Description
From: Moussy, Champagne, France
Blend: 50% Chardonnay, 50% Pinot Meunier
Taste: This superb Special Club represents a seamless melding between two contrasting varietals—elegant aromatic complexity with splendid finesse. You’ll find floral hints (rose), hazelnut, and grilled almond in concert with crushed oyster shells, citrus notes like pomelo and orange rind (that blooms into an orange blossom note with some air ), starfruit and breadfruit (‘Ulu) aromas. Next, citrus leads with zesty lemon and candied green apple flavors on the palate. These relax into a deliciously generous and lush mouthfeel (while retaining excellent acidity and not at all blousy or heavy), featuring baked yellow fruit over brioche toast vibes that linger in a perfectly balanced finish.
Pairing: This lovely and generous Special Club is an extremely versatile pairing partner because it combines generous fruit and acidity in a balanced manner. Some classic pairings include roasted chicken with white wine gravy over fingerling potatoes and caramelized shallots, truffle popcorn, fried chicken, salmon prepared roasted, smoked, as sushi, or grilled, and any mushroom-centric dish. Some easy-to-prepare, slightly off-the-beaten-path dishes that are also a great fit with this champagne are grilled cheese with apples and apple butter, roasted butternut squash, cacio e pepe, cheese pizzas with white sauce or olive oil bases, five-ingredient creamy miso pasta (check out the recipe below, and we prefer using white miso as opposed to the red for this pairing), jambon et beurre baguettes, vegetable tempura, and fried or grilled shrimp.
Five-Ingredient Creamy Miso Pasta
By Alexa Weibel
The house, in a nutshell. José Michel made his first vintage in 1955, and thanks in part to his cellar of very old bottles of Pinot Meunier, he developed a cult following for his Champagnes. José passed away in 2019, and this “Maison de Tradition,” which began in 1847, is now, seven generations later, run by José and Nicole’s grandson, Antonin. Antonin is brilliantly refining the work that José accomplished over six decades and developing his own ideas. As he says, “José and I agreed on practically everything.”
The Champagne house is in Moussy, a small village south of Epernay. The 7 hectares of vineyards are spread throughout several villages in the Cotes D’Epernay and the Vallée de la Marne. The vineyard sights with a richer clay soil are planted to Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. The slopes which have a calcareous soil are planted to Chardonnay. José Michel was the first in his family to plant Chardonnay, which he did in 1958.
Fermentations are carried out in old oak casks or enameled steel vats, and the wines go through malolactic fermentation. José Michel is certified “Level 3” the top level of certification in Haute Valeur Environmentale. The Michels are a founding member of the“Tresors de Champagne,” known as the “Special Club.”
Are you curious about Pinot Meunier? Check out this awesomely detailed article by Peter Liem about the grape varietal José Michel became known for.
Peter Liem’s latest article on Champagne features Pinot Meunier and Jose Michel
Meunier Specialists
2014 Champagne Vintage Report
By Peter Liem, champagneguide.net
This wine. Jose Michel Special Club remains the best buy for Special Club Champagne. In its humble, low-key demeanor, Jose Michel’s Special Club, as Champagne guru Richard Juhlin notes, is alongside Krug, one of the most iconic wines featuring Pinot Meunier. They are now, of course, joined by Jerome Prevost, Hugues Godme, and Egly Ouriet, among others, on the Montagne de Reims. In Jose Michel’s cellars, however, you can see greatness with this grape going back to the 1950s, if not even further, as masters of Pinot Meunier and one of the few Special Clubs to feature this grape so prominently.
This Champagne features the Domaine’s oldest vines and is a 50/50 blend of Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay, with the PM vines up to a century old and the Chardonnay in the 60-year range. A Champagne of density and depth, though it always shows a surprising amount of refinement and elegance, traits that catch us off guard each year and is very refined in its youth but builds depth and complexity with time in the bottle. 2014 is fantastic, and we have enjoyed a few bottles since its release.