A great week in the life of your humble winemaker...
To coincide with the launch of Man O' War with Stokes Fine Wines in the UK we thought we might take a wee detour through France to visit some famous chateaux's in the Bordeaux region, but first I needed to freshen up...
Arriving in Champagne via Hong Kong I was picked up at the Champagne-Ardennes train station by an old friend, Francois Hure from Hure Freres, a fantastic producer of Champagne based in the 1er Cru village of Ludes. Francois and I had done a few 'tours of duty' together at Peg Bay and I was keen to catch up and taste some of his wines.
First stop was to Francois' home in Mailly to catch up with Marie-Eve his wife, who is also a mate of mine I met during harvest in NZ back in the day (Francois and Marie-Eve met in the hot tub at Peg Bay but that’s another story...) and their new addition Anshelme their rock n' roll baby boy! 
Hure Freres NV Brut and 2003 Reserve was a welcome refresher, the NV showing that great balance of freshness, crispness and a touch of sweetness that makes Champagne so desirable. The 03 was rich and full and a great reflection of a landmark vintage in Europe. A dinner of Kiwi lamb on the BBQ with a magnum of Hure Freres Rose and the beginning of a 2 day flight of Northern Rhone Syrah's pretty much left me satisfied!
Next day was a visit to the cellar and a tasting of some base wines... 
Man O' War has begun a special trial in 2009 where we felt we had an opportunity to have a crack at crafting a small volume of Methode Traditionnelle and I was keen for Francois to try my base wine and see what he thought. Thankfully he wasn’t too scathing, in fact he was very positive with excellent balance, great acidity and good definition in the wine, he found aromas of white flower and honey - my back label is already written!
Home for lunch and a bottle of the newest addition to the Hure Freres stable, the excellent NV Extra Brut, great on a 30 degree day in paradise!
Cheers
Dunc
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