Taittinger Dinner @ The Albany Club. March 31

Canadian agents Pacific Wines organized a terrific champagne dinner hosted by Taittinger's charming export director Ambroise Bobtcheff.

Originally from Alsace, which he pronouces with a "z", Ambroise travels the world promoting Taittinger's champagnes. He visited Montreal last week, Toronto on Monday and Tuesday, and has continued on to Calgary and Vancouver.

Ambroise provided background information on Taittinger, as well as a summary of each of the wines. He asked me about tasting notes devoted to champagne and why there weren't more of them. My theory, which I cemented after my Champagne visit in October, is that the trouble is it's pretty much all good: the Champagne AOC is so rigorous that very few poor or so-so quality champagnes make it to market. Thus buyers don't really need that much guidance. In France and England it's possible to find supermarket and retailer branded blends of champagnes at prices under $20, and some of these can be less than stellar. But here in Canada, with our relatively low consumption levels, we tend to get the higher quality product.

Taittinger is of course one of the Grandes Marques of Champagne, so it's no surprise that the wines were excellent. Read about my visit there. For these tasting notes, I include the food pairings too, all of which worked very well. All champagnes are by Taittinger. The Brut Reserve is currently available at Vintages, contact Jason at Pacific Wines in Toronto for information about availability of the others.

Blanc de Blancs, Comtes De Champagne 1998 ($160)
Served at the reception
Very pale, delicate on the nose. Beautifully smooth and youthful on the palate. Acidity is good, there's some honey and brioche as well as some vanilla. The only sign of "vintage" seemed to be a bit of nuttiness and a hint of wet leaves. Great lingering finish with more honey and brioche and other notes giving complexity. Smooth and elegant, this will last for years to come. 95 points

Brut Réserve ($59)
Camembert Cappuccino with Hazelnut and Grapes
My general rule is "serve your best first", but after only one glass of the amazing Comtes, this "house" blend seemed a bit of a shock. However my palate recalibrated quickly enough and the food pairing was superb. Bigger, more aggressive bubbles in this one and great acidity. The acidity and fairly bold fruit, including some citrus, matched well with the creamy and delicious soup (which contained no coffee that I could taste...). This is a lively champagne with a good finish. 89/90 points.

Prelude Brut ($82.95)
Warm Pan Seared Jumbo Digby Scallops with Ontario Speck Bacon & Chervil Butter Sauce
The grapes are all from the “100%” (Grand Cru) vineyards so even though it's non-vintage, the higher quality shines through. Very fresh and light nose with some interesting secondary notes. Very bubbly on the palate, which has a fresh and elegant feel and lots of fruit.  Flavours of butter and brioche are also present and the finish is great. 94 points. This is Ambroise's favourite.

Brut Millesime 2002 ($73)
Baked Choice Veal Tenderloin with Herb Crust, Pinot Noir & Porcini Cream 
Fairly delicate nose with a little bit of fruitiness. Smooth and elegant on the palate, it worked beautifully with the herb crust - though I wondered if it might seem fruitier on its own. Nice and full on the palate, good bubbles, nice finish with some nice citrus. 90 points.

Prestige Rosé ($72.95)
Flourless Bitter Valrhona Chocolate Cake with Stewed Morello Cherries
Ambroise told us they cannot supply enough of this to meet demand because of the rosé boom. This one has a fairly bold reddish-pink colour and a very good nose with red fruit. It's a real mouth-filler too, with good bubbles and lots of rich red fruit, including cherries and berries. It worked superbly with the chocolate, becoming even richer and fruitier against the dark chocolate, and with a great finish. I tend to prefer paler and more delicate rosés, but this is a knockout. Ambroise said that this rosé doesn't rely on "skin contact" for the colour, but includes a small amount of pinot noir wine. 92 points.