Blending base wines

October 21, 2021 champagnion Blog Posts 0

Mixing blends

An oenological experience

Recently, we were lucky enough to be invited by Mme Ployez, owner of Champagne Ployez-Jacquemart in Ludes, to spend a morning at their champagne house blending base wines.

Our goal was to blend our favourite Ployez-Jacquemart cuvée called, Passion out of 20 available base wines. When we walked into the tasting room, the range of bottles in front of us looked quite intimidating, however, Mme Ployez told us that when they did the real blending (assemblage), the team of experts usually have over 40 base wines to choose from.

The blend

Before we began blending, Mme Ployez wrote out for us the rules for blending the cuvée Passion:

  1. The blend must contain the 3 classic champagne grapes;
  2. The grape ratio must be: 40% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir, and 20% Pinot Meunier;
  3. 25% of the blend must come from reserve wines from a single vintage;
  4. 25% of the blend must come from wine matured in oak barrels.

The grapes

Champagne Ployez-Jacquemart own 3-hectares of vineyards (that’s 30,000m2), made up of both Grand Cru vineyards e.g., Mailly, and Premier Cru vineyards e.g., Ludes. In addition, they have taken decades to develop a network of growers across the champagne region from whom they buy grapes who have full control over their own harvests and responsibility for controlling the sugar and acidity of their grapes.

House blending team

When Ployez- Jacquemart begin the blending process each year, the makeup of the house blending team is:

  1. Owner (Mme Ployez);
  2. Cellarmaster – who has worked at the champagne house for 33-years;
  3. Financial partner.

Mme  Ployez told us that although she knows from experience what she wants to achieve, the harvest controls all the decisions. So, if for example, in one year the Chardonnay is not up to standard, Ployez-Jacquemart will not make Blanc de Blanc that year.

She also told us that she must respect the wishes and expectations of her main distributors some of whom have been with the champagne house for over 40-years.

The base wines

When tasting the base wines, we were told just to note down brief comments on the:

  1. Colour;
  2. Nose;
  3. Palette.

When looking at the colour of the base wines it was obvious that the 2020 vintages were ‘pinker’ than the 2018 or 2019 base wines. Mme  Ployez told us that a pink tint in a base wine was often a sign of heat stress. In August 2020 we had been in Ludes for the grape harvest, the summer had been extremely hot and resulted in one of the earliest harvests in decades.

Base wines

Tasting notes

All my tasting notes of the base wines can be viewed on Vivino, search PEOPLE: Champagnion

What did we learn?

  1. Your palette is most receptive in the morning;
  2. Do not ever drink coffee before tasting wines, it kills your palette;
  3. Don’t automatically pick all the most prestigious looking base wines;
  4. Blending takes patience;
  5. Listen to what your senses tell you;
  6. Listen to others;
  7. It takes experience to get the best results.

Probably the most important thing we learnt was that we had to select a blend that would age well.

My overall blended wine was very similar to Mme Ployez’s, except for one key point. I selected a single, superb 2019 Premiere Cru Bisseuil Chardonnay from 65-year-old vines for my 40% of Chardonnay; Mme Ployez selected a blend of Chardonnays, comprising of: 15% 2020 Puisieulx Grand Cru, 5% 2020 Grauve Premier Cru, and 20% 2019 Premiere Cru Bisseuil.

In summary

The Extra Brut Passion is aged for 6 years in the cellar at Ployez-Jacquemart. However, my bended version of cuvée Passion tasted as though it could be ready to drink with the minimum permitted time in the cellar i.e.,1 year. Mme Ployez’s blend contained 2 youthful Chardonnays resulting in pronounced acidity compared to my blend. This acidity is necessary to help in the development over time of the classic bouquet and taste of Passion.

She told us that when blending base wines, you need the experience to think ahead; what will the champagne blend made today, taste like in, e.g., 3, 6, or 12 years? Without the acidity and brightness of the mix of Chardonnay grapes present in Mme Ployez’s blend, my own version of cuvée Passion would not have achieved the 6 years in the cellar required by Ployez-Jacquemart.

If you have the chance to join a blending course in a champagne house, you should take the opportunity. By blending base wines, you will develop a far deeper appreciation of what it takes to make a bottle of champagne.