Art Deco Delights with Collet Champagne @ Abode Chester #Review

Victoria Hayes
8th August 2019

Champagne is special and should be saved for special occasions, like Tuesday nights at the Abode Hotel.

Ok so no, it’s not just for “Special” occasions , maybe just for special places and the Brasserie at the Abode is certainly one of those.

Aside from the immaculate service, the breath taking views across the river, the racecourse and our stunning city cannot be over rated. As the sun set, our champagne was served and the evening just sparkled.

Drinking Champagne on a Tuesday night feels very Gatsby-esque and the roaring twenties became almost the theme for our evening.

Let me Explain.

Briony and myself were kindly invited to The Abode Chester for a Collet Champagne Tasting Evening.  Collet Champagne began in 1921 and they have since been creating distinctive champagnes with an emphasis towards food pairings. The spirit of the “Roaring Twenties” lives on at Maison Collet  at their home today near Epernary and is reflected in its rich heritage and its elegant, Art Deco-inspired visual identity. This Art Deco design features on all of their bottles actually giving them are more contemporary feel.

As we stand ready for the “roaring twenty twenties”, Collet as a celebration champagne feels more relevant than ever.

We were treated on arrival to a champagne coupe (one again, the Gatsby feeling endures) of Collet Champgne Brut NV, nicknamed the “aperitif champagne”.

Our host, the delightful Alex from Hallgarten & Novum wines gave us a little history of Collet as a Champagne house and told us a little about what we were drinking. I consider myself fairly well educated when it come to champagnes however I was not particularly familiar with this brand. Its easy to see why as this Champagne house is really a cooperative, created out of the oldest Champagne Producers Union in 1921 and remains independent. Unlike some of the other more high profile Champagne house which have been taken over by larger conglomerates and therefore have much larger budgets for world wide advertising.

You know how we at Taste Cheshire love a smaller independent producer and so I instantly fell in love with Collet as a company but also loved this first glass of fizz.

Light, bright golden colour, lemony, appley but with a pleasant biscuity finish to mellow it out.

We were served our starter Whipped Goats Cheese, candied beetroot with a brown bread crumb and the citrus notes cut through the creaminess of the goat’s cheese perfectly.

Next up the Collet Champagne Brut Rose NV, the luminous peachy pink rose colour  paired beautifully with the sunset pink hues of the sky over the racecourse.

The flavours of cherry, red currant, peach and raspberry on the other hand paired perfectly with the Salmon and Lobster Sausage, sauteed spinach in citrus beurre blanc. The rich seafood supported by the the velvety wine.

I should mention at this point that  Collet have a practice of ageing their non vintage champagnes for a minimum of 3 years, longer than the minimum required. This ageing mellows the Champagne and creates a more rounded flavour palate.

The Champagne Brut Premier (1er) Cru, Art Deco NV is aged for a minimum of 4 years giving it more biscuity notes and a minerality (which comes from the limestone in the growing region) which was a unexpected at first and went well with the lemon and parsley gremolata on our Ossobuco alla Milanese and ratte potatoes.

Alongside each course, Alex popped up with more information about each wine, its process and its flavours, but kept it light and informal and we enjoyed her popping over to our table for a more in depth chat and the ability to ask her questions without feeling stupid or self conscious.

My favourite pairing of the night came next, probably as my father has always told me, I have expensive tastes. Served with our Comte cheese gougeres, glazed with Cornish Sea salt and thyme came Champagne Collet, Collection Privee 2008.

A vintage treat, aged for a minimum of seven years this deeper more golden wine has incredible brioche flavours, its slightly nutty, almost mushroomy but with a hint of vanilla, and a similar peach note to its non vintage relative.

The balance of the strong cheese and salt of the dish was perfect and they worked together rather than one strong flavour drowning out the other.

After this treat, I could have contentedly sat back in my chair and stayed that way for a few hours, I had convinced myself I was full. In that way however, I was a fool.

“I hope she’ll be a fool — that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

A beautiful dessert appeared as if by magic in front of me. Strawberry and Champagne delice with a white chocolate sorbet. A dish so light it vanished almost before I remembered I was supposed to be trying a wine with it! Don’t worry though, I did manage to pair the two and I was extremely glad I had.

Our last Champagne was Champagne Collet, Collection Privee rose dry NV. In this case, the word “dry” on the label is a little misleading. In the world of champagne “brut” is what we would invariably recognise as a dry wine. This “dry” wine however has 26g of residual sugar, compared to just 6g in the previous makes this wine a lot sweeter on the palate than you might expect.

This Champagne is more of a salmon pink with golden tones but the flavour although sweeter it has a tart, almost grapefruit flavour. Absolutely perfect with strawberries.

A sweet and opulent way to end the evening, very Gatsby.

I’ve been worried about Champagne…Prosecco and Pink Gin have taken over the world and my sparkly friend feels a little forgotten.

Fear not, Champers I will save you…well, I’ll help, along with my lovely colleague Briony, the incredible team at the Abode Chester and the charming folks from Hallgarten & Novum Wines.  The roaring twenty twenties are safe in our hands…along with a glass of excellent Champagne.

*Taste Cheshire were gifted this experience by the charming team at Abode Chester (Thank you!). However we do stand by all the comments made in this article, and if you don’t believe us, please feel free to pop down and try them yourselves.

Click here for all the information on The Abode’s upcoming wine events