First, it’s important to know what lies behind the De Saint-Gall name and where its quality is derived from. It is the flagship brand of Union Champagne, a co-operative founded in 1966 that now includes 15 cooperatives and more than 2,000 growers. What makes Union Champagne special is that its Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vineyards cover many highly regarded villages in Champagne with 90% classified as Premier Gru and Grand Cru, stretching from the Côte des Blancs to the Montagne de Reims and the Vallée de la Marne.
Champagne De Saint-Gall cellar master Cédric Jacopin
“2026 is the cooperative’s 60th anniversary,” says cellar master Cédric Jacopin proudly. Interestingly, De Saint-Gall it is now a challenger brand to many other champagne marques yet Union Champagne is also a partner with them, supplying both its premier and grand cru base wines. De Saint-Gall has a savvy strategy too. Whilst its marketing strategy is focused on its own De Saint-Gall brand label and prestige cuvée Orpale, it is also is a major supplier to own-label Tesco Finest and its Le Tradition is on sale at M&S.
De Saint-Gall boasts Chardonnay from some of the best plots in the Côte des Blancs, which sets the scene for our first wine of the day...We arrive to discover the Peninsula Hotel has a beautiful rooftop terrace overlooking the London skyline and we relish the spring sunshine.
We start with an aperitif of the Blanc De Blancs Premier Cru (100% Chardonnay).It is the perfect aperitif in the spring air with a nose of white flowers – delicate, mineral and fresh on the palate.
Lunch is in Mach II – Brookland’s sleek private roof top dining room named after the speed at which Concorde cruised. A key design theme of the Peninsular Hotel is travel, motoring and aviation: vintage racing cars sit in the lobby, the lift to the rooftop has design touches of a balloon basket and Brooklands has a spectacular scaled down steel Concorde model imposingly hung from the ceiling.The restaurant name is taken from the Brooklands Racetrack, the world’s first to be purpose-built, and a site of engineering achievements and home to Concorde.
So Dark Grand Cru 2016
With an elegant starter of smoked duck breast with orange purée, baby beetroot and pine kernel dressing, we savour the So Dark 2016 (75% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, 23% without malolactic fermentation) from Montagne de Reims, and the Côte des Blancs).It is full bodied, yellow gold and fine with beautiful length. The Pinot Noir gives it the power and the freshness on the finish.
Orpale Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru 2012
Champagne De Saint-Gall
Orpale is De Saint-Gall’s prestige cuvée (the name means pale gold). It is 100% Chardonnay and is always a vintage champagne spending more than 10 years on the lees. With a main course of Cornish sea bass, we are served the newest Orpale 2012. Similar to the So Dark, a proportion of its grapes used to make the Blanc de Blancs do not undergo malolactic fermentation to preserve the freshness and mineral quality of top-quality plots in the Côtes des Blancs. It is a superb, elegant wine with complex aromas, a fresh palate and a long finish. It is reminiscent in many ways of Burgundy-style still wines such as Meursault and Chassagne. The next release will be Orpale 2015 at the end of this year.
Rosé Premier Cru
The Rosé Premier Cru is served with dark chocolate bar and stracciatella ice cream dessert. Made using the ‘saignée’ method (60% Chardonnay, 24% Pinot Noir, 16% red wine), it has a delicate coral hue, nose of sour cherry and tempting wild strawberries. It is vivacious, lively and fresh. It’s lovely to see a strongly coloured rosé, rather than the ubiquitous paler hues.
De Saint-Gall receives praise for delivering serious champagne quality without luxury pricing and the UK is its biggest market. At the tasting, we understand just why it is attracting attention and how its working its way up those “most-admired” rankings.
The importer of Champagne De Saint-Gall in the UK is Daniel Lambert Wines.
