Monsigny Premier Cru Champagne– ONLY $29.99 at ALDI!
“A delightfully fresh champagne of lingering lemon zest purity with lush white peach, brioche and honey notes. The palate is energetic and focused with a tight acid line and power. Citrus, honey and light toast characters fill the month and there is a wonderful mouth-filling presence. A wine of great class and style and a true bargain at a mere $29.99.”
Excellent value for money if not literally the Best Value Champagne on the Sydney market,…which would make many Fine Wine Importers “creak in their boots!”
This review contains content from one of my previously published Reviewson the Sydney Times Wine Guide dating back to 2017,..as the authors “exuberant endorsement” of this excellent Champagne,..adn it hasn’t changed or been withdrawn.,.Plus ca change!
It was a couple of years ago that I first heard about this wine from my “Insider wine connections” at the French Trade Commission),..and I was well aware of ALDI’S reputation for making a big impact on the UK market,… where they are reputed to have 10 % of the Champagne market,..simply by offering “low margin, virtually cost price champagne”.This has caused a lot of consternation in the Wine Trade in Europe,..where the big Champagne Houses maintain high margins and practically 30 % of the price of a bottle of branded champagne goes on their spectacular, lavish and expensive marketing and brand building!
I elected to treat this champagne as wine,.. and used a RIEDEL TASTING GLASS rather than a narrow flute,…which in my opinion is not the best way to show off champagne as it restricts OR LIMITS THE EXPOSURE to the wine and reduces the olfactory experience. It also stops you swirling the wine,.. and a flute projects the wine onto the palate at a different angle,….all very limiting.
So that is my first recommendation,…throw out the champagne flutes unless you actually have a wide-rimmed Riedel Champagne flute .,..but even then I would prefer to swirl my champagne around,…even with ice cubes in it,.. to “tease and excite the bead and the yeasty and fruit aromas ” like a vinous cocktail!!
Little wonder that Moet & Chandon Ice Imperial style in the white bottle,.., created the “Intense, fruity and fresh style”,…which was “the first and only refreshing champagne especially created to be enjoyed over ice.” ,..designed to offer a champagne experience “combining free, fresh and fun sensations while remaining true to the Moët & Chandon style!”
,….Over the Festive season and on New Year Eve,..for many people,..they are not drinking serious stuff like KRUG or Bollinger Grande Annee,…and the champagne is more of a “social lubricant rather than a serious wine requiring analysis of the flavor profile!
My first impression of this wine was that it is quite a Classy champagne with the requisite style and finesse. It is a blend of 60% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay, and 20% Pinot Meunier and definitely is replete with a certain charm and elegance.
“It has all the yeasty,..biscuity or brioche characteristics (both on the nose and the palate) that the consumer associates with quality,…together with excellent balance and intensity and I was completely satisfied in this regard.”
I am convinced that it iff you put it in a Blind Tasting amongst the big commercial brands like Veuve Cliquot, Moet&Chandon or Piper Heidsieck,..it would acquit itself very well…..especially considering it is only half the price!
So, in summary, I would say,..to use the local vernacular’,… it is a “Cracker of a French Bubbly” for this price!
Incidentally,.. the wine has won quite a few awards and recognition from other wine judges or journos,.including an award at the Sydney International Wine Challenge 2014 – and was commended at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2014
So stock up your Fridges and share this delicious stuff with friends over the Festive Season and New Year !
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