View 2013 Champagne Catalog - Michael Skurnik Wines

Introduction
Introduction
I had a perfect time in Champagne last month, if by
“perfect” you understand it to include sliding 200 yards
backwards down an icy hill in an ill-equipped taxi in a
blinding snowstorm. That was something short of perfect.
But everyone was happy, I learned a ton, and the wines
showed well.
These are happy times for farmer-fizz. In a year when
overall Champagne shipments to the U.S. were down 9%,
ours were up 4%. There are more good growers on the
market all the time. The share of the RM category has
grown considerably, nearly a full percent in the last year
alone. Journalists are talking to every cool grower. The
cool growers are talking to one another, which believe me
wasn’t always the case. The increased attention being paid
to every aspect of Champagne has had a (mostly) favorable
effect on the negoçiants also, who are less secretive and
who even sometimes say things that aren’t self-serving
bullshit. If you look only at the leading American wine
writers paying careful attention to Champagne, you have
to agree the status of coverage has grown exponentially
higher. Take a bow Josh, Brad, Antonio, Peter, and prepare
to welcome Mr. Schildknecht to your peerage.
I’ve generally spent this intro text considering all the
ways it’s whimsical and wry to tweak the Big Houses for all
their silly behaviors (and mediocre wines), but I think I’ll
ease off a little. I’m grateful that business is so good. My
growers and I are making better friends with each passing
year. Most of you have well understood why it’s nicer to
buy Champagne from families than from factories.
Just two little points to make, though. There’s still
a few stubborn holdouts who persist in repeating the
argument that all Negoçiants are not evil and not all of
their Champagnes are awful. Then they get all populist
and claim we should drink whatever we think tastes good.
I find such an argument staggeringly obtuse, and seriously
unnecessary.
If you want to consider the Big Houses based on how
they behave, i.e., how they ration information, how they
treat their customers, how they treat the growers they buy
grapes from, you’ll quickly learn that most of them are...
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