GH Mumm

Like several famous families who founded Champagne houses in the 19^th century, brothers Jules, Edouard, and Gottlieb de Mumm were German Protestants, coming from Rheingau with a sizeable wine wholesale business. They opened their doors in Reims in 1827, with original name PA Mumm, Giesler & Co.

Fifteen years later Gottlieb’s son GH Mumm, joined the firm and in 1853 the company took its name. In 1876 it launched its first Cordon Rouge, with the striking red ribbon, making it a grand marque. In 1880s this flagship brand was better known than the house itself, particularly in the US, its prime export market, selling at 850000 bottles per year.

By 1902 Mumm’s total sales were just over 3 million bottles, one-tenth of Champagne’s entire annual sales. But the happy times were not to last and on the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the house’s assets, including all its vineyards, were confiscated by the French government because unlike other German founders of Champagne houses the Mumms did not sought naturalization.

In 1920 the house, largest in Reims, was put up for sale and sold to Societe Vinciole de Champagne Successeurs, a group of investors, one of which was the firm of Dubonnet. Rene Lalou, whose wife was a Dubonnet, took control of the firm. He successfully guided GH Mumm until 1973, building it into one of the largest houses, acquiring Perrier-Jouet in 1959 and Heidsieck & Co in 1972.

During his last ten years he doubled sales to 6 million bottles, yet never at the expense of quality. In 1969 Mumm was taken over by one of its shareholders, the Canadian-based Seagram group. In 1996 Seagram sold off Heidsieck, a welcome move for an unnecessary drain of GH Mumm’s viticultural resources. Mumm did retain its estate of 218 ha in fine grand cru sites such as Verzenay, Bouzy and Ambonnay on the Montagne de Reims, and in Cramant on the Cote des Blancs.

In 2000 Seagram sold Mumm and Perrier-Jouet to Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, a private Texas investment company, which sold the two houses on to Allied Domecq in 2001. In 2006 Pernod Ricard acquired Allied Domecq and GH Mumm is now part of their global portfolio.

Taking more than 160 years to build the grand marque, unfortunately it took a single decade to demolish, with quality deteriorated from 1982 onwards. Many believed that Mumm’s reputation was destroyed by the poor quality of the wines made between 1982 and 1991, the prime responsibility lie with Andre Carre, the chef de cave of the time.

Things started to change for good in 1991 with appointment of Jean-Marie Barilliere, with a new cuverie for fermentation and assemblage built to harness the latest technology. In 1994 a revolutionary computerized disgorging line was installed, with Mumm becoming the first global grande marque to receive ISO 9002 certification in 1995.

Pierre-Yves Harang was cellar master from 1992 to 1997, taking up the task to clear up the mess left behind by Andre Carre. The overall quality of the Mumm range did improve markedly. The first improved Mumm started hitting shelves in 1995, with a young winemaker Dominque Demarville starting to show his hands. He also initiated GH Mumm’s new prestige cuvee R. Lalou, but was headhunted to Veuve Clicquot in 2006.

Dominique’s protégé, the talented Didier Mariotti, also presided the finishing touches of the current Cuvee R Lalou 1998, a recently reintroduced prestige cuvee. Along with the now revitalized Cramant de Mumm, the signs are encouraging. The Cordon Rouge is fresh, light and floral in style, as easy-going and pleasing as Champagne gets, but without much complexity or seriousness.

Cuvee Rene Lalou, produced between 1966 and 1985 vintages, is a wonderful wine, with angular-shaped bottle which is unique in design. This prestige cuvee was named after the important man in the company’s history, Rene Lalou, a key figure from 1920s onwards. In addition to finance Lalou also had a great understanding and passion for the vineyards.

Before World War II he increased the vineyard ownership of Mumm from 50 to 96 hectares, focusing on the grand cru villages, especially Bouzy, Ay, Cramant and Avize, as well as restoring old parcels that were ravaged by wars. Towards the end of his career he decided to craft Cuvee Rene Lalou, essentially a 50/50 blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Nine vintages were made until production stopped in 1985, because Seagram, Mumm’s parent company then, decided to sell the company. But in 1998 Mumm and its cellar master at the time Dominique Demarville, decided to perfect the original cuvee and crafted Cuvee R. Lalou, aiming to seek inspiration from the original cuvee, but to go deeper in ideology.

As homage to Rene Lalou, Cuvee R. Lalou is blended from 12 individual vineyards from seven grand cru villages, all acquired or restored by Lalou himself. It remains a 50/50 blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with the inaugural vintage of 1998, but the bottle had to be redesigned as the original one ad been sold to Vranken. Cuvee R. Lalou is launched mature, a low dosage around 6 g/l is sufficient.

I have recently tasted the 1973 Rene Lalou and below is my tasting note:

Appearance

Bright and clear, it has medium gold color, with watery rims and legs.

Nose

Clean, with medium (+) intensity aromas of citrus fruit of lemon, green fruit of green apple, maturity notes of sugarcane, autolytic notes of brioche and lees, kernel notes of walnut, mineral notes of steely, some oxidation notes of sherry aromas. The wine is fully developed.

Palate

Dry with high acidity, the wine has medium alcohol and light body. It has medium flavors of green fruit such as apple, citrus fruit of lemon, with some stone fruit of peach on the aftertaste, autolytic notes of lees and bread, mineral notes of steel, oxidation notes of sherry and maturity notes of mushroom. The wine has a medium finish.

Conclusion

Very good quality Champagne with an intense nose showing amazing development, with nice complexity of some zesty and green apple characters supported by autolytic and mineral notes, the wine has strong acidity to provide crispness even after all these years, with elegance, but the finish was a bit mediocre. Even though still highly enjoyable, I think it would be even better at a slightly younger age, now is a bit too old.