On the Road with the Grape Guy

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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

(March 2025) … A tasting at QuartoPiano restaurant in Rimini, Italy. A tasting and dinner featuring Alexander Lamblot small lot, small production Champagnes. The producer creates a mere 15,000 bottles a year with some being no more than 170 per cuvee.

Alexandre Lamblot's produced his first Champagnes in 2010.

“He creates splendid cuvées that can only be loved for the rare ability to be different without losing sight of pleasure; for the very rare ability to be contemporary (fresh and slender) without giving up the voices of depth, complexity, originality.” – from the restaurant’s invitation.

Alexandre cultivates 3.5 hectares of vines in the Petite Montagne de Reim area spread between Vrigny, Chenay, Janvry and Gueux, one of the coldest areas of the region. Here, Pinot Meunier is celebrated and is made into rare cuvees. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are also grown and make interesting playmates together and with the Meunier.

Below, I introduce you to the wines of Alexander Lamblot, name and grape composition; all are Brut Nature. Bottle quantity is also included.

* Note Bene: Before diving into this review, I need to stress the food was EXCELLENT, there was not a bad dish presented and I would gladly sit down to this dinner again. My “tasting notes” are about the wine and my “pairing” notes are about how well the wine either complimented or clashed with the dish. I also rank my top four wines; these reflect my personal tastes in Champagne.

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COURSE ONE

A. Lamblot Champagne Intuition (Meunier-Pinot Noir-Chardonnay) Brut Nature
- bottles (750ml) produced: 2765 – age of vines: 15-58 years old -
Food Pairing: Grey mullet carpaccio, small vegetables and green apple

Tasting Notes:
- Yeasty, truffle, mineral, light/gentle bubble; delicate, elegant and fresh with wonderful balance. Could drink a lot of this.  (Ranking Wine – 2nd Place)
Pairing – GOOD. Delicacy of the dish matched very well with the delicacy of the wine.

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COURSE TWO

A. Lamblot Champagne Frénésie (Meunier) Brut Nature
- bottles (750ml) produced: 985 – age of vines: 38-60 years old -
Food Pairing: Soft polenta, thick cuttlefish ragù, spring onion and peas

Tasting Notes:
- Smoky with a slightly burnt brioche crust giving the wine a bitter after-taste; the tongue did not like this one.  (Ranking Wine – None)
Pairing – CLASH. Like a yin-yang; some people like this kind of contrast, I was not a fan.

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COURSE THREE

A. Lamblot Champagne Dissonance (Meunier & Chardonnay) Brut Nature
- bottles (750ml) produced: 700 – age of vines: none given -
Food Pairing: Tuna tataki, artichokes and crispy olive wafer

Tasting Notes:
- Good acidity with baked notes which came across almost oxidative; there was an intensity here that seemed out of blance.  (Ranking Wine – None)
Pairing – NEUTRAL.

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COURSE FOUR

A. Lamblot Champagne Les Côtes Chéries (Meunier) Brut Nature
- bottles (750ml) produced: 500 – vines planted: 1984 -
I Risotto creamed with sour butter, raw shellfish and marinated ginger petals

Tasting Notes:
- Biscuity and brioche character, subtle yeasty, baked and crusty pastry with over roasted almonds.  (Ranking Wine – None)
Pairing – ODD. Good without the ginger / with the ginger it created a clashing or off note.

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COURSE FIVE

A. Lamblot Champagne Les Fourgons (Meunier) Brut Nature
- bottles (750ml) produced: 350 – vines planted: 1990 -
Food Pairing: Cacio e pepe tortelli with mora romagnola bacon

Tasting Notes:
- Notes of apple tart made with green apples for better acidity; this wine proved to be very delicate, and was the best of the solo Pinot Meunier wines.  (Ranking Wine – 4th Place)
Pairing – NOT IN THE SAME BALLPARK. The delicacy of the wine did little to help the “pepe” or the smokiness of the bacon.

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COURSE SIX

A. Lamblot Champagne La Vigne à Vovonne (Pinot Noir) Brut Nature
- bottles (750ml) produced: 170 – vines planted: 1984 -
Food Pairing: Slice of cod and creamy pak-choi with raspberry vinegar

Tasting Notes:
- Delicate, floral, earthy, smoky, almond biscuits, soft, hints of golden raspberry; this was a very pretty wine.  (Ranking Wine – 3rd Place)
Pairing – Cod fish is too strong a flavour for this delicate wine

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COURSE SEVEN

A. Lamblot Champagne Les Cochènes (Pinot Noir) Brut Nature
- bottles (750ml) produced: 380 – vines planted: 1990 _
Food Pairing: Lamb sirloin, roasted turnip tops and aromatic herbs

Tasting Notes:
- Nice weight with a pleasant linger on the finish, good acidity, the biscuity notes played off the subtle earthy character and segued into a long finish.  (Ranking Wine – 1st Place)
Pairing – NEUTRAL

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DESSERT (no wine was paired)

Apple tart, caramel ice cream and crunchy wafer

No Pairing – this was delicious

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Final Thought ... wine and food pairing is a tough thing - in my lifetime I have only tasted a handful of really "wow" food matches with a wine. At best it is a game of trial and error: sometime you win, sometimes you lose, but it is always a fun game to play.

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A huge thank you to all involved in this evening’s endeavour:
Fabrizio Timpanaro (director of QuartoPiano), Silver Succi (chef), and Francesco Falcone (presenter).

• Champagne,
• Wine and Food,
• Alexandre Lamblot

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