Hure Freres 4 Elements Montagne de Reims Pinot Noir Champagne 2016

Hure Freres 4 Elements 2016 is a brilliantly earthy and savoury Champagne. Nice body, great perfume of red berries and floral notes. Very dry finish and long. Hure Freres 4 Elements is a seriously well-put-together wine that over-delivers for the price. From La Perthe in Ludes, an east-facing parcel on sandy clay and loam that was planted in 1983. Fermented in 600-litre oak barrels without malolactic and then aged under cork. Hure Freres 4 Elements 2016, 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. The Hure Family is a family-run business in Montagne de Reims. Brothers François and Pierre work under the guidance of their father Raoul.  They own 10ha and also source Chardonnay from a further 1.5ha. Hure Freres eliminated the use of herbicides and adopted biodynamic methods in 2006. Each individual parcel is worked to its own program; something François learned while working in Burgundy. Hure Freres 4 Elements 2016 Wine Review Peter Liem “The vineyard of La Perthe in Ludes is a cool, late-ripening site, with a lot of wind, and these conditions are reflected in this wine’s tense structure and elongated shape. Its red-fruit flavors are sleek and lively, underlined by darkly savory, umami tones, yet they also conceal a subtle concentration and depth, promising to unfold further with time. This is a fascinating wine, and one that is driven much more by its expression of place than by its grape variety.” 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.   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. 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. Hure Freres 4 Elements Montagne de Reims Pinot Noir Champagne 2016