The Real Review’s annual champagne dinner on October 21 was an appropriate warm-up for International Champagne Day on October 24. As F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in The Great Gatsby:

“Too much of anything is bad, but too much champagne is just right.”

Well, with small pours of nine wines, we didn’t overdo it.

The venue was The Charles Brasserie & Bar in central Sydney, where 55 guests enjoyed the sparkling service and splendid fare. We began with a brace of blancs de blancs with the first entrée, then a pair of high-level non-vintage wines with the second entrée, then a pair of older and fuller wines with main course, and finally a diverse trio of special wines with cheeses.

First course

Blue fin tuna with blood orange and pistachio

Wines

• Veuve Fourny & Fils Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut Premier Cru NV
• Ayala Le Blanc de Blancs Vintage 2018

Blanc de blancs is a niche champagne, but increasingly popular. Probably less than 10% of champagne is marketed as blanc de blancs and most of them are pure chardonnay wines. But they are the crispest, raciest and most refreshing wines, especially suited to fish and seafoods served as entrées. And the raw tuna with its citrus dressing and crunchy pistachio garnish was sensational with these two wines, both of which were appetisingly dry, each liqueured to about 5 grams per litre and therefore Extra Brut.

The Fourny was crisp and lemony but also showing some toasty tertiary complexity, and great value at around $80; the Ayala pristine and vibrant with impeccable line and length. The Fourny is a Vertus premier cru, the Ayala a blend of grand and premier crus. Premier crus make up just 17% of champagne vineyards, grand crus 14%, so these were both special wines. An exciting start to the evening.

Second course

Scallop agnolotti with broad beans, preserved lemon and basil

Wines

• De Saint-Gall Le Tradition NV
• Pommery Brut Apanage 1874 NV

This was another wonderful dish, little bundles of pasta bursting with scallop meat and lifted by the citrus and herb in the sauce.

De Saint-Gall is a new brand to our tasting panel with a superb range of wines, this one marvellously fresh and vibrant with chardonnay-driven vitality and depth of honey, butter and pear flavours. A 64/36 chardonnay/pinot noir blend, it comes from a high-level co-operative whose growers only have grand and premier cru vineyards.

Pommery is more familiar brand but the Apanage range is a higher level of quality, age and price than the entry-level Brut Royal NV. It’s a complex blend of wines from 2018, 15 and 12, plus réserve perpetuelle. It’s named 1874 because that’s the year Madame Pommery created the Brut style of champagne. It has terrific depth of citrus blossom and iced pastry flavours and aromas.

Third course

Ocean trout with zucchini, n25 caviar and lobster cream

Wines

• Devaux Cuvée D Aged 5 Years Brut NV
• Jean-Noël Haton Extra Intense Grand Cru Brut NV

When I tasted this dish at the pre-dinner photo shoot it was stunningly good, but at dinner, my serving was over-salted. However, others didn’t have a problem with it.

The wines were both outstanding: the Devaux was a 60/40 pinot noir/chardonnay from pinot country, in the Aube region. As the name suggests it spent five years on lees, and 10% of it was fermented in oak, with 40% reserve wines giving the blend extra depth and complexity. A superb honey/nougat and pastry scented wine.

Haton is a small-ish, family owned business with 40 ha of vines. The wine is all grand cru from some of the most prized sites in the Montagne de Reims and Côte des Blancs, partly oak-fermented and given a minimum 6 years on lees. A really complex, nutty wine with lots of layers and serious concentration.

Fourth course

Australian and European cheeses

Wines

• Collet Brut Rosé NV
• Lallier Blanc de Noirs Brut NV
• Godin & Filles Blanc de Blancs Élevé en Fût 2018

Three contrasting styles to complete the evening: a rosé, a blanc de noirs (made entirely from pinot noir), and a blanc de blancs (entirely chardonnay, but barrel fermented, from a single-vintage and long-aged).

The cheeses—a creamy white-mould, a Comté and a cheddar—all went well with the wines, presenting many different combinations of flavours, all successful in my view.

The Collet Rosé, a blend of grand and premier crus with 20% reserve wines, was much admired in the room for its red-winey ‘pinosity’—a rich wine with vibrancy.

The Lallier, made by the highly experienced Dominique Demarville, is mostly from two famous pinot noir grand crus: Aÿ and Verzenay. 30% reserve wines and 10% made in oak, it’s a complex and sophisticated wine that can handle hearty dishes, such as white meats. Some blancs de noirs can be heavy but this wine is aerial!

The Godin wines are new to Australia, but also new as a brand, launched by three sisters in 2020. Five generations had sold their grapes to the local co-op but the Godin sisters took the next step. We were fortunate that the importer (Vino Cammino) secured half the tiny production of this wine for Australia. It’s 100% chardonnay from a chalky part of the Montagne de Reims (Mont de Berru), fermented and aged in oak for six months, given six years on lees and dosed at just 5 grams per litre. A superb wine and a real ‘spoil’ for the diners: rich buttery, roast hazelnut, toasty flavours of great detail. A fitting climax to a great evening.