had
– Champagne Geek Collectors Item Heaven
– Grapes: Arbanne, Petit Meslier, Fromenteau
– Fantastically Interesting and Insanely Delicious
– Stunningly Aromas – Very Different
– Lovely Elegant Brioche
– A Hint of an Echo of Lemon Peel
– A Myriad of Suble Notes
– Pistachio, Rhubarb, Sandalwood, Green Apple, Citrus
– Leclapart/Selosse Level Purity
– Palate – Citrus, Pear, Apple
– Terrific Energy
– Rhubarb, Incensey Sandalwood, Smoke, Spice
– Lively Stinging Minerality
– Stunning Structure
– Incredible Juiciness
– That Rich Brioche Goodness
– Savory, Gorgeous Balance
– Finish: Suiper Juicy, So Long
– A Brilliant Example of What It Is
– Fewer Than 150 Cases Made
I will be traveling for the next month starting tomorrow and there will be significant delays in my response time but I will respond when I have time and get to all your emails eventually. If it is urgent you can text me. But Only if it is urgent. Thanks in advance
I don’t want to use the phrase “The Emperor has no clothes” to describe the top wines of Champagne. These are very well made wines. But given their reputations, consumers are paying 75% for the name and 25% for the quality. Think of an Emperor in boxer shorts. Not entirely nude but not wearing the finery that you’d expect.
I’ve recently been tasting a lot of highly rated cult Champagnes that have huge scores from critics and the secondary market prices to match. Most times when I do this I am hugely disappointed. And this recent time was revelatory. I had several “Emperors” back to back last year.
- 2017 Ulysse Collin ‘Les Pierrieres Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut “48 months.” – 97 William Kelley from the Wine Advocate ($400-$800) a bottle.
- 2018 Jerome Prevost La Closerie Fac-Simile Extra Brut Rose ($745-$1,000 a bottle) – 96 William Kelley
I gave the Ulysee Colin a 9.5. It was good but the bubbles were not as fine as today’s wine and it didn’t impress me with its texture or depth.
I gave the Prevost a 9.7 It has a fine mousse, super vivid cherry flavors has nice depth. It was very impressive but even though it goes for $745-$1,000, I prefer today’s wine.
These are both excellent wines.
And perfectly good values …
…at $350-$800 a bottle.
Today’s wine is better than both of the above. And it’s 50% + of the price.
My Comparison with 2 Cult Champagnes
One thing I love doing is tasting highly rated cult Champagnes that have huge scores from critics and the secondary market prices to match. Most times when I do this I am hugely disappointed as The Emperor usually has no clothes. And this recent time was revelatory. I had back to back last week the
- 2017 Ulysse Collin ‘Les Pierrieres Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut “48 months.” – 97 William Kelley from the Wine Advocate ($400-$800) a bottle.
- 2018 Jerome Prevost La Closerie Fac-Simile Extra Brut Rose ($745-$1,000 a bottle) – 96 Wiliam Kelley, W
I gave the Ulysee Colin a 9.5. It was good but the bubbles were not as fine as today’s wine and it didn’t impress me with its texture or depth. Today’s wine while being $300+ cheaper is so far ahead of this wine it’s not funny.
I gave the Prevost a 9.7 and it was very impressive but for $745-$1,000 it is not impressive at all. It has a fine mousse, super vivid cherry flavors has nice depth
The Wine
For people who just want to see the price of today’s and skip the time the wine is the NV Persevel Farge Brut Nature Chamery 1er Cru “Les Goulats” for $105.99 each on a 3-Pack. But please, indulge me. This wine is an ode to Champagne’s very distant past. We are all familiar with the three main grapes in Champagne of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. But did you know there are scant hectares of some grapes that are out of fashion now but used to be big components of Champagne blends many years ago. Way before Champagne was popular and what it is today. Today’s wine is a blend of 67% Arbanne, Petit Meslier and Fromenteau with the rest being Chardonnay. The wine is one the greatest Champagnes I have ever had and brings me back to fond memories of a similar Aubry bottling they made many years ago for a special anniversary the winery was celebrating and also the brilliant “Lea Jardins etc” from Benoit Lahaye that uses all 7 designated Champagne varietals. I just had a bottle of the 2010 in March of 2018 of the Lahaye around a week before I visited Isabelle at Perseval Farge and was blown away by it and was super exited to learn about the new Cuvée at Perseval-Farge. I’ve had both and I think the Perseval Farge is better. And today’s is even better than the ones I have offered in the past.
Obscure Grape #1: Arbanne
Arbanne is a white grape variety that was historically planted in the Aube. That’s around 2 hours south of Champagne proper. There is less than one hectare planted in all of France. It doesn’t get rarer than this grape. It is famously low yielding with an average yield of 15 hl/ha. It produces tiny grapes. Arbanne also has intense forceful acid in the best sense of the word.
Obscure Grape #2: Petit Meslier
Petit Meslier, which is a close relative of Chardonnay (it’s a cross between Gouais Blanc which is the mother of Chardonnay and Savagnin), is decidedly lean and green (think Sauvignon Blanc) and also happens to have huge acidity. Petit Meslier works very well in warm vintages but can be overwhelming in cooler vintages. There are around 20-30 hectares planted in a France.
Obscure Grape #3: Fromenteau
This is the oddest of them all. Fromenteau is a name used for several grape varieties. Most likely it is a medieval ancestor of pinot gris. Alas, I left my pocket DNA analyzer in New York so I don’t know for sure.
And Now, The Wine
Now, how does the wine taste? It is as compelling a bottle of Champagne that has ever passed through Fass Selections. This is a fantastically interesting and insanely delicious wine of unlimited complexity and I didn’t really know which grape was contributing to what until further research enlightened me.
The aromas are just stunning. Pistachio, green apple, citrus, rhubarb, sandalwood and so much more as it opens. It is ultra, ultra pure, like Leclapart/Selosse level. You also have super compelling yeasty Chardonnay minerality. It’s so good. I wrote down rare aromas. Best way to describe them. Nose is so high pitched and sappy with wonderful freshness, lime zest, vanilla extract and spices. Really unique with mega citrus and you can actually smell the acid. It also echoes hickory and iodine and has an airy quality that calls back the ocean. But it is oh so compelling. You’ve never smelled anything like this and as soon as you do you’re like, “where have you been all my life baby?”
The palate is an enormous mouthful of fruit, mineral and savory that is so refined and balanced. The mousse is just ultra refined and adds such a sexy quality to the mouthfeel. This is as refined a Champagne as we sell but not sacrifice the wild quality of the ancestral grapes. As many Perseval Farge fans know, the refinement of the top cuvees, “Jean-Baptiste” and “La Pucelle” is unmatched but the “Les Goulats” manages to up the ante. And it’s made from freaky grapes. There is an initial attack of citrus, pear, apple, rhubarb, incensey sandalwood, smoke, spice and more. It is so wonderfully flavorful and unique. Like having uni for the first time and falling in love with it. It is so seamless and pure with such a fine mousse and an amazing finish. It’s got amazing density and concentration without being overblown. There is an elegant richness and it is so clean. It’s also so juicy yet so serious with major acidic spine. The structure on this wine is incredible. It’s statuesque. Poised.
The finish is so pure, juicy and long it just pulls you in for another sip. I mean insanely long and has a rollercoaster feel as it finishes and begins a few timed before it really finishes. The level of purity is a step above Jean-Baptitse and La Pucelle and that’s splitting hairs but this is a level above. I had a bottle with my family 6 weeks ago and everyone was speechless… we talk a lot. There is such freshness and purity juxtaposed with some of the most fascinating flavors ever in a sparkling wine from Champagne. This is utterly compelling in every way.
There is very little of this wine I most likely will be the only one to sell this. Maybe fewer than 150 cases and she already has a massive following in France.
Perseval Farge – the Next Generation – the Brisset of Champagne
What a visit I had with Perseval Farge. These wines are the Brisset of the Champagne portfolio. I like to call the top 4 wines there (yes there is a 4th now!) the 4 champagnes of the apocalypse because if the apocalypse is going to happen I am drinking these 4 wines. But in a lesser non apocalyptic situation these Champagnes can go toe to toe with any elite Champagne out there. I had 2010 Cedric Bouchard Roses de Jeanne “Coteaux de Bechalin,” 2013 Marie Noelle Ledru Cuvee le Goulte and Jacques Selosse Brut Initial and the top cuvées from Perseval Farge can go toe to toe with those wines and in my mind are equal to them, for obviously the killer Fass Selections pricing.
At Perseval Farge now, the son Henri is in charge and the wines are better than ever. They are the closest wines I’ve had in Champagne to Brisset. They blew me away. I was speechless. For me the key to elite Champagne is to have the finest mousse (bubbles) one can achieve. So many Champagnes fall short of getting that elite mousse and they come across as broad and clumsy. The 2010 Cedric Bouchard I referenced earlier had that issue. There is a seamlessness that the elite mousse creates where you have the uniqueness of the bubbles but they are not so invasive that it creates a harsh sensation on the palate. The harmony and mouthfeel one gets when the bubbles are small, silky and fine is one of the greatest feelings your mouth will ever experience. It feels elite and classy. Combine that with a sense of place, exquisite fruit and fine minerality and you have the recipe for elite bubbles. I tasted and drank a lot of Champagne on this recent trip to France and there are so few Champagnes that get to this level. It’s like Burgundy in this way in that there are so few wines that have that “thing” that makes one chase Burgundy. I feel I learned more about Champagne on this trip than I have on all my trips combined.
What makes the Perseval Farge wines, in particular the Four Horseman bottlings, comparable to Brisset? Brisset exudes class. In every bottle from the Bourgogne (red and white) to the Echezeaux there is a seamlessness and classiness that comes from elite elegance, restraint and a silken texture that is to die for. These Perseval Farge wines are the same. It was striking how similar they were to the top Brisset bottlings.
Please call Cheryl at 949 378 5251 after emailing with your firstorder 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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