CHAMPAGNE DUVAL-LEROY, LOW COUNTRY CUISINE AND FLASHBACKS OF DEGENERATION AND RECKLESS ABANDON

Last Tuesday, Shannon and I went were invited by Lauren and our good friends at Cutting Edge to a Champagne seminar featuring the wines of Duval-Leroy, at Cincinnati’s Hugo restaurant. Duval-Leroy is nearly 150 years old, the product of two grape growing families merging their businesses in 1859, where it has remained independent ever since. Run by one of the few female owners in Champagne, Carole Duval-Leroy oversees a remarkable operation that produces some of the world’s best Champagne.

We were treated to a tasting of their wines courtesy of Arthur Silvente, the U.S. sales manager for Duval-Leroy, all while having lunch courtesy of Hugo, the Cincinnati restaurant specializing in “Low Country cuisine”. The concept of Hugo has always intrigued me, having spent 6 of the wildest years of my life in the Low Country (aka South Carolina). And for a restaurant to name itself after a hurricane, well, it goes without saying, right?

The first wine we tasted was the Duval-Leroy Brut NV (Grade=Outstanding), a even thirds-blend of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay that possessed a beautiful perfume nose with notes of green apples, lively effervescence, hints of toasted brioche, ripe Asian pear, Granny Smith apples and star fruit. The finish was light and vibrant. It’s an excellent introduction to this venerable Champagne house.

Next up was the Duval-Leroy Brut Paris Label NV (Grade=Amazing), which I’ve always preferred to the regular Brut, and it was quite evident here, with the Paris Label showing much richer textures and more invigorating effervescence, lush notes of baked apple tart, white peaches, mineral and d’Anjou pears. Possessing a bit more residual sugar, it finishes with a hint of ginger candy.

In between these wines, we were given a nice little salad of arugula and radishes in some type of vinaigrette dressing that escapes me even now. And while briefly conversing with the wine buyer from Dorothy Lane Market, and former DEP’s alum and current owners of Water Tower Wines in Mount Washington, I started to think about the night Hurricane Hugo hit the South Carolina coastline, and how by some twist of fate, while my band was elevating all our gear off the practice room floor down in the warehouse district off 10^th Avenue N., I was completely inebriated, crawling on my hands and knees from the wedding reception of an old friend, to Perkins Pancake house, where I ordered a big stack of pancakes, never touched them, paid for them, and went to my cousin’s car to pass out cold.

As a treat, Cutting Edge pulled out the Duval-Leroy Le Femme Tête de Cuveé 1995 (Grade=Amazing+), which was a blend of 76% Chardonnay and 24% Pinot Noir. It was decadent, with creamy apple pie, lemon meringue, honeysuckle, white flowers, and buttered brioche. Demonstrating a silky midpalate and a rich, luxurious finish, this was one sexy beast.

My first real transcendental experience on wine was in Myrtle Beach, where an ex-girlfriend was furiously trying to make a man out of me. One night, she made a pasta Florentine dish, and got me completely plowed on cheap Burgundy wine. I found myself professing my undying love in true reckless abandon, a memory I amazingly cherish to this day, in the fact that without ever meeting her, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I certainly wouldn’t know how to be in a relationship (unfortunately, all those lessons weren’t learned until much, much later in my life).

We moved on to another favorite of mine, the Duval-Leroy Blanc de Chardonnay 1998 (Grade=Amazing), a lighter-styled sparkler than the Le Femme, but nonetheless provocatively decadent in its own right. Creamy and yeasty, it displayed some light pineapple and tangerine, with stone fruit flavors and aromas, and some yeasty sourdough. It finished up with a little citrus tartlet.

The main course of our lunch was Hugo’s big feature item (at least in my case) – their Shrimp and Grits. When I lived in Myrtle Beach, you wouldn’t get me within the same zip code as Grits, but as you get older, you start to warm up to the things that used to make you gag when you were younger. These were rich and creamy, done in a white wine reduction (I think), and reminded me of some of the Low Country cooking I was introduced to during my days in the Palmetto State. My first Southern Thanksgiving, the most incredible mustard greens I ever had courtesy of my guitar player’s mom, Oyster Roasts, Chicken Bog, and Shrimp Boils. If it was a free meal, I was down, and thanks to good ol’ Southern Hospitality, it usually was.

The Duval-Leroy Brut Rosé NV (Grade=Amazing) is a stunning all Pinot Noir sparkler done in a saigneé style that highlights a gorgeous salmon color, slight hints of strawberry cream, pink grapefruit and lush cherries, finishing rich and creamy, but with nice acidity and dryness.

Getting back to Myrtle Beach after my friend’s wedding was almost like infiltrating a war zone. As we got closer, we were diverted a couple of times by the National Guard as we (my roommate and I) tried to make our way back to the condo we lived in with my girlfriend in Little River. We eventually took a back route and made it into our complex, which was just littered with uprooted trees, pieces of roof and shingles, wrecked cars, trash and other assorted debris. I would inevitably make it down to the beach in North Myrtle Beach, where I would find hotel pools broke in half, motel furniture still floating in the surf, all the piers vanquished to the deep, muddy brown Atlantic Ocean. It was the first time I had ever seen anything like it. There was a house that had been pushed off its foundation and was sitting in the middle of the road, an ugly lemon-striped couch had washed up on the beach, covered in dead jellyfish – trees and telephone poles felled everywhere, windows smashed – it was crazy. And the beach wouldn’t be the same for some time to come.

We finished up the tasting with the Duval-Leroy Lady Rosé NV 375 ml (Grade=Amazing), a perfect way to finish off a good lunch, great wines, and a subconscious ride back to a more reckless and free-spirited point in my life. It was a beautiful sec (slightly sweet) with ripe strawberries, red raspberries and creamy cherries, finishing rich and completely debauched.

All-in-all, I have a newfound admiration for these wines, the restaurant, and my memories of a place I didn’t think I’d ever revisit, even in my mind.