The beginning of May I was invited to visit the iYellow Loft to check out their new event space. I have always been a fan of the bus tours and events hosted at the iYellow wine cave on Queen St W. I was interested to see how the iYellow crew would adapt to the new space and venue. I was invited to check out some of the wines from Champagne Taittinger and was excited to do so, as I recently had a chance to taste through the Taittinger Prestige Rosé – here are my thoughts on that wine.
Taittinger Prestige Rosé – Vintages 993113 – $79.95 – ****+ – There was so much more red fruit in this bottle than I was expecting. The fact that the aromas were more like fruit roll up than fresh fruit was already something really interesting. The fruit opens up on the palate with a nice confectioned raspberry note – but moves to orange. The texture of this fruit really opens up nicely, and while the citrus note is present, the raspberry and strawberry flavours are front and centre in this bottle. There is bright crisp acidity the rises up and makes sure that while this wine smells sweet it finishes crisp and dry. The depth of fruit makes this a swiss army knife for food pairing – I cannot think of anything that this would not pair nicely with – so don’t be surprised if you see this on my table this summer next to a medium rare steak.
The evening was attended by Vitalie Taittinger. Taittinger is one of the last family owned and operated Champagne houses in France. Vitalie spoke of the wines and her family with passion. It’s clear the passion is reflected in the quality of the product in my glass.
When I arrived at the loft I was greeted with a glass of Taittinger Brut Reserve (LCBO 365312, $61.15). It’s hard to not guzzle this wine – there is a nice toasty aroma climbing out of the glass. The fruit on the palate offers golden delicious apple layered over lemon drop notes. The finish is clean, but a little bit of that fruit note hangs on for a moment. Vitalie explained that at Taittinger they use a larger proportion of Chardonnay in their final blends to boost the fruit flavours.
Chef Adam Hynam-Smith was cooking this night at the loft. The space features rotating chefs who come in to prepare meals. Obviously the courses were crafted with the wines in mind, but a couple things really stood out to me. The first course brought a soft poached duck egg, labneh, brown butter and bastirma to the table. I love this kind of pairing when you get heavy, and fatty (and delicious) food in front of you Champagne has a way to cut through the fat and make the dish feel lighter. The first course was paired with the Brut Reserve that we enjoyed when we entered the loft.
Things kicked into high gear on the second course when we were treated to the 2006 Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs. Anyone familiar with me knows of my love for Chardonnay, so you shouldn’t be surprised that I was very excited to see this bottle on the table. In fact, listening to Vitalie talk about Chardonnay in her families wines put me into a sort of Chardonnay fueled trance. The food pairing was suited to this course as well, but with a different strategy – Octopus, Daikon, Chipotle and Celeriac more or less stayed out of the way of a richer aged Champagne.
2006 Taittinger Comptes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs – Vintages 55277 – $229.00 – ***** – This is so rich and complex on the nose it just feels like an epic. The aromas are brioche, spice, caramel, and there is a nice baked apple note tossed in there. On the palate this opens up with incredible depth and length. The fruit on the palate is well met with caramel, spice, and vanilla. Fantastic acidity on the finish reminds you that this is, in fact, Champagne – but there is something about the long glorious finish that truly feels like your mouth will taste like this forever.
This was a great way to spend a Saturday night. It’s also safe to say that the iYellow crew have upped their game from wine classes to full blown hospitality. The Wine Angel crew were busy waiting on guests and created a memorable experience. In short, should you have an opportunity to visit this wonderful space in the city, you should do so.
