Moet Grand Vintage 2004

champagne

Moet Grand Vintage 2004

Liked this. Moet make a lot of Champagne, and when you review the wines from a big producer, there are two dangers. The first is to be prejudiced against them because they are big. The second is to be too soft on them: you would like the big players to be doing good work because it’s good for wine when big brands are tasty and reliable. I’m trying to be objective here, and this is an excellent fizz that’s very tasty indeed. And it has a low dosage – at 5 g/litre, that’s just a little over half the norm for Brut styles. Look out for this when it is discounted. Last year the 2002, also excellent, was available for a lot less than the RRP.

Champagne Moet et Chandon Grand Vintage 2004
The 70th vintage of this wine. Roughly a third each of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Disgorged in 2012. Very fine, crisp and precise, yet full flavoured with notes of toast, peach, citrus fruit and almonds. Ripeness evident, but also precision and finesse. Relatively low dosage but it’s still very fruity and not at all austere. I’m impressed. 93/100 (£41.99 Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsbury’s)

5 Comments on Moet Grand Vintage 2004Tagged
wine journalist and flavour obsessive

5 thoughts on “Moet Grand Vintage 2004

  1. I know what you mean about trying to avoid prejudice against big producers, just because they are big. Surely the new “find”, the small “authentic” producer, the manageable winery where the Winemaker / Vigneron knows his / her land and barrels intimately has to be better?

    May be so in many cases, but there are also advantages to being big. Economies of scale mean that production costs are lower and hence for a given quality, the value should be better. Also a larger producer will also have access to a bigger vineyard area and will probably have more blends in their portfolio. So in difficult years, they will often be able to turn out something decent at a fair price, at least in the middle of their range, where others may struggle.

    When I worked at one of the wineries that makes Jacob’s Creek, I was amazed to see that along with the 500,000L tanks, they also had a few small open top fermenters for hand punching down Pinots.

    I guess the trick is for the big producers to have the ability to recognise the star lots within their portfolio and treat them as such, then there’s no reason for their top wines to be any worse or less authentic than a small producer’s.

  2. I’m drinking a bottle of the Moët 2004 right now, and I find it lacking major faults, but also personality. Childish notes of summer fruit, hardly any head, and a quick finish of cut grass, turned-over stones and peach pits. Doesn’t taste bad at all, but surely not worth the €50. I’ve had far better from smaller producers for two thirds that price.

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