Pommery Louise Nature 2004 (75cl)

Pommery Louise Nature 2004 (75cl)

Introduction:

Pommery has launched a zero dosage Champagne with the release of Cuvée Louise 2004.

The packaging is different from the standard offering, and features, in place of Louise's white paper, a transparent label to reflect the fact that it is "naked" according to cellar master Thierry Gasco.

Brut Nature Champagne was the idea of Pommery owner since 2002, Paul-François Vranken, who wanted to pay tribute to the maison's innovative past: back in 1874, Madame Louise Pommery introduced the first commercially successful Brut Champagne, called Pommery Nature.

However, delaying the release of a bone dry Champagne has been Gasco, who has been trying to find a base wine rich enough to be pleasant without any added sugar:

"You must give to Champagne the quantity [of sugar in the dosage] that the Champagne needs - never less, and never more - and if I took our Brut Royal, which has a dosage of 10g/l, and I decreased it, I am sure ... the consumer would say that the Champagne is green".

With the Cuvée Louise 2004, Gasco reveals it was possible to create a sugarless Champagne because the wine was "mature" and it had gained richness from 10 years ageing in bottle on the wine's lees.

Tasting Notes:

On the palate it is straight as an 'I' and remains very tense, leaving the impression of surfing on a razor blade given its great fineness. Its final is very direct and the finish in the mouth leaves a memory of a very subtle wine.

Unique Plots:

The listed and sign-posted Cuvée Louise estates receive regular attention throughout the year. The Avize and Cramant  Chardonnay grape and Ay Pinot Noir grape have particularly high sugar content.

Thierry Gasco's Expertise:

Background Information:

Madame Pommery created the first successfully marketed Brut Champagne 'Pommery Nature 1874' at a time when most Champagnes were excessively sweetened by sugar. This set the benchmark for the rest of Champagne and it is in this spirit that the style of Pommery endures; with each unique cuvée displaying elegance, finesse and true class.