Forever making bubbles

Picture / Nicola Topping

Blending the grapes that make champagne is not a matter of science but one of feelings, according to one who should know - champagne-maker Evelyn Roques-Boizel.

She was in Auckland last month to launch Champagne Boizel (pronounced bwa-zel), the newest champagne house in New Zealand and, in my opinion, the best new bubbly brand to launch here in the past couple of years. 

The make-up of champagne blends must vary a little each year to keep the taste of the non-vintage champagne consistent and the vintage ones constantly interesting, says Roques-Boizel.

And though this is not exactly news to most wine writers, it is refreshing to hear a champagne-maker - or any wine-maker for that matter - admit that she relies on the flavour of the wine rather than concentrating on the exact percentages of grapes used.

Not that she is alone in her blending sessions - she works with her husband Christophe.

Roques-Boizel does the marketing, leads the tastings and develops new business while Christophe selects the grapes and watches over the wine-making. They are the consummate winery husband-and-wife team, but the history of Champagne Boizel goes back far further than their three-decade partnership.

Champagne Boizel was established in 1934 by August Boizel and his wife Julie Martin. It has remained in the family ever since. The name may not be as resonant as big-name bubbly producers such as Bollinger, Moet or Veuve Clicquot, but in terms of quality, the wines are knocking on the same doors as those better-known French bubblies.

The Roques-Boizels use mostly pinot noir to give their non-vintage champagne weight and body. Chardonnay is used in lesser quantities and adds less overt weight but more fresh and delicate citrus flavour, as does the smaller (just 15 per cent) of pinot meunier, says Roques-Boizel.

Of the three Boizel champagnes available in New Zealand, the Brut Reserve NV is the best, especially since, at $45 a bottle, it is a relative bargain for good champagne.

For the same price, but with more flavour than most pink bubblies, there is also the Champagne Boizel Brut Rose.

Like most vintage champagnes, those from Boizel make a louder statement than their non-vintage counterparts. The 1996 Champagne Boizel Grand Vintage is $67 and incredibly rich in taste, driven mostly by pinot noir.

There are two other wines in the range, both called Joyau (which means jewel), both more subtle in taste and lighter in style than the full-on grand vintage, but as yet both also unavailable in New Zealand. The 1995 Champagne Boizel Joyau de France costs the equivalent of $105 and the far-too-easy-to-like 1989 Champagne Boizel Joyau de Chardonnay goes for around $125.

Most champagne houses are following the global trend for wine drinkers to prefer chardonnay by making more chardonnay-dominated than pinot noir-driven bubblies. The last wine initially tastes rounder, creamier and more obvious than the other bubbles from Boizel but it ends up being my favourite wine of the tasting because it is so good with the fresh John Dory and kumara mash I enjoyed it with. Pity it's not available here - yet.