People in the Champagne business love to tell me that Champagne is the most versatile of drinks, able to be paired with almost any foods and one of those wines that’s able to be drunk at any time of the day from breakfast to bed time. So, given the opportunity to pair these wines up with locally prepared Michelin-starred Chinese food at Yu Lei, we jumped at the opportunity to meet Francois Moutard himself and see how well his diverse range of Champagnes matched up to the food.
The Moutard family has been established in
Champagne since 1642 and are located in the southern Champagne village of Buxeuil
in the Cote des Bars. They are a small production winery that takes the time and
effort to pre-age their champagne prior to release for a minimum of three years
in bottle.
The flagship of the house is the Pinot Noir
Brut Grande Cuvee but they make a range of vintage and non-vintage wines that
includes Blanc de Blancs Chardonnay and Arbane along with Rosé champagne and a
special Champagne made of a blend of six grapes called Six Cepages (which is
absolutely outstanding) – the six grapes being Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier,
Chardonnay, Arbane, Pinot Meslier and Pinot Blanc.
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| Mr. Francois Moutard |
We kicked off the dinner with the Moutard Pere
et Fils Grand Cuvee Brut NV which was a nice, simple Champagne that makes for a
great aperitif wine as it’s not overly complex and is a nice, refreshing palate
cleanser prior to a meal. Sitting down with high expectations of the food and
wine pairing we started off with the ‘Chef’s Signature Appetizer Platter’ which
was a real whirlwind of flavours (many of which I had no idea what they were)
but the most interesting pairing of the course was the Fish Roe with the Moutard
Pere et Fils Champ Persin Bland de Blanc NV.
The Champ Persin Blanc de Blancs NV was a phenomenal
wine complimented more so by the beautiful presentation of the food for the
first course. The wine is exciting and delicious and reminded me of adrenaline
rush you get from your first kiss behind the bike sheds at school – a mixture
of unbridled fear and untamed anticipation. It’s a super exciting and very good
value for money Champagne and easily one that could become anyone’s staple
house Champagne.
Moving on to the second course we were treated
to prawns cooked two ways – Wok-fried Prawns in Pea Sauce and Deep-fried Prawns
with XO Sauce. Personally, I thought the pairing of the Wok-fried Prawns and
the Moutard Pere et Fils Blanc de Blancs Brut 2002 did not work but the XO
sauce prawns, with that little spicy kick from the XO sauce worked perfectly
with the toasty aged nature of the Blanc de Blancs vintage 2002. This little
bit of spice really brought the Champagne to life and I thought this was a
really well thought out pairing.
The ‘Six Cepages’ (as mentioned earlier) is a
blend of the six permitted grapes allowing in the crafting of Champagne and was
as decadent as the Crispy Pork Belly that it was paired with. The pork was
perfectly cooked and a superb pairing to the wine which was a beautiful thing
indeed. It showed a whole kaleidoscope of flavours with an incredible middle
and back palate that made it, well, addictive and leaves you wanting more and
more. Certainly one of the best Champagnes I have tasted this year and one of
the best I have tried in life thus far!
So, as the title suggests….why MILF? Well, as
most of you know I am not one for tasting notes, I just write what comes to my
head when the olfactory system kicks in. I think that’s fairer than trying to
disseminate what fruit or what other (in most cases) non-wine related
descriptors the wine may cause your brain to evoke. Thus, moving on to the
Moutard Pere et Fils Cepage Arbane Vielles Vignes Blanc de Blancs 2007 which was
paired with Wok-fried Hokkaido Scallop and Mountain Vegetables – a pairing
which I thought was not perfect although the Champagne was again, excellent. My
first thought when this wine hit my palate was “Stifler’s mom”, the hot MILF
from cult comedy American Pie. Why? I really don’t know it’s just that the wine
seems voluptuous, regal and refined while being unique at the same time. The
vision that sprung to mind was thus “Stifler’s mom” and thus my tasting notes
are so. The pairing got my imagination running and it was more like a pairing
of “Stifer’s mom” and the “Shemanator”….the MILF is certainly in charge and
most definitely the dominant force in the pairing.
This description somewhat confused Mr. Moutard
as it’s really one for the younger generations but I intrigued him by
describing his “Six Cepages” as; “Like 1960’s model and actress Jane Fonda -
buxom, fantastically attractive – as she exits the spaceship at the start of
the movie Barbarella. Simply breathtaking”.
The main course was Baked Duck Breast in
Japanese Orange Sauce that was paired with the most eagerly awaited Champagne
of the night – the Moutard Pere et Fils Brut Blanc de Blanc 1990. The wine
showed a beautiful Aztec bronze colour that was dark and mysterious but it’s
slightly oxidized notes combined with the brioche / toasty flavours made it an
incredible wine to drink. Not necessarily needing food it was a decent pairing
with the duck (which I though a little over-cooked), but to witness the aging
potential of Moutard wines is very educational and it was a real pleasure to
drink something that has had 23 years worth of aging.
Dessert was served with the Moutard Pere et
Fils Rosé de Cuvaison Brut NV, a deep dark Rosé that had a subtle nose of
almost toffee or caramel. It’s a manly Rosé having spend 4 days on the lees
(hence the deep colour and strong aromas) and I would have easily mistaken the
flavours of it for being a Spanish Grenache. It was a nice way to end the meal,
although the pairing of Coconut Pudding with Strawberry Coulis did not work for
me. The Rosé Champagne would have made an excellent aperitif also.
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| The Moutard Family with exclusive import team, One Red Dot |
Overall, it was a fantastic experience to meet
and dine with one of the pioneers of traditional Champagne making from a small,
fairly unknown village in Southern Champagne. If you were to ask me of the best
wines of the night it would have to be the Champ Persin NV Blanc de Blancs, the
“Six Cepages” and the Cepage Arbane Vielles Vignes 2007. All Moutard Champagnes
are available from One Red Dot Fine Wines in Hong Kong and they can be
contacted by email on sales@onereddot.com
or you can check out the wines on their website www.onereddot.com
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