Solera wines are the secret sauce in Champagne producer’s blending process

In a tribute to the rare practice of aging reserve wines via the solera system, Champagne Palmer’s nonvintage Brut Reserve is now labeled La Reserve. The wine spends a minimum of four years on the lees, and the current release is defined by a structured backbone composed of 51% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir, 19% Meunier, and up to 35% reserve wine.

The 2019 vintage constitutes the base of La Reserve, which points to its source in the Montagne de Reims. “The Chardonnay here is comparable to Mersault,” observed Remi Vervier, managing director and enologist at Champagne Palmer, during an inspired dinner recently hosted at The Morris in San Francisco. “The power, however, comes from artful blending.”

Palmer’s perpetual reserve system includes three different soleras: one devoted to Chardonnay, one to a blend of Pinot Noir and Meunier, and one to Pinot Noir-each of which plays an important role in the producer’s reserve wines. In La Reserve Nature, a grippy, gastronomic zero-dosage wine with a dense mousse that spends six years on the lees, spice from the Chardonnay solera is further enhanced by extended aging to produce a memorable style.

The Rose Solera Brut, which spends up to three years on the lees, is blended with reserve wines from the red wine solera, which is replenished with fruit from the best exposures in the Cote des Bar. Showing raspberry, currant, warm spices, and bright acidity, it made a sublime pairing with the main course of hickory-smoked duck. Wine from the Pinot Noir solera, meanwhile, is used in the blending of Palmer’s Blanc de Noirs.

According to Vervier, solera reserve wines have been part of Champagne Palmer’s blending program for 50 years. There are two stages to the solera system: The young wines-used notjust in the reserve wines but also for dosage liqueur-age in oak casks and are then used to refresh the perpetual reserve, which ages in stainless steel.

Champagne Palmer’s style is best expressed in Grands Terroirs, only released in exceptional vintages. The current release’s vintage, 2015, showed riper fruit characteristic of a warm year; it was further defined by a spicy citrus note best compared to makrut lime, also known as combava, which has a complex flavor described as a combina­tion of lemongrass, yuzu, ginger, and coriander. Referred to by Vervier as “the big brother of the La Reserve,” it reaches a level of tertiary complexity and intensity that sets it apart.

Beyond the soleras and the envi­able Montagne de Reims terroir, the wines of Champagne Palmer’s Vintage Collection reveal a third strength: The cooperative of seven producers has not altered its vineyard sourcing since its founding in 1947, forming what Vervier calls the “DNA of the brand.” A 1997 Blanc de Blancs served during the dinner revealed a rose-gold color; a whiff of petrol, caramel, truffle, and toast; and a nuttiness buoyed by succulent, precise acidity.

The Blanc de Blancs is seen as a benchmark in its category, blending 80-85% fruit from the Montagne de Reims, which imparts elegance and freshness, with 10-15% grapes from the Cote de Sezanne, which brings roundness and fruitiness.

Tasting in the company of Vervier was particularly insightful, providing a far better understanding of how the winemaking team at Palmer collabo­rates to blend the wines and how the house style of Champagne Palmer can be differentiated from its competitors in the category.

Champagne Palmer La Reserve Nature, France ($96) Though it contains zero dosage, this blend of 57% Chardonnay, 19% Pinot Noir, and 24% Meunier (with 34% reserve wine) aged for six years on the lees maintains a classic style. On the nose, super-fresh green apple, white cherry, and tangerine are rounded out by hints of sweet brioche and toasted almond; the palate, meanwhile, is surprisingly silky if not ethereal, even as mint-sprinkled citrus highlights its chalky, salty edge. A dash of anise delights on the finish. 94 – Ruth Tobias

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