‘It will live for decades’: Skill of Veuve Clicquot winemakers on display with Le Grande Dame

An intimate audience in the Yarra Valley with Veuve Clicquot’s chef de cave Didier Mariotti - a winemaker par excellence - reveals the secrets of the extraordinary Le Grande Dame.

‘It’s fascinating to see this kind of transparency,and the openness and honesty with which Mariotti shared these wines with fellow winemakers’. Picture: Supplied

On a dappled autumn day in the Yarra Valley, Didier Mariotti finds himself halfway round the world and right at home. As Veuve Clicquot’s “chef de cave”, the grand title Champagne houses bestow upon their senior winemaker, Mariotti is well used to dragging a suitcase around the planet in service of selling the Champagne story. This particular morning he’s only recently arrived in Australia from Japan, and still suffering the ill effects of a gruelling promotional schedule and disruptive consequences attributed to “a bad piece of fish in Osaka”. But as the first corks of the day release their contented sigh, Mariotti, like the wines pouring from the bottles, comes to life. The unique nature of this particular tasting helps.

While the usual routine for the globetrotting chef de cave is a chintzy blur of fine restaurants and grand hotels, today Mariotti finds himself surrounded by workboots and harvest crew T-shirts. That’s because he’s gathered with a group of Yarra Valley winemakers in the spanking new tasting room of Wine Network Consulting. These guys are customers – nobody ever went broke selling great wine to winemakers – but they’re colleagues, too, and Mariotti quickly finds himself at ease. It is fascinating to watch. I’ve been to more than my share of highly polished presentations by Champagne producers pouring their highly polished wine. Nobody does it better than the Champenois.

Didier Mariotti, chef de cave at Veuve Cliquot. Picture: Supplied

But this is entirely different. Mariotti begins with a bracket of nascent “base” wines from the 2024 harvest, the building blocks to be entwined with a vast library of “reserve” wines to create Clicquot’s non-vintage cuvée. It’s incredibly rare to see these wines anywhere and, in the way they pose questions rather than offer obvious answers, they give great insight into the chef de cave’s skill. It’s a little like seeing an x-ray of a pinky finger, and from that being able to chisel out a towering statue of David. It’s fascinating to see this kind of transparency, and the openness and honesty with which Mariotti shared these wines with fellow winemakers brought a whole new level of insight into the incredible skill that delivers the kind of results reviewed here.

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Veuve Clicquot’s La Grande Dame release

VEUVE CLICQUOT LA GRANDE DAME BRUT 2018

$380

A stunning grande dame from a vintage ready to deliver on hype that has been building for years. Pinot noir dominant, with an energy and momentum bordering on breathtaking. Lifted citrus blossom, abundant spice, pear skin and dried apple. A precise and pristine crystalline finish. Will be one of the stars of a deservedly celebrated vintage.

12.5% alcohol, 97 points

VEUVE CLICQUOT LA GRANDE DAME ROSÉ 2015

$499

Clos Colin is a small vineyard in Bouzy purchased in 1741 by the future in-laws of founder Philippe Clicquot. It is the only source of the red wine that stains this refined yet effusive rosé. Dried summer berries, vibrant allspice and anise, stem ginger and blood orange. Curvaceous shape, finely tapered and long finish.

12.5% alcohol, 96 points

VEUVE CLIQUOUT LA GRANDE DAME BRUT 2008

$720 (MAGNUM)

The longevity of this legendary vintage is undoubted, and now, in recently released large format, it’s even more pronounced. There’s an inherent energy here, a drive and locomotion that exists only in the greats. This will live for decades.

12.5% alcohol, 98 points