L’ÉTOILE DE BERRU
Adam Mereaux & André Macionga
THE PROJECT L’ÉTOILE DE BERRU
What a pleasure this wonderful project is. I love Champagne! Champagne isn’t just Champagne, though. There are producers who manage to make wine bubbly and there are passionate artists who tell stories with their sparkling wines. I got to know Adam-Mereaux a few years ago as a small, self-confident house that consistently pursues its style with enormous effort. The countless barrel samples and the testing of the still wines alone are a highlight of my calendar every year. It is a great pleasure for me to be able to engage with this and to be able to explore the work of other regions. Since Champagne is a much more time-consuming project, our cooperation has been flourishing for quite some time, which will also become apparent in many subsequent years. All the more reason for me to finally present my first, very unusual cuvée from Champagne. A great wine in a bubbling coat. . . 2010 LÉtoile du Berru.
L’ÉTOILE DE BERRU
THE OPTIMAL WINE GLASS
The wine glass plays the decisive role in the perfect development of aroma. For the champagne “LÉtoile du Berru”; I recommend the following wine glass:
Chardonnay glass
THE TASTE PICTURES
FIRST TASTE PICTURE – AFTER A FRESHLY DRAWN BOTTLE
Immediately after opening the bottle, an incredibly vivid picture of a refreshing day by the sea emerges. An aromatic wave of exotic aromas, marked by yellow-green stone fruits, arrives with the recipient. With a gentle, warm breeze, long, denser yeast tones mix in. On the palate, the image of an exciting sea continues: the calm and dense quality brings certain fruit aromas in wavy and intense violet tones. The result is a picture of intense full texture. The light acidity is reminiscent of a grapefruit and elegantly transfers the violet-coloured aroma into striking green tones.
SECOND TASTE PICTURE – WITH SOME OXYGEN
With air, the sea becomes calmer, the flow clearer. At first wild and untamed, a clear, dense flow prevails, elegant and Burgundian in appearance. The now straight line integrates the original primary fruits more clearly, it becomes calmer, more classic and the initially violet tones change into apple green aromas. Almond tones make themselves felt in the drinking flow. On the nose, a beautiful spice spreads, paired with light saffron tones and a bitterness of walnuts. It’s getting a lot less vinous and racier. A beautifully crafted product.
THIRD TASTE PICTURE – WITH A LOT OF OXYGEN
Initially violet aromas, which merged into apple-green aromas, now end in yellow, almost orange fruits and the champagne becomes more self-confident and also more angular, but always retains its harmony, which comes mainly through the texture, aroma and reverberation. In combination with the particularly low dosage, this results in an impressive interplay of acidity, sugar and base wine. The extraordinarily avant-garde, almost Mediterranean aroma profile, characterised by citrus fruits, malic acid and subtle herbal notes, coupled with its enormous wineiness and creamy texture, results in an extremely long journey on the palate.
