Champagne Pix
Local dessert maven Cheryl Wakerhauser shares her top bubblies for the season.
CHERYL WAKERHAUSER seems the least likely candidate to dole out champagne advice. Born in Wisconsin, Wakerhauser was raised on two food staples: beer and cheddar. It wasn’t until she opened Portland’s Pix Pâtisserie in 2002 that she jumped headfirst into the effervescent and dogmatic world of Champagne—the real deal, from the namesake province in northeastern France. At her twin pâtisseries, on N Williams Avenue and SE Division Street, Wakerhauser stocks a coveted selection of hard-to-find “grower” Champagnes—cultivated and produced by independent wine-makers throughout the region. For her, these microvintages represent the surprising variety and the imperfections that keep wine exciting, rather than the expensive, prosaic vintages of Veuve and Moët. Enjoy a flute of your own from one of Wakerhauser’s top five picks for November, whether you’re toasting your turkey or preparing for the new year.
Diebolt-Vallois Blanc de Blancs Brut NV $38 Hailing from the Côte des Blancs region, this wine has an interesting floral elegance not often seen in other Champagnes. Blanc de Blancs, which is made of 100 percent chardonnay grapes, is pretty and feminine with floral, citrus, and chalk notes. Drink this on a rainy Portland day for a minute of springtime. |
René Geoffroy Rosé de Saignée Brut Premier Cru NV $40 René Geoffroy wines are all about freshness. Jean-Baptiste Geoffroy avoids “malolactic fermentation” (a process wherein the grapes’ tart-tasting malic acid is converted to softer-tasting lactic acid), and you see the result of this in the expressive, clean, refreshing fruit flavors of his wines. This is especially evident in his Rosé de Saignée. It’s a deep-colored, ample-bodied rosé with refreshing flavors of raspberry and red currants. Drink as an aperitif or with a bit of charcuterie. |
2002 Chartogne-Taillet Cuvée Fiacre Brut $72 Chartogne-Taillet is the sole grower-producer left in the sleepy little village of war-tarnished Merfy, near Reims. Production here is a true labor of love. Alexandre Chartogne even riddles his champagne by hand, tapping each bottle individually with a wooden mallet. His Cuvée Fiacre Brut 2002 is 60 percent chardonnay and 40 percent old-vine pinot noir, with generous notes of apple and pear, a silky texture, and a great expression of minerality. Drink it now, or hold out for a few more years. |
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Vouette et Sorbée Fidèle Extra Brut NV $72 Bertrand Gautherot makes his 100 percent certified biodynamic wines in the Aube region of Champagne, further south than most other producers. Running a biodynamic vineyard (a holistic approach to wine-making) means he can manage only three small-batch cuvées at a time. The Fidèle Extra Brut has a nose of light tropical fruit and chalk—it’s dry with great acidity, good structure, and a deliciously long finish. Try this one with oysters. |
2002 Pierre Gimonnet Spécial Club $130 Champagne’s Spécial Club is a selective group of 25 grower-producers who share the common goal of promoting the expression of terroir (the character of the land). The members serve as a jury of their peers, voting for only the best Champagnes to be included. Pierre Gimonnet’s 2002 is a 100 percent chardonnay Champagne from the Côte des Blancs and has a superb structure, offering a body of finesse and elegance that will easily hold for another 10 years. |
Published: November 2011
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