Description

Lointier Mellifera is a wine that made me raise my eyebrows and say “Oh, that is nice!” and along with the Canon Chaigneau inspired me to host a French wine dinner. Lointier Mellifera is 85% Pinot Noir with the balance being Meunier. Lointer Mellifera has an aroma of roses, cherry, and a hint of yeast without going into toast. The palate of Lointier Mellifera is dry, refreshing, and a hint spicy. The low dosage makes it a crisp and clean drink.

The venue for dinner elected to serve Lointier Mellifera out of coupes which was fun but I’d still prefer Gabriel Glas to get more perfume.

Lointier Mellifera Extra Brut NV, and all wines are eligible for at least 5% off any six bottles. And 10% off any 12 bottles. Some wines will be at a more significant discount and not subject to further discounts.

Hélène and Jean-Baptiste Lointier disgorge only 3,000 to 5,000 bottles of Champagne per year across three cuvees. The two cultivate three hectares of vineyards and have their cellar in Crézancy in the west of Vallee de la Marne. The Lointer Champagnes are exclusively made from red grapes that are farmed without herbicides and insecticides. Fining and filtration is not used and sulphur is kept as low as possible. As the logo suggests, they also keep bees.

Lointier Mellifera Extra Brut NV Producer Notes

“Mellifera is a representation of the different Terroirs of the Domaine. The vineyard is worked with respect for Nature. Once they have reached maturity, the grapes are harvested and then aged in oak barrels for 11 months. Our non-interventionist methods allow the wine to fully express itself.”

Vallee de la Marne

The Westernmost area of Champagne, the Marne Valley is the green, undulating belt of vines that sprawl from Epernay out towards Paris. The main grape here is Pinot Meunier. While there are only two Grand Villages; Ay, and Tours-Sur-Marne, many houses source grapes from the Vallee de la Marne to use in the great wines of Champagne.

Champagne

A wine region of France approximately 160km East of Paris. It is also the name of the wines produced from the area. Most famously, it is a sparkling wine that undergoes a secondary fermentation in the bottle and aging on lees (the dead yeast cells). Although there is the occasional still wine, you can find around particularly Pinot Noir. The fantastically named Bouzy Rouge is one such example. There are very few single vintage, single vineyard, single variety Champagnes. I can only name one – Salon. And it was produced only 47 times between 1900 and 1999. Why? Due to the large area, the region covers and the challenging weather the houses blended wines to produce a consistent and reliable product every year. This is where the growers come in. They relish the chance to show off vintage variation and small plot wines.Shorten with AI

Non-Vintage (NV)

These wines are based on one vintage but will contain ‘Reserve Wine’. Reserve wine old stocks that they keep specifically to blend into the Non-Vintage wine. The purpose is to have a consistent and reliable drink every time someone buys their NV. NV Champagne must spend 12 months on lees at a minimum and 15 months in the bottle before releases. Most quality houses age their Champagne for much longer than that to achieve the desired level of Autolysis.

The NV style came to be as a way to use the grapes that weren’t perfectly ripe. Champagne was so marginal of climate that it was unlikely they would get a drinkable wine every. Holding on to that wine and blending it across multiple vintages allowed them to use the grapes and make an agreeable style.

Pinot Noir

This is the most elusive grape. It is relatively early ripening and extremely sensitive to terroir. Its perfect place on earth is the Cote d’Or in Burgundy. So haunting are great red Burgundy’s charms that growers everywhere try to emulate them. Pinot Noir is not just a one-trick pony; it can make great reds, rosé, sparkling and even sweet wines, whites on occasion and I’ve tasted a decent fortified Pinot Noir too. Adding body, perfume and richness to Champagne it also adds red berry and floral/rose petal notes along with spice and subtle layers.

Pinot Meunier

Meunier is most famous for adding body and richness to the wines of Champagne. The trade-off is it tends to make the Champagnes age quicker and is therefore often left out of Prestige Cuvées. Not usually found in still table wine production.

French Wine

The land that some many New World (not European) wine producers look to emulate. To generalise about French wine, I would say it is savoury, lighter-bodied wines. They are the definition of elegant, complex. There are many styles, though. And there is a French wine for every palate. They lead the world in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in Burgundy. Sparkling Wine in Champagne. Cabernet and Merlot in Bordeaux. Syrah(Shiraz) and Grenache in the Rhone Valley. Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and Pinot Gris in Alsace. Sauvignon Blanc, and Chenin Blanc in the Loire Valley. Gamay in Beaujolais.

Wine

Wine is the result you get from fermented grape juice. There is proof of wine production dating back 8000 years ago. Fashions, innovations and many other factors have influenced the way wine has evolved over the years.

The wine grape is special. It contains everything you need to make grape wine except for the yeast, which lives on the outside of the skins.

Human inputs can influence the final product, including the viticulture (growing) choices. And the winemaker can shape the wine to a point too.

The best wines of the world often refer to terroir. Terroir is a French term that refers to all the climatic, geological and topographical influences on a specific piece of land. And it is true that neighbouring vineyards, grown identically, can taste noticeably different.

Sparkling Wine

Fizz, bubby, bubbles. It is a wine with bubbles in it. There are many ways to put the bubbles in, and many styles and flavours you can find. Important to know that you should never buy cheap Sparkling. Champagne is still the quality leader of the world. But great Sparkling can be found in Moscato (sweet), Prosecco, Franciacorta (Italy), Cava (Spain), Australia, New Zealand, Loire Valley and Burgundy Cremant (France).

The Wine Depository

I, Phil, have been running The Wine Depository since 2011. The Wine Depository exists to make sure you are drinking the good wines. You can browse and pick what is interesting to you. Or you can make contact with me. I’ll make sure you get what you want, to your palate, to your budget and to your door.