Champagne, the sparkling wine so named after the northernmost winemaking region of France unique for its incredibly deep and vast chalky bedrock that gives its wines that signature freshness and acidity, which when combined with that fizz makes for a most convivial drink of choice - some might say the only that is worthy of the greatest of celebrations! Make no mistake, you can make sparkling wines anywhere in the world, but they'll of course never be Champagne!
Today, Champagne is beloved around the world and has become a category in and of itself, transcending its bubbly medium to being a matter of provenance, with anywhere between 270 to 300 million bottles of Champagnes are sold around the world annually. It is a style of wine that carries an allure of almost mythical quality, with the region in which it is produced a hallowed ground of deeply held traditions, special architecture and above all incredible stories of resilience and triumph. In the close to four centuries of its making, Champagne - both the beverage and the region - has evolved tremendously and continue to unfold in ways that defy the odds, stir the imagination and is why some have dedicated their entire careers to studying the richness of its history and winemaking!
From crayeres cellars to grocery store aisles, we taste and rank the most popular Brut Champagnes!
And so we'll be taste testing, reviewing and ranking some of the most popular Brut Champagnes that you can find in the grocery store, and without breaking the bank, so that you can know exactly what bubbly should be the life of your party!
We'll rank Brut Champagnes from Moet & Chandon, Taittinger, Veuve Clicquot, Bollinger, Laurent Perrier, G. H. Mumm, Charles Heidsieck, Louis Roederer, Perrier Jouet, Piper Heidsieck, Ruinart, Nicolas Feuillatte, Delamotte, Pol Roger, Lanson, Pommery, Canard Duchene and Billecart Salmon.
But first, let's quickly talk about what Champagne is!
What Is Champagne? How It's Made And What Makes It So Special
Champagne wines are sparkling wines that come from the Champagne region of France - and yes, that means that it is named after the region it is from, and is legally protected as such, which means that you can produce sparkling wines in the same methods as Champagne, but if they're not produced in Champagne and according to the Champenois method, they cannot be labelled as Champagne! The region features a unique terroir where the weather is characterised as continental with a significant maritime influence, typically cool and humid (although climate change has been an increasingly major topic!), with soils that run meters deep of chalk and limestone (with also some clay, marl and sand) that acts as a natural water sponge that drains water quickly and yet moderates hydration through the growing season by releasing steady bits of moisture, just enough to sustain the vines whilst also forcing them to reach deep into the ground and extract that terroir and deliver intensity!
They are typically made from the Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grape varietals - and can be made from one or more of these varietals - which must be grown from within the region. The region is home to over 19,000 growers who cultivate the grapes, with most of them selling their fruit to larger Champagne houses (some of the best known are called the Grand Marques, such as Moet & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Laurent-Perrier and more; there are 24 houses that are Grand Marques), although a growing trend since the 1980's has been for these growers to produce, brand and sell Champagnes under their own name, where they are called Grower Champagnes! This is nevertheless a difficult endeavour which requires these growers to handle everything from soil to bottle to your glass, which is further made tricky given that most growers only have a small parcel of land which yields few bottles, but of course scarcity can be a double edged sword that propels prices to astronomical proportions in some cases!
And then of course we can't talk about Champagne without addressing the fizz - the bubbly which is created by what is known as the methode champenoise, or also known as the traditional method! At its simplest, the method involves taking still wines (or un-fizzy wines) and adding a small amount of sugar and yeast (in a process known as tirage) that is then bottled and sealed with a crown cap (like a bottle cap), where the yeast ferments this added sugar until there's no more, and in so doing creates carbon dioxide that is essentially and naturally carbonates the wine! Once the Champagne is ready (where they are often aged in deep cellars known as caves or crayeres that are dug underground into the chalky ground), the dead yeasts are gently rotated (through riddling, where the bottles are tilted down headfirst and regularly turned) towards the neck of the bottle where it is then frozen and removed in a process known as disgorgement, and finally corked (with that famous mushroom looking cork), given a cage (known as a muselet) to make it extra secure, and finally adorned with a metal foil! There are of course many other elements that a Champagne-maker can play with (such as lees ageing, keeping the wines in wood for micro-oxygenation or through creating reserve wines that blend numerous vintages and can be significant aged), but this is in essence what gives Champagne its signature aesthetic!
A Brief History Of Champagne
It might be surprising then to know that Champagnes weren't always bubbly and that in fact, that fizziness was undesirable! Taking a quick glance over the history of Champagne, we know that the region was first planted with vines by the Romans and had for over a century in fact produced red wines. Yet because of the cold of winter, wines would often ferment only halfway through, before spontaneously restarting fermentation in spring, which resulted in an accumulation of carbon dioxide in the bottle - this bottled up pressure would cause the wines to explode at random, which is quite the amusing disaster when you think about it today, and all the more humorous how these winemakers must have felt terrorised given that they knew little about fermentation then! As a result, these wines would be even be nicknamed le vin du diable, or the devil's wine!
Along the way, the region would gain much fame when Louis the Pious, the son of the great Charlemagne, was crowned in the city of Reims (the unofficial capital of the Champagne region), thereby setting a precedent where numerous Kings would be ceremonially hold their coronation in the city's cathedral - this of course did much to help with the branding of the region's wines. It was then up to one Dom Perignon, a Benedictine monk, who was sent to the city to improve upon its wines, and whose main goal in fact was to remove those pesky bubbles and stop the wines from exploding! Numerous key characters would incrementally improve upon the region's wines, with eventually the fizziness of the wines successfully captured and as it turns out, gaining much popularity in England. This led to the formal creation of some of Champagne's most notable houses, and through it was through the hard work and ingeniousness of various Champagne makers and its host of ambassadors (including presidents and celebrities) that the region's style of wine would come to be cemented and gain great esteem into the 19th century. Through the ups and downs of booms and busts, war and prosperity, the region's wines would continue to be refined and polished and into the 21st century would reach record sales, often seen at high profile parties, championship victories and any number of joyous celebrations, of course enjoyed by its millions of fans around the world!
Understanding The Styles Of Champagne
Now with all that said, it's worth talking about the various styles of Champagne!
Whilst Champagnes can be classified along the lines of vintage, grape varietal composition, sweetness and even its designated prestige within a house's range of offerings, these are some of the most popular:
Brut - Champagnes with less than 12 grams of sugar per litre (called the Dosage); essentially considered dry and is the most popular style. Extra Brut is up to 6 g sugar / L and Brut Nature (Zero Dosage) is up to 3 g sugar / L and is the driest. On the other hand, Dry (Sec) is 17-32 g sugar / L, Demi-Sec is 32-50 g sugar / L and Doux (the sweetest) is over 50 g sugar / L.
Blanc de Blanc - meaning "White from White", referring to its composition being purely white Chardonnay grapes. Blanc de Noirs, meaning "White from Black", refers to a white wine by appearance, that is in fact made with black Pinot Noir grapes that have been de-skinned during winemaking to prevent the skin from giving the wine darker colours. Rose, a pink wine by appearance, that can be achieved either by shortened contact between the wine and the dark Pinot Noir skin, or through the blending of a smaller amount of red wine with a larger base of white wine.
Non-Vintage (NV) - refers to a blend made with wines that comes from multiple vintages of fruit harvests (eg. a blend of wines made from the 2015, 2021, 2022, 2024 vintages), and is sometimes called Multi-Vintage. Vintage (Millesime) refers to a wine made within only a single vintage of fruit harvest that is as stated on the wine label.
Lastly, it's worth knowing that where it comes to how Champagnes taste, you can broadly categories it on a spectrum going from Fresh (Reductive) to Oxidative - with most houses finding a signature balance somewhere along that spectrum!
Fresh (Reductive) Champagnes prioritise purity, fruit and crispness with typically green apples, citrus, white flowers and precise minerals, and are typically made with minimal oxygen exposure through the use of stainless steel tanks. The challenge here for Champagne-makers is to pick fruit at optimal ripeness and protect it against oxygen, whilst delivering its terroir!
Oxidative Champagnes tend to focus on deeper and darker notes of toasted bread, roasted almonds, thick honey and bruised apples and pears, which is a result of allowing the wines to be micro-oxygenated during fermentation or ageing in small oak barrels. The challenge here is for Champagne-makers to master controlled ageing and the guiding of the Champagne towards its intended complexity and balance.
Fun Fact: Did you know that up until the late 1800's, Champagnes would contain as much as 300 grams of sugar per litre (making it basically sweeter than ice cream), as the style was heavily favoured by the Russians! Today, the Brut style (which is what we're going to talk about and review) which contains only a maximum of 12 grams of sugar per litre, is by far the most popular, and accounts for over 90% of all Champagnes sold!
With that all said, let's get into it!
Summary
Champagne Review: Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial NV
Pronounced Moe-ett Shan-dawn; often mispronounced as "Moe-ay".
By far the top selling by volume, Moet & Chandon moves over a staggering 20 million bottles of its flagship Brut Imperial each year! It is arguably the face of Champagne and also the label most often seen at high profile celebrations from the Oscars to Formula 1, making it as much of an icon as it is accessible on an everyday basis. The Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial is made from over 100 different wines and was first debuted in 1869.
Founded in 1743 by Claude Moët in Epernay as a regional wine shipper, the house grew to its repute by winning over the likes of Napoleon (for whom the Brut Imperial was named after!) amongst various European nobles. The Moët family was joined by partner Pierre-Gabriel Chandon, who played a huge hand in growing the brand and made sure that the house was the first to introduce a vintage Champagne, earning the addition of his name to what we now recognise as Moet & Chandon. Moet & Chandon would also later acquire the Dom Perignon brand (named after the Benedictine monk, although not started by the monk himself), before later merging with Hennessy in 1971 and Louis Vuitton in 1987 to form the luxury giant LVMH. Whilst the Moet Imperial is the house's bread and butter (with various iterations and combinations of its Brut, Rose, Ice and Nectar cuvees), it also produces a Grand Vintage and a prestige Collection Imperiale line-up.
Blend: 40-50% Pinot Noir, 30-40% Meunier, 20-30% Chardonnay
Reserve Wines / Lees Ageing: 20-30% Reserve Wines; 2-3 years lees ageing (min. 24 months)
Dosage: 7 g sugar / litre
Tasting Notes
Colour: Straw
Aroma: Incredibly generous with fully loaded fruits of golden apples and yellow pears, accented with a citrusy twist of oranges. It's rich and rounded, neither bright or high toned nor dark and dense. It's well-integrated with garnishes of perfumed florals of elderflowers interspersed by fresh brioche and linens.
Taste: Medium-bodied, it's rich with well integrated, firm yet supple bubbles. Still very much fruit driven with orchard fruits of apples and pears, both as fresh fruit and fruit juices, this time drizzled with honey. Light yet rounded acidity, striking a balance between richness and sweetness. Big on the fruits, moderate brightness, with a subtle mineral backbone.
Finish: More floral here with perfumed white florals, elderflowers in particular, and also some richer tones of brioche. It's lightly crisp, very gentle tartness and acidity. That breadiness carries through, with alittle more doughiness as it lingers.
Our Thoughts
This is really delicious with fullness and generosity in its flavours and body, balanced by just a light acidity. It delivers great richness without being over the top or heavy, although you'll certainly notice that textural roundedness. Really lovely honeyed brioche quality with loads of fruit, yet gentle on the sweetness. It's incredibly approachable and easygoing, yet superbly flavour forward and easy to get into - a definite crowdpleaser! Bonus for the fact that it's so reliably consistent and also easily available, which is quite the challenge to make such scales of Champagne, and also at the same time seems to be able to deftly cusp being loved by all, whether you're the everyday drinker or an F1 Champion or taking the Oscar home, it works! This is the quintessential everyday, for everyone Champagne!
Rating: 8.5/10
|
Score/Rating Scale :
|
Champagne Review: Veuve Clicquot Brut Yellow Label NV
Pronounced Verv Klee-Koh.
With sales figures to match, the Veuve Clicquot Brut Yellow Label (sometimes spelt in full as Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Brut) is No. 1 in the US! But behind those dazzling numbers is an incredible story of resilience. The Veuve Clicquot house was founded in 1772 in the Champagne city of Reims, and has its heroine Madame Clicquot to thank for its success. Madame Clicquot (full name Barbe Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin) is credited with having made the first known Vintage Champagne (1810), and would improve upon the Champagne-making process with innovations such as the riddling table which helped to produce visually clear wines, later even making the first known blended Rose Champagne by blending red and white wines. Despite the immense setbacks she faced - "Veuve" taken to mean "Widow" - she would lose her husband at just 27 years old and yet would rise up to the her role in leading the family's Champagne house, even making great strides in establishing not just her wines in the royal courts of Europe, and in particular Russia, but in truth did a great deal to uplift the branding of Champagne as one affiliated with high society.
The striking signature yellow label of Veuve Clicquot's Brut was created in 1835 to distinguish it as being the house's dry-style (Brut) Champagne, which was pivotal in a time when Champagnes had typically contained a much higher dosage (Fun Fact: In 2008, Veuve Clicquot discovered hidden away in a Scottish castle an unopened 1893 Yellow Label bottle of the house' Brut - today it is the oldest bottle in the house's collection). Today, the house belongs to the LVMH group. Beyond the flagship Brut Yellow Label, Veuve Clicquot also produces a Rose, along with a sweeter mixology focused Rich series, along with the classic Vintage labels (with highly aged back vintages too under the Cave Privee series) and a prestige La Grande Dame series.
Blend: 50-55% Pinot Noir, 28-33% Chardonnay, 15-20% Meunier
Reserve Wines / Lees Ageing: 30-45% Reserve Wines; 3 years lees ageing (min. 30 months)
Dosage: 9 g sugar / litre
Tasting Notes
Colour: Straw
Aroma: Opens really fresh yet not quite so forward, it's alittle more subtle yet at the same time more precise and elegant. This wet stone minerality comes through first, with then these thinner yet more packed tones of apples, apricots and peaches, really juicy and ripe. There's light tones of purple florals of lilac, accent of lemon zest, with alittle bit of crushed Graham crackers and marzipan.
Taste: Medium-bodied, it comes through rich yet much as it was with its aromas, it's more svelte and more chiselled with then this concentration and density within that structure. Lots of ripe apricots and apples, whilst at the same time this really bright lemony acidity. Really soft and gentle bubbles, it's really fresh and plush, with again that wet stone minerality tracing its outline, with a little sprinkle of crushed Graham crackers. It's really creamy yet at the same time the fruits are not quite bursting forth but are instead really concentrated and almost like a fruit preserve.
Finish: That creaminess carries through, holding that really nice depth and complexity, keeping the structure intact all the way through. Still with those ripe apples and apricots, here alittle bit more of that marzipan and brioche, with also some butter.
Our Thoughts
Really impressive! Rather than digging in with more flavours per se, here the Champagne seems to focus alot more on aspects like structure, depth and complexity - really the finesse of it all! Immediately you'll find it much more subtle but at the same time showcasing more control and restraint, as it unfolds. It's fruit-driven yet rather than crushed ripe fruit, here it's alittle more towards fruit preserves, which are delivered with intention rather than coming through in a rush. It's also more creamy, with a brighter acidity that gives it more lift, but really more noticeable than anything else is how it's more balanced, with the fruit co-existing with the minerality, the breadiness and confectionaries, the florals and the nuttiness. It's like a velvety robe on the palate, really rich, yet at the same time with alot more going on.
Rating: 8.5/10
|
Score/Rating Scale :
|
Champagne Review: Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Reserve NV
Pronounced Nee-ko-lah Fway-yat.
The Champagne that's captured the heart of the French people, Nicolas Feuillatte's Brut Reserve is the country's best-selling Champagne, and ranks third in terms of worldwide volume. Now very interestingly - and much unlike many of the Champagne houses we'll see today - Nicolas Feuillatte was in fact a Parisian entrepreneur who grew up in a family of wine merchants and yet would make his money in the US coffee trade before returning to France in 1976 to start his Champagne house! The idea was in fact to produce a Champagne for his American friends, and would quickly win over the likes of the Kennedy's, with Jackie Kennedy and her second husband Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis in particular highly favouring the Champagne - this of course helped propel Nicolas Feuillatte into unparalleled stardom!
Feuillatte being ever the entrepreneur, would later bring together a large collective of growers that would come to form the Centre Vinicole de la Champagne, a powerhouse cooperative in the region, eventually selling his house to the group. Today, Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne remains as the largest union of Champagne cooperatives (under the TEVC name), representing some 6,000 growers!
Blend: 40% Pinot Noir, 40% Meunier, 20% Chardonnay
Reserve Wines / Lees Ageing: 25-30% Reserve Wines; 3-4 years lees ageing (min. 35 months)
Dosage: 4-6 g sugar / litre
Tasting Notes
Colour: Straw
Aroma: It opens with a plume of a bouquet, really expressive here with big toasty and bready scents, also with some of that roasted almonds. At the back, there's alittle bit more of those apples, really light and delicate, yet delivering alittle of that fruitiness. There's a little bit of a white flower garnish around the top, maybe a very gentle squeeze of lemon.
Taste: Light to medium bodied, it's really refreshing, leaning towards a lighter more fresh style. Lots of green apples, tinges of lemon, it's really quite packed with fruit juices with just a little bit of acidity and tartness. The bubbles here are really small and fine, yet at the same time quite firm.
Finish: Really crisp and clean, the fruit juices come through but recede quickly. Light bit of chalky minerality that lingers.
Our Thoughts
This is definitely a lighter style of Champagne, it's really drinkable or sessionable, it's clean and crisp, really delicate and bright. It's the sort that you can keep flowing all through the day and find yourself able to keep going and not tire of! It doesn't necessary leave a strong impression nor does it try to, instead it aims to be the lifeblood of the party and keep everyone going, where it serves as the hydration canvas of choice. It leans brighter, fresher, more straightforward, and with a shorter length, yet at the same time it's quick, it's delicate, it does the job and it does it to a tee, where you still do find it elegant and clean, certainly well made and intentionally designed as such, and articulated as much!
Rating: 7/10
|
Score/Rating Scale :
|
Champagne Review: G. H. Mumm Cordon Rouge Brut NV
Pronounced G. H. Moom.
Founded by the three Mumm brothers originally from Germany who had settled in Champagne and had thus established their family's maison, the estate is most recognisable for the red Cordon Rouge sash donned on its labels that is inspired by the French Legion of Honour award. Under the helm of Georges Hermann Mumm - the G. H. in G. H. Mumm - the house gained much success in the 1850's having become the official supplier of Champagnes for the royal house of Queen Elizabeth II, thus receiving the Royal Warrant. It's since become affiliated with historic events such as the French Antarctic Expedition, as well as celebrations from the Kentucky Derby to the Melbourne Cup. Today G. H. Mumm belongs to the French Pernod Ricard drinks groups.
Beyond the flagship G. H. Mumm Cordon Rouge Brut, the house also produces a sweeter Demi-Sec, a Rose, a span of Brut Millesimes (Vintage), as well as a Blanc de Blancs and Blanc de Noirs label.
Blend: 45% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay, 25% Meunier
Reserve Wines / Lees Ageing: 25-30% Reserve Wines; 2.5 years lees ageing (min. 20 months)
Dosage: 8 g sugar / litre
Tasting Notes
Colour: Straw
Aroma: It opens immediately bright and and lemony, with quite a bit of lemon zest, combining with the creaminess to give lemon meringue. That said it's rather delicate and light, with just a little bit of doughiness at the base. It's really clean and fresh, with also this slightly grassy quality about it.
Taste: Medium-bodied, still really zesty and bright with that acidity, here with more on green apples and pears to go with the lemony notes. It starts off very fizzy, yet still quite delicate. With time there's more on fresh peaches and white florals backed by alittle bit more of a baked fruit character.
Finish: It gets alittle bit more bready here, although not quite so forward with it. Now with alittle more creaminess which as it recedes shows more chalkiness. The bubbles dissipate pretty quickly. Clean, bright finish.
Our Thoughts
A pretty fresh and straightforward Champagne that's clean and delicate, with a more linear and simple flavour profile. It's very distinctly bright with its acidity, really packing in those lemony notes, with even those green apples and pears adding to that tartness. It's zippy although with some creaminess to give it a more rounded and approachable, supple texture. It's pretty easy drinking with perhaps alittle more body here. This nevertheless comes off alittle bit of a contradiction, it seems designed to be fresh and light, but has some of those denser notes that goes in another direction, with altogether a flavour profile that feels somewhat stretched.
Rating: 6/10
|
Score/Rating Scale :
|
Champagne Review: Laurent Perrier La Cuvee Brut NV
Pronounced Lo-ron Peh-ree-ay. The "t" in Laurent is silent!
With more than 200 years under its belt, the Laurent Perrier story finds its start in 1812 with one Andre-Michel Pierlot, a cooper who wanted to build his own Champagne house. When Pierlot passed, the house would be carried forward by his cellar master Eugene Laurent, who in turn would hand over the business to his wife Mathilde Perrier - and hence Laurent Perrier. Mathilde was incredibly forward sighted and saw that whilst the Russians loved high dosage Champagnes - really sweet wines! - the British were being left out, as they had preferred something far more dry. Consequently, Mathilde would create the Grand Vin Sans Sucre (or sugar-free Champagne) and thus helped to fortify the movement towards what we know today as Brut Nature (that's even less sugar than Brut)!
Into the WWII, the house would be acquired by Marie-Louise de Nonancourt, heiress to the successful Lanson family of Champagne merchants. Her son, Bernard de Nonancourt upon returning from war, would take over Laurent Perrier and succeeded in turning the maison around both in terms of quality and marketing, as well as helping to define the house's signature style. He would help modernise the estate's winemaking and would also emphasise focus on the house's no-dosage Champagnes. Today the Laurent Perrier estate is run by Bernard's two daughters, Alexandra and Stephanie. Laurent Perrier categorises its wines into three aspects of its craftsmanship - the blending of Reserve Wines (both Vintage and Non-Vintage, including the iconic Grand Siecle), Maceration (it's Rose) and Non-Dosage (Blanc de Blanc and Ultra Brut).
Blend: 50-55% Chardonnay, 30-35% Pinot Noir, 10-15% Meunier
Reserve Wines / Lees Ageing: 15-30% Reserve Wines; 4 years lees ageing
Dosage: 9 g sugar / litre
Tasting Notes
Colour: Straw
Aroma: It’s fresh and rich, with a very complete bouquet of both brighter and deeper tones. At the top there’s a light muskiness of gooseberries on a bed of honey, some breadiness and doughiness too, almost a little buttery. This is seamlessly cupped by a richer and more concentrated aroma of bramble of blackberries and a slew of summer berries that gives it that depth and firmness. Some citrus garnishes the outline, incredibly fragrant with all these florals, very balanced as well, and also with a side of chalky minerality.
Taste: Good richness here, it’s certainly coming off fuller - yet not flabby or ripe - it’s firm and concentrated, with heft without heaviness. Honey, tinge of citrus, back to the bramble of blackberries and some strawberry puree. It’s still alittle bit bready with a mineral cleanness to it. It’s fresh and rich yet with a lifted tautness and energy.
Finish: The bramble persists before letting up to more of that mineral quality of spring water and soda water. More on lemon peels leading into a clean and lightly dry finish. A good long and firm finish that’s lightly crisp as it is resolute.
Our Thoughts
A really lovely and solid Champagne that packs richness and heft to form a holistic experience of both those brighter tones of the classic gooseberries, citrus and honey, and also those deeper and richer tones of blackberries and summer berries. It’s got good presence and yet keeps itself lively, fresh and without being heavy. It’s not over the top or overly ripe or sweet, and in fact keeps itself clean around the contours. This cuvee gives so much more complexity and depth, which really punches above its weight considering the price and the ease of finding it. It’s an incredibly complete Champagne for everyday drinking that has so much to love about it. It’s tasty to a fault!
Rating: 9/10
|
Score/Rating Scale :
|
Champagne Review: Taittinger Brut Reserve NV
Pronounced Tay-tahn-jay. It's a soft "J"!
Now, if you thought 200 years of history was long, try close to 300 years and you'll land at Champagne Taittinger! Taittinger was first founded as Forest-Fourneaux in 1734 by one Jacques Fourneaux who had worked with the local Benedictine monks who had access to amongst the best vineyards at the time (and as such the estate had been planted with Chardonnay's and Pinot Noir's that date back to the 18th Century), and remains one of the oldest Champagne houses that still stands. Yet, it took close to 200 years for it to kick start its modern form when in 1932, a visionary Pierre Taittinger (who came from a family of wine merchants, and was a high ranking politician in the French National Assembly) would come to acquire the property, having returned from WWI and who had fallen in love with the estate's Chateau de la Marquetterie. He would of course rename the estate Taittinger and persisted as a family-run house whose reputation was founded upon an expertise with Chardonnay, as well as the ageing of its Champagnes in its deep, historic Roman chalk cellars that run underground (those crayeres). Pierre's sons would eventually take over the reins to the business and grow the estate's repute substantially, before expanding into other areas of hospitality (where it owned several iconic hotels in France).
Unfortunately due to administrative issues that bogged down the estate, it was thus sold in 2005 to the American private equity group Starwood Capital - although that sale lasted all of one year before it caused much disgruntlement within the Champagne community with regards to a foreign party dabbling into this area of cultural French renown, resulting in Taittinger being bought back by the Taittinger family, with just its hospitality assets disposed. Since then Taittinger would make big strides, most notably being the first majority French owner to establish a sparkling wine estate in England! The project is known as Domaine Evremond and has made massive waves in the community for how big of a landmark event it is!
Beyond its flagship Taittinger Brut Reserve, the house is perhaps most famous for its Comtes de Champagne prestige cuvee, which is an homage to Thibaud IV who legend has it was the first to plant Chardonnay vines in the 13th Century as the Count of Champagne! Aside from a number of prestige cuvees, Taittinger also produces Rose's, Vintage Champagne and a Demi-Sec (called Nocturne) amongst others.
Blend: 40% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir, 25% Meunier
Reserve Wines / Lees Ageing: 20% Reserve Wines; 3-4 years lees ageing (min. 36 months)
Dosage: 10 g sugar / litre
Tasting Notes
Colour: Straw
Aroma: It opens with big, bright citrusy aromas, of lemons, grapefruit, orange zest, yet here it's balanced out by that toasty doughiness of brioche with also that toasted almond nuttiness. It's already creamy here, with this plushness, further lifted by white florals, as well as some lighter orchard fruit notes of red apples.
Taste: Medium-bodied, it's got really fine bubbles with a really plush and velvety mousse. Here the citruses are accompanied by apples and pears, with then also those lemons and grapefruit. It's really fresh with bright yet fine and gentle acidity. It's very distinctly energetic and lively, with this linear drive that's at once somewhat zingy but also really firm and intense. The body is really creamy too, with again some of that toastiness of almonds and some doughiness. It shows a pretty impressive chiselled structure with also alot of momentum.
Finish: Persistent freshness of lemons, more doughiness as well, with a clean finish that's just alittle grippy in its texture.
Our Thoughts
This is a really intense and incredibly vivacious Champagne! It's really forward with all of that citruses, paired really nicely with the creaminess of the body and the gentle yet apparent toastiness and nuttiness, it comes off really well integrated and balanced. Make no mistake it's got a really bracing acidity and yet it's somehow made so approachable with those aged and oaky notes (from the longer lees ageing as well). At the same time it feels like this bullet train, it's got alot of drive and it sort of comes at your with full speed, really confident and again, intense. Finally, it shows great structure, you can very easily find that precision, it's very clean around the edges, and yet isn't at all superficial, it's in fact got great character and charisma!
Rating: 9/10
|
Score/Rating Scale :
|
Champagne Review: Pommery Brut Royal NV
Pronounced Poh-meh-ree.
We keep talking about Brut - it is the most popular style of Champagne today after all! - but who really made Brut a thing? You'd have to thank one Madame Pommery for that! Based in Reims, Pommery started out as in fact a wool trading company in 1858, and would eventually pivot to Champagnes when the wool trade began to lose its lustre. Unfortunately, tragedy struck and its founder Alexandre Louis Pommery would pass away, leaving his wife to figure things out. Yet the formidable Madame Louise Pommery was in fact perhaps the best person to lead the house, and would tap on her experiences growing up in England and decide to forgo the popular sweeter style Champagnes of the time and opt for what we know today as Brut! In 1874, she would produce the Pommery Nature cuvee which became the first commercialised Brut style Champagne, which has since gone on to help establish the style - of course, it was such a contrarian move at the time and hence it was called "Brut" for brutal, in reference to its lack of sugar. It took some time but as we know today, the style flourished and would help lift Champagne Pommery into the big leagues of becoming one of the biggest Champagne houses as it stood!
Today, Pommery is owned by the Vranken-Pommery Monopole group, one of the largest Champagne producers in the world. Beyond its flagship Pommery Brut Royal, it also produces a Rose, Vintage Champagne millesimes, and also a very unique Champagne Sur Glace which is designed to be enjoyed on ice!
Blend: Equal parts blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Meunier (30-35% each),
Reserve Wines / Lees Ageing: 27-30% Reserve Wines; 3 years lees ageing (min. 36 months)
Dosage: 9-10 g sugar / litre
Tasting Notes
Colour: Straw
Aroma: It's fresh and lively, yet with also a good richness and rounded firmness. Grapefruit pith, bringing with it an accent of citrusy acidity, it also shows some doughiness and with a buttery quality.
Taste: Medium-bodied with moderate richness, it's quite buttery here with a light minerality and chalkiness. That firm buttery body is led by quite abit of orange pith - more pithy here in fact - with also orange blossoms. Light acidity that's well integrated to the body. Like its aromas, it's once again rich and doughy, accented by that citrusy pith.
Finish: More of that doughiness and orange pith that carries through the finish, here with a gentle bit of honey. There's a light lift that happens on the finish, with a zestiness of grapefruit that lingers.
Our Thoughts
The richness and firmness of this expression is a textural quality that's really enjoyable, superseding any simple taste evaluation. It's consistently rich and firmly supple, with this soft doughiness that's given a little lift with the citrusy aspects. The acidity here is gentle and well-integrated into the body, certainly not zippy or sharp. And on the whole this presents a very enjoyable Brut where you don't even think about the lack of sweetness because it's so well backed up by all this supple richness. It's fresh and lifted, without coming close to being thin or high toned, ending off with the slightest sense of sweetness and zest. Very, very enjoyable!
Rating: 8/10
|
Score/Rating Scale :
|
Champagne Review: Bollinger Special Cuvee Brut NV
Pronounced Bol-an-jey.
We come now to our favourite 007 British spy, James Bond's favourite Champagne - and that's none other than Bollinger! Established in 1829, the estate was first created as a result of an inheritance of a parcel of Grand Cru land in the Aÿ cru of Champagne. A French aristocrat by the name of Athanase de Villermont had inherited the land and yet as it turns out, was restricted by his noble status from participating in the wine trade! To solve this conundrum, he would partner up with one Joseph Bollinger, a German wine merchant, and Paul Renaudin, a local grower and enthusiast, to form Renaudin-Bollinger & Cie (because obviously de Villermont could not make obvious his involvement in the business!). Joseph Bollinger would marry de Villermont's daughter, with their sons eventually taking over. A landmark partnership with London wine merchant Ludwig Mentzendorff in 1858 would endear the house greatly with the British, which would ultimately result in Bollinger receiving a Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria in 1884!
Now there's no talking about Bollinger without touching upon the deep significance and impact of Madame Lily Bollinger, who led the house for three decades (1941-1971) and who saw to its pivot back to growth after WWII, along the way not only helping to establish Bollinger as amongst the world's most renowned but in so doing would uplift the world's affinity for Champagnes! Delving into her highlight reel, Madame Bollinger would courageously protect her employees and the vineyards too during the Nazi occupation, and thereafter once the war ended, would travel around the world to promote Bollinger and Champagne as a drink of choice! She was said to be witty, humble, compassionate and deeply focused on raising the quality of Bollinger's Champagnes. In so doing, she would bring about numerous innovations, such as the creation of the Bollinger R.D., which stands for Recemment Degorge, introducing a long lees ageing Champagne released at low dosage which has now become the marker of quality, whilst also pioneering the stating of disgorgement dates on the bottle that allows consumers to know with assurance how long a Champagne was aged. She would also create the Vieilles Vignes Françaises which showcased historic old vines and the depth they could produce! Her incredible work is why she's known as the First Lady of Champagne!
Now, Bollinger is renowned for being a master of Pinot Noir, and through that expertise, has developed numerous iconic cuvees. Beyond the flagship Special Cuvee NV, Bollinger has also as mentioned the R.D. which features long lees aged Champagnes, the Vieille Vignes Françaises which is a Blanc de Noir made of historic old vines, and then also its Grande Annee, which is the house's Vintage Champagne, that also comes in the form of a rose. Finally, Bollinger has even begun producing a still red wine from Champagne, the Coteaux Champenois La Cote aux Enfants!
Blend: 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, 15% Meunier
Reserve Wines / Lees Ageing: 40-50% Reserve Wines; 3 years lees ageing (min. 36 months)
Dosage: 8-9 g sugar / litre
Tasting Notes
Colour: Straw
Aroma: It opens gentle and soft, yet aromatic with this floury plushness. It's carried then by honey drizzled onto baked apples and pears, with also a lighter side of green orchard fruits. Soft touches of doughiness and little nobs of butter, with a dusting of toasted almonds too, there's also a backing of some chalky minerality. It's soft yet supple.
Taste: Medium-bodied here, it sports a really good richness, really firm, compact and composed, yet at the same time plush and velvety. The bubbles here are firm yet delicate against its body. More of that honey drizzled onto green orchard fruits of apples and pears, a little zing of grapefruit and muskiness of gooseberries, with then also a dollop of cream and some rustic hay. The acidity is bright and bracing, yet threads on the surface of the really broad and firm, almost muscular body. It's quite buttery and biscuity, with again a line of wet stone minerality. The acidity is bright and bracing, yet threads on the surface of the really broad and firm, almost muscular body. It's quite buttery and biscuity, with again a line of wet stone minerality. With time, it begins to become more apparent that there's a canvas beneath of baked apples and pears that brings with it this rich and buttery savouriness.
Finish: More candied here with tones of maltose, it keeps that persistent bright and lifted acidity that gives it an elegance, wrapped around that richer and firmer body. More of those green pears and just abit of gooseberries. It's plush through the finish, with some light savouriness of bruised apples that lingers.
Our Thoughts
A really powerful and bold expression! The Bollinger is the definition of an iron fist in a velvet glove! It really packs that intensity and tension that's matched by that firmness and broadness of the body, wrapped around with this bracing acidity! It's got that oomph that really catches your attention! It's really fruit dominated, with this denser fruit body and core, focused on baked apples and pears, with also some oxidative qualities towards the finish of savoury bruised apples, which is then garnished with little flecks of complexity from light notes of cream and wet stone and chalky minerality, to richer layers of buttery biscuits, doughiness and toasted almonds. Perhaps the only thing that might be alittle bit of a throw-off is that some might find the green grassiness that comes through at times to be alittle out of place. The bubbles are firm yet breaks under the greater firmness of the body, with the Champagne really showcasing quite the depth, charisma and character. Its muscular and broad, yet not quite heavy or lavish with an outpouring of honeyed fruit. It finishes clean and firm, with the acidity and savouriness lingering. I think this is a really solid pick if you're looking to impress someone or to hold down a special meal or business lunch! It's certainly got the self-assurance and sturdiness to match the occasion!
Rating: 8.5/10
|
Score/Rating Scale :
|
Champagne Review: Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve NV
Pronounced Sharl Hide-sick.
Now to understand Charles Heidsieck, you've got to meet Champagne Charlie. Charles Camille Heidsieck (and if you're wondering, yes, he is indeed the grand nephew of the founder of fellow Grand Marque Piper Heidsieck, and also cousin to the founders of Heidsieck & Co Monopole!) was an incredibly charismatic entrepreneur who had sought to forge his own path. Having come from a family of Champagne merchants (also his father had famously rode on horse to Moscow just ahead of Napoleon's advancing army, bringing with him cases of his Champagne and an order book, ready to sell bubblies and celebrate with whichever side would win the battle), Charles would at just 29 years old establish a Champagne house of his own, having spotted a major opportunity with the American market.
Sensing that he would have to act fast, Charles would employ the help of an agent in the US who would quickly get his Champagnes into the glasses of would be fans. This was a roaring success and when Charles returned to New York five years later, he was met with incredible fervour, with everything from newspaper headline coverage to banquets held in his honour - this became the start of his persona, Champagne Charlie. Unfortunately, this did not last as the onset of the American Civil War saw Charles having to quickly sail to America in order to receive payment for his Champagnes - in a terrible twist of fate, Charles would go on nothing short of a crazy trip through America, having had to move in secrecy and taking all sorts of hidden trails, only to find out that his customers had no way to repay him other than for Charles to take payment in cotton which would ultimately be intercepted and destroyed, with all of it culminating in Charles being incidentally implicated in passing along a secret message that would have him imprisoned in Louisiana for suspicions of being a spy! This even became a matter of international diplomatic crisis between the American and French government, and would later come to be known as the Heidsieck Incident. Nevertheless French President Napoleon III (nephew of that Napoleon, and the man behind the 1855 Bordeaux Classification) would end up convincing American President Abraham Lincoln to let Charles go.
When Charles had finally found his way back to France, he was terribly demoralised, yet in another twist of fate, an American missionary would hand him a letter from his former agent in New York who had expressed regret over what had happened, and would hand him a stack of land deeds to a whole third of Denver, Colorado, as compensation. As Denver bloomed into one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the America West, Charles was thus able to sell the land, repay his debts and relaunch his Champagne house - and thus Charles Heidsieck remains more successful than ever today!
At the core of Charles Heidsieck's success is the emphasis on ageing its Champagnes and the extensive use of reserve wines. Where others invested in their vineyards, Charles instead focused on expanding his ancient chalk cellars (the crayeres), where he would significantly age his Champagnes for longer and would also pioneer the dating of bottles with then the use of larger proportions of reserve wines! Today, that practice lives on through the house's wide range of Brut and Rose cuvees, as well as its Vintage Champagne millesimes and Blanc de Blancs, with also a recent addition of a still Coteaux Champenois Ambonnay red wine.
Blend: 40% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay, 20% Meunier
Reserve Wines / Lees Ageing: 40-50% Reserve Wines (with the reserve wines 10 years old on average); 3-4 years lees ageing (sometimes going up to 6-7 years)
Dosage: 7-9 g sugar / litre
Tasting Notes
Colour: Straw
Aroma: It opens really fresh and yet firm and compact, with immediately plumes of white florals, vanillic lemon meringue, backed by dried apples. It's rather candied, with drizzles of honey and maltose, with an accent of tartness of green pears and fresh peaches. There's that doughiness with also a light dusting of marzipan and roasted almonds, alittle bit of toastiness as well. It's bright yet really structured and chiselled with a richness within.
Taste: Medium-bodied, it's vibrant and intense, again a really rich yet very firm and compact body, with fine bubbles. Heaps of apples and pears, apricots too, accented by lemon zest and green apples that gives it a light tartness. The acidity is bright yet broad and rounded, wrapped around the sturdy body. At the back is that doughiness, with also more on marzipan, garnished by little bouquets of white florals.
Finish: More zesty into the finish with lots of lemon meringue, here the cold nobs of butter and doughiness come through more vividly, with a very firm and fresh finish. Theres a light chalkiness beneath that creaminess and citruses. Lingering green apples carry through a gentle tartness.
Our Thoughts
Really impressive! This Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve feels incredibly complete and multi-dimensional, with such character! Right away, you get this sense of its incredibly firm and compact body that's not just really satisfying in terms of texture, but evokes that well-built, muscular, weighty (not heavy!) charisma. It's able to hold its own and commands this presence from its really rich yet sturdy body! There's also always this sense of balance and complexity, with the aromas and taste showing a composition of scents and flavours that work in harmony without having to compete, lead or be subdued. It's also really fresh, yet with the acidity bright without being slicing. At its core is this vanillic, creamy lemon meringue that exudes this tartness, and then always garnished with dried apples and pear preserves, white florals, with this light whiff of toastiness, and then of course those lovely plucky doughiness and marzipan. Into the finish, it continues to hold that firmness, with those lees ageing notes of cold butter and doughiness really expressive and vivid. It the ends firm, fresh and clean with a gentle yet precise tartness.
Rating: 9.5/10
|
Score/Rating Scale :
|
Champagne Review: Piper-Heidsieck Cuvee Brut NV
Pronounced Pipe-er Hide-sick or Peep-ur Hide-sick.
Let's now take a step back and go right to the Heidsieck source - Heidsieck & Co! Heidsieck & Co's story begins in 1785, when Florens-Louis Heidsieck, a German cloth merchant in Reims who was the son of Lutheran minister, had turned to winemaking and had begun making his own wines, which in turn fuelled Heidsieck's dream of making a Champagne fit for a queen. Heidsieck would quickly achieve said dream when in 1788, he would present his Champagne to Queen Marie Antoinette! Heidsieck would eventually invite his nephew, Christian Heidsieck to take over the business. In turn, Christian's widow would eventually marry one Henri-Guillaume Piper who was said to be an incredible marketer that drove sales for the house, which resulted in the addition of his name to form Piper-Heidsieck.
Where Champagne houses often sought to win over royalty or key politicians, Piper-Heidsieck instead lent itself to 20th Century Hollywood glamour, with Marilyn Monroe said to have stocked the Champagne in her kitchen, whilst Piper-Heidsiecck would also become the official Champagne for the Cannes Film Festival! The house has a big emphasis on sustainability and is B Corp certified.
Blend: 50-55% Pinot Noir, 30-35% Meunier, 15-20% Chardonnay
Reserve Wines / Lees Ageing: 20-30% Reserve Wines; 2-3 years lees ageing (min. 24 months)
Dosage: 9-11 g sugar / litre
Tasting Notes
Colour: Straw
Aroma: Really bright and fresh, this packs in all those green orchard fruits of green apples and pears, along with zesty lemons and also peaches. It's backed by a higher toned light creaminess, really crisp. There's a light touch of breadiness, with some of that brioche character, also alittle bit of toasted almonds and nutmeg, really deliate here. It's further garnished with bouquets of white florals. With time, that red apple quality comes through alittle more strongly, with a bit of savouriness of bruised apples.
Taste: Medium-bodied, it's immediately dry with a lighter, fresher body that's more crisp. The bubbles are really fine and velvety, as well as being rather persistent. Those bright, zesty citruses really stand out, with then a really thin layer of baked apple savouriness and apple and pear juice that forms the middle, backed up by a slightly more dense biscuity quality, with also some more toastiness of brioche. Light drizzle of honey that gives it a little bit of a candied quality yet not quite sweet. The acidity is really bright and the body really clean, yet it doesn't come off sharp or overtly streaky, leaning towards more of a tart and biscuity profile.
Finish: More mineral here, with more slate that comes through as the really clean body easily recedes to reveal that backbone, leaving also more of a citrusy grapefruit zestiness. It's a clean and light finish.
Our Thoughts
This is a lighter style Champagne that is clearly meant to focus on ease of drinking, and really supplying that bright acidity to make you go back for glass after glass without being worn down. It's rather uncomplicated and straightforward, fresh and easygoing, leaning more towards citruses and green orchard fruits of tart apples and pears, with just a bit of an oxidative savouriness of bruised fruit. That said, I do appreciate that toasty and slightly richer, more buttery biscuity, brioche-y quality that seems to underscore the lighter tones, which gives it a satisfying sense of balance, and also an added richness that makes it more approachable. It almost feels like its designed to be the supporting character to your conversation, where you don't have to unpack it nor will it demand your attention, yet it comfortably fuels your evening!
Rating: 7.5/10
|
Score/Rating Scale :
|
Champagne Review: Perrier Jouet Grand Brut NV
Pronounced Peh-ree-ay Zhoo-et.
Perrier-Jouët is perhaps most recognisable for its really pretty floral aesthetic - those are Japanese white anemones by the way! - and comes as a result of a chance encounter in Paris where an Art Nouveau artist was commissioned to capture the "Belle Epoque" of the turn of the 19th Century! Based in Epernay, Perrier-Jouët was founded in 1811 by one Pierre-Nicolas Perrier, a cork supplier, and his wife Rose Adelaide Jouët, the daughter of a Calvados maker. Having just gotten married a year before, the couple would thus use Perrier's family's vineyards in the crus of Dizy, Chouilly and Aÿ, to begin making their own Champagnes. Adele would tend to the vines and make the wines, whilst Nicolas would handle the sales and marketing, eventually handing the business over to their son Charles Perrier, who in turn would leave the estate in the hands of his nephews, Henri and Octave Gallice. The Gallice brothers were big art lovers, but whilst Henri stayed at the estate to make the wines, Octave was having the best time of his life in Paris living it up! Nevertheless, it was there that he came to meet Emile Gallé, who would draw from his love for botany to design four magnums enamelled with the now iconic Japanese white anemones. Today the house belongs with the French drinks giant Pernod Ricard.
Perrier-Jouët is particularly known for its love of Chardonnay, and hence beyond its Grand Brut, it produces also a Blanc de Blancs and a Rose, all three of the house styles also featuring a prestige Belle Epoque version.
Blend: 40% Pinot Noir, 40% Meunier, 20% Chardonnay
Reserve Wines / Lees Ageing: 20% Reserve Wines; 2 years lees ageing (min. 24 months)
Dosage: 10-11 g sugar / litre
Tasting Notes
Colour: Straw
Aroma: Big bouquets of white florals that's joined by fresh peaches, with also a citrusy outline of orange peels. At the base is some light tones of richer honey, with more of that creaminess, and also a really delicate whiff of bready toastiness. Really aromatic, super fresh, quite powerful in fact! It feels like a garden breeze! There's also a slight herbaceous quality of dried thyme and a slight petrolic bit of truffles as well.
Taste: Medium-bodied here, leading with more red apples, as well as some darker fruits of plumes and prunes, accented by orange and lemon zest, alittle bit of that grapefruit bitterness too. There's a drizzle of honey, with more of those bready notes, giving the body a good richness, more rounded and luscious too. The acidity is rather gentle, the bubbles really fine and soft. With time that lemon zestiness really holds, giving it this zingy tension.
Finish: More honeyed and bready here, rich through the finish, though not quite syrupy or fuller bodied. There's a stream of lemon juice here, the acidity bright yet rounded, giving it still that tartness. As it recedes, that chalkiness begins to come through more distinctly. Seamless and clean finish, it's got good length and really firm.
Our Thoughts
True to form, the Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut feels like a summer garden party, big big bouquets of white florals on the nose, with an overall lean towards brighter and fresher fruits, it's definitely more citrusy and therefore tart, although this is rounded out and made really approachable by the overt richness and breadiness that persists. It's rather generous with that breadiness and honey, instead of say orchard fruits, and isn't quite full bodied, but definitely has a lusciousness about it. Beyond the bright citruses and florals, it's actually much more mellow - which some might find alittle straightforward, with what seems to be that focus on delivering a more honeyed, baked goods body. That said, I really enjoyed that richness of the body, as well as the understated tension within, which altogether led to a really lengthy, plush and firm finish. That said, on the nose it's rather intriguing with this herbaceousness and petrolic quality of dried thyme and truffle, which I can see playing into the whole fresh, foresty, garden profile, although I could imagine some might find it alittle peculiar.
Rating: 8/10
|
Score/Rating Scale :
|
Champagne Review: Lanson Le Black Creation (Lanson Black Label)
Pronounced Lan-suhn.
To understand the story of Lanson, we must first talk about our next Champagne house, Delamotte. Beginning with one François Delamotte, who was a military captain and magistrate, who had come to acquire large swaths of vines, having been influenced by his father-in-law who too was winegrower in Aÿ. And so Delamotte would establish his own Champagne house, Delamotte Pere & Fils in 1760. The estate would eventually pass into the hands of Nicolas Louis Delamotte, the youngest son of François, and who would return from his military tour having been awarded the high honour of the Order of Malta - which you see as a red cross on Lanson's label! Nicolas was by all accounts an incredibly impressive and charismatic man, and who would even be tasked with overseeing the historic coronation of Charles X in 1825! Now, here's where the Lanson part comes in - Jean-Baptiste Lanson was born to a wealthy farming family who would ultimately find themselves exiled from Germany, and would thus flee to France. Lanson too was excellent at climbing the ranks of the civil service and came to be highly regarded and became a rather high profile individual! As such, it was natural that Delamotte and Lanson would move in the same social circles, and in time Delamotte would offer Lanson a minority partnership in the Delamotte Champagne house. And so when Delamotte had passed on, Lanson would helm the business, and therefore changed its name in 1837 from Delamotte Pere & Fils to Lanson Pere & Fils.
Lanson was incredibly adept at growing the business, and by the late 19th Century, was supplying Champagne to the royal courts of the United Kingdom, Sweden and Spain, the first of whom awarded Lanson the Royal Warrant! Today Lanson is part of the Lanson-BCC group (owned by Bruno Paillard, who also has his own Champagne house) that also owns Champagne houses Boizel, Philipponnat and Heidsieck & Co Monopole, amongst others. Beyond the flagship Lanson Le Black Creation (a Multi-Vintage as opposed to a Non-Vintage, replacing the Lanson Brut NV), the house also produces Rose, Blanc de Blanc, Vintage (Millesime) labels, and is also one of the few major houses to make an organic cuvee Le Green Bio-Organic, with also a single vineyard Clos Lanson expression that comes from the estate's secret one-hectare garden.
Note: Although we try to keep an apples and apples comparison to review primarily review the most popular Brut NV's, several houses have replaced their Non-Vintage with a Multi-Vintage instead, where whilst similar in terms of the use of several vintages within the same cuvee, shifts the focus towards intentional blending as opposed to consistency. Lanson has thus given each Le Black a Creation number, which is meant to indicate a difference from release to release, in terms of both base years and the vintages included.
Blend: 50% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay, 15% Meunier
Reserve Wines / Lees Ageing: 40-45% Reserve Wines; 4 years lees ageing
Dosage: 8 g sugar / litre
Tasting Notes
Colour: Deep Straw
Aroma: It opens really doughy and bready, with also some melted butter, with also a light toastiness and also some toasted almonds. It already is coming through rich, with baked apples and pears, although still lifted, and then balanced against a brighter more citrusy bit of lemon and peaches. At the back there's a gentle reinforcement of some strawberries and blackberries that gives it a firmer base. Crisp and balanced.
Taste: Medium-bodied, definitely firmer and really compact, with also this freshness and crispness. Contrary to its aromas, on the palate it leans much more on green apples and lemons giving that tartness and bright, streaky acidity, followed by a smaller bit of red apples. It's really fresh and bolstered by the richer doughiness and a stream of apple juice, with an overall crisp briskness and some springy tension. It's well-balanced, and with a really soft and gentle fizz.
Finish: Those green fruits and red apples carry through the finish, perhaps backed up by a very light bit of red apple juice. It's more chiselled and clean into the finish, firm and crisp. Really quick finish.
Our Thoughts
A pretty enjoyable Champagne that balances freshness with some body and richness, that gives it this bracing, really brisk quality. The aromas were really enjoyable with that doughiness and toastiness that comes from the lees ageing, although we'll later find that the green fruits here were certainly subdued, and would instead come through bountifully on the palate. It was a little more oxidative on the nose, with then a very fresh palate, that also showed great firmness and tension, which really makes its presence felt. Perhaps the only thing I'd have liked to see was more length, where you get time to really enjoy and experience that richness and let the flavours pan out. Here it was moving alittle fast and so whilst there was that body and great aromas, the flavours came through alittle lighter and shorter. Nevertheless, a very solid Champagne.
Rating: 7.5/10
|
Score/Rating Scale :
|
Champagne Review: Delamotte Brut NV
Pronounced Deh-lah-moh-t, with the "motte" being mote (as in "boat").
As we've seen, the histories of Delamotte and Lanson are inextricably linked - with both houses tracing their starting point to the same moment when François Delamotte had founded his estate. As mentioned (above in the Lanson section), Delamotte would hand the estate down to his incredibly charismatic son Nicolas Louis Delamotte, who would rope in Jean Baptiste Lanson, with the latter eventually helming the estate and renaming it as his own. Consequently, the Delamotte name was retired for nine decades, before it was revived by one Marie-Louise de Nonancourt (who if you recall from the Laurent Perrier section, is credited for revitalising the estate as well), who would give the brand a new home in Mesnil-sur-Oger, focusing its efforts on Chardonnay. By 1988, the revived Delamotte would formally come under the Laurent Perrier group.
Today, Delamotte produces four main cuvees - the flagship Brut, a Rose, a Blanc de Blanc and a Vintage Blanc de Blanc.
Blend: 60% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir, 5% Meunier
Reserve Wines / Lees Ageing: 10-15% Reserve Wines; 3 years lees ageing (min. 36 months)
Dosage: 7-8 g sugar / litre
Tasting Notes
Colour: Straw
Aroma: Really fresh here, lots of apple and pears slices, with also that bit of soft and rich doughiness, even alittle floury and with some little nobs of cold butter. Enveloped around it is also this more exotic purple florals of lavender. At the base is a slight savouriness of bruised apples and a trace of crisp spring water minerality.
Taste: Medium-bodied here, more green, with green pears and green apples, freshly sliced. There's a light drizzle of honey, with again this aromatic bouquet of florals of honeysuckle. It shows a nice richness and plushness to it, really velvety yet firm. With time, more red apples come through, with a more malic quality of those ripe apple cores, yet still rather honeyed.
Finish: Those savoury bruised apples continue on, bringing with it that malic crispness. Yet the body remains plush and honeyed, accented by that crispness. It's seamless through the finish, with a nice firm closing.
Our Thoughts
Bearing some resemblance to the Lanson Le Black (although of course they belong to different stables, yet share a historical origin), the Delamotte Brut features that similar doughiness on the nose, with also more of those tart green fruits and bright acidity coming though on the palate, leaning towards that crisper and more fresh style, with then this bolstering of longer lees ageing (that gives it the doughiness). It feels somewhat like a junior version to the Lanson, yet also at the same time sufficiently different, where with the Delamotte we find more florals throughout, as well as a clearer line of minerality, with perhaps less tension and briskness, or build to the body. Yet at the same time, I did enjoy how the Delamotte felt more unhurried and gave you time to savour the richness of the body.
Rating: 7.5/10
|
Score/Rating Scale :
|
Champagne Review: Louis Roederer Brut Collection
Pronounced Loo-ee Roh-dehr-air.
Founded in 1776 - make it amongst that first wave of 18th century Champagne houses - Louis Roederer was originally founded as Dubois Pere & Fils, with its namesake Louis Roederer himself having inherited the estate from his uncle in 1883, and thereby of course changing its name to his own. Right from the get go, Roederer had a strategy - he would squarely focus on conquering the market outside of France, with a particular focus on Russia, and would also come to realised that the only way he could control the quality of his Champagnes was to own his own vineyards. And so where major houses would employ a negociant model, purchasing fruit from the region's growers, Roederer would steadily acquire a sizeable acreage of vineyards (and specifically in high quality crus such as Montagne de Reims, Vallee de la Marne and the Cote de Blancs)! Now of course, today, given its scale, Louis Roederer has had to purchase fruit from growers, but nevertheless for a large house, it still manages to supply two-thirds of its fruit needs from its own vineyards!
Now, as Roederer got close to the Russians, he would clinch the deal of a lifetime - he was asked by Tsar Alexander II to create a cuvee just for him, however, it had to come in a clear glass bottle (not quite what a winemaker wants because light can harm the wines inside) so that any assassination attempts by poison would be easily detected (Alexander II would eventually be assassinated anyway but for what it's worth, it wasn't because his Champagnes were poisoned) - and this became the creation of one of the best known prestige cuvees, the Cristal. This brought Roederer great success as the official Champagne supplier of the Imperial Court of Russia, unfortunately it was short lived as the Russian Revolution and American Prohibition would severely curtail sales. Thankfully under the helm of Camille Olry-Roederer, the widow of the heir of the Roederer family, the estate survived and eventually rebuilt itself, and today continues to be led by the Rouzaud family.
Louis Roederer is also particularly notable for its emphasis on biodynamic farming, and has also more recently moved away from Non-Vintage (it's Brut Premier has been discontinued as of 2021) to its 'Collection' Multi-Vintage, and also produced a Demi-Sec (Carte Blanche), an assortment of Vintage labels (Brut, Brut Nature, Rose and Blanc de Blancs), with then of course its prestige cuvee being the Cristal. This is therefore our second Multi-Vintage label of the article, and we decided to include it anyway because Louis Roederer had once carried a Brut NV, which was replaced by the Collection.
Blend: 40-42% Chardonnay, 35-40% Pinot Noir, 18-26% Meunier
Reserve Wines / Lees Ageing: 31-36% Perpetual Reserve; 10% Reserve Wines, 3-4 years lees ageing.
Dosage: 7-8 g sugar / litre
Tasting Notes
Colour: Straw
Aroma: Immediately evocative with quite the burst of fruit and white florals. There's already lots of apples and pears, peaches and plums, really juicy, joined by a more bright and citrusy lemon, which is then garnished by lots of white flowers. It's fresh and rich, with then this base of toasted almonds, nobs of cold butter and some breadiness, underscored by a line of chalky minerality with a splash of sea spray. It's powerfully aromatic and quite generous, presented with this fresh and lifted, very elegant sort of finesse.
Taste: Medium-bodied, it's here lush and rich, again really generous, as it was on the nose. The acidity here is bright yet smoothened and rounded, wrapped around a body of juicy plums, peaches, apples and pears, again accented by that citrus grapefruit. It's plush and creamy, which is enhanced by that supple flour-y doughiness, alittle bit of butter and almonds here as well. There's a very slight streaky zing of green apples too, and a splash of salinity of oyster shells and wet stone. Really fresh and elegant, with then a luscious and creamy fizz, that's soft and velvety. Still crisp.
Finish: Those fresh citruses and minerality of wet stone and oyster shells carry on through the finish, floated on by that rich creaminess. Here it takes a more chalky turn, with then also some marzipan and nougat, with an air of orange zest. Long, really crisp yet rich and firm finish.
Our Thoughts
A most impressive and stunning Champagne! Of course expect Collection to Collection variation as the base year that anchors the cuvee changes. Yet, here we find an incredibly powerful and charismatic Champagne that is refined and elegant with an understated complexity. It feels very intentional and almost purposeful, where you can distinctly tell that it's aiming for a particular profile. On the nose, it's fresh and arranged in a harmonious bouquet, with high tones of white florals and citrus, that's then giving this juicy core of orchard and stone fruit, wrapped around by a layer of richer doughiness, and outlined by this really precise line of clear minerality. It's very impressive! The palate is luxurious and fresh, really generous yet at the same time given again this really elegant structure, that's well-defined yet not quite chiselled and bracing. It's layered with those juicy fruits, brightened up by the citruses, with those lovely and beguiling flour-y doughiness, and again those little bits of complexity of oyster shells, butter and almonds. Getting into the finish, it's unhurried, you get to enjoy all of that richness and structure, not quite so linear but with a good cadence, taking you through that really long and also compact, rich and crisp finish, that's super satisfying!
Rating: 9.5/10
|
Score/Rating Scale :
|
Champagne Review: R de Ruinart Brut NV
Pronounce Rwee-nar, or Roo-ee-nar.
And now we come to the oldest established Champagne house - that is the one and only Ruinart! Of all the Champagnes we've talked about today, Ruinart takes the cake for being the most historic! Founded in 1729 in Reims, Ruinart was established by one very enterprising Nicolas Ruinart, who had took heed from his uncle, Dom Thierry Ruinart, a Benedictine monk who had seen how popular Champagnes were getting in Paris, and would thus establish the Maison Ruinart. This was particularly made feasible when it was ruled that wines could now be shipped in bottles rather than barrels, which allowed greater mileage of the Champagnes which could now be brought to further away lands. Initially, Nicolas Ruinart had operated a textiles business, and had considered gifting the Champagnes to his customers, but demand had grown so substantially that just a few years later, Nicolas would decide to forgo the textiles business and focus entirely on Champagnes! As such, the house would acquire 8 km of deep Roman chalk mines that would serve as its cellars (crayeres), and along the way would find itself a substantial patron of the arts, even having commissioned art from the likes of legendary artist Alphonse Mucha! Ruinart would eventually come under the Moet et Chandon stable in 1963 and has resided there ever since!
A specialist in Chardonnay, Ruinart produces Brut, Rose and Blanc de Blancs, with also Vintage (Millesime) labels of the varying styles, with its prestige cuvees coming under the Dom Ruinart moniker. The flagship of the house is the R de Ruinart Brut NV.
Blend: 40-45% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay, 10-15% Meunier
Reserve Wines / Lees Ageing: 20-30% Reserve Wines; 3 years lees ageing
Dosage: 7-9 g sugar / litre
Tasting Notes
Colour: Gold
Aroma: Vibrant aromas of lemon curd, followed by the prominence of freshly peeled lemon zest. A bready yeastiness slowly unfolds, intertwined with a subtle sweetness of plump Muscat grapes and crisp green apples. There’s a coastal dimension, an impression of light sea spray along with light chalky notes in the background.
Taste: A pronounced and lively initial zestiness and dryness, but balanced by the accompanying sweetness of green apples. This feels incredibly fresh and crisp, with a lively acidity that quickly gives way to a wet stones – a prominent chalky, slate-like minerality. It’s got a substantial medium-rich mouthfeel along with a pleasant, gentle effervescence.
Finish: Clean and of medium length, concluding with a more austere character and an impressive minerality. Subtly sweet lemon curd makes a reappearance but joined by prominent notes of chalk and flint in a mineral counterpoint. There’s also a refreshing hit of fresh mint.
Our Thoughts
I really enjoyed this Ruinart Brut. It’s a solid and fairly layered Champagne that is immensely drinkable. There’s a great deal of vibrancy and energy, beginning with a burst of dryness and lively acidity, turning to evocative fruit notes and light breadiness before transitioning into a prominent dry, mineral finish. Overall, this is a well-crafted, substantial Champagne that offers both complexity and balance, and it would reliably elevate any evening event.
Rating: 8/10
|
Score/Rating Scale :
|
Champagne Review: Pol Roger Brut Reserve NV
Pronounce Pahl Roh-jay, or Paul Roh-zhay would be close enough!
Arguably the most British of the lot is of course, you guessed it, Pol Roger. The son of a lawyer, Pol Roger was born on Christmas Eve 1831, and would eventually get into the wine trade first as a wholesaler, and when his father had passed on, would at the ripe age of 18, establish his own Champagne house in 1849, having moved from Aÿ to Epernay. From the get go, Pol Roger had his eyes on the English market, and hence emphasised the drier styles that lent better to British palates. Roger would do well to gain favour with aristocrats, having received an imperial and royal warrant for the Austro-Hungarian court. Yet unfortunately just months after he had passed on in 1899, the estate's cellars would tragically collapse, destroying some 1.5 million bottles. Thankfully the estate was able to make it through under the helm of his son Maurice Pol-Roger, who would later even deftly guide the house and Epernay through WWI as the city's mayor. Now, fast forward to a fateful lunch in 1944 Paris, and Odette Pol-Roger, Maurice's daughter-in-law, would gain chance encounter with none other than Sir Winston Churchill. In just that one sitting alone, Churchill was so enamoured by the Champagne, that he became a lifelong ambassador of the Pol Roger house! Today, over 175 years later, the estate continues to stay within an unbroken chain of six generations of the Pol Roger family!
Pol Roger's line-up consists of three ranges that can be categorised by dosage, Vintage and prestige - within its flagship range, there is the Brut, Brut Nature and Demi-Sec, with the Vintage series coming in the styles of Brut, Blanc de Blancs, Rose and the special Sir Winston Churchill cuvee, and finally a prestige range called the Edition Vinotheque that features a Brut, Rose, Blanc de Blanc and also the Sir Winston Churchill cuvee.
Blend: 33% Pinot Noir, 33% Chardonnay, 33% Meunier
Reserve Wines / Lees Ageing: 25-30% Reserve Wines; 4 years lees ageing
Dosage: 9 g sugar / litre
Tasting Notes
Colour: Straw
Aroma: Immediately inviting with bready and honeyed, reminiscent of buttered shokupan or brioche, also toasty and biscuity with a softer bit of doughiness. It's then got these musky fruits of gooseberries and mangosteens, bright zesty lemons, garnished by white florals. Really fresh and rich, giving it a beguiling depth. With time, more red apples and pears and a light touch of savouriness of bruised apples start to show.
Taste: Medium-bodied here, it's immediately noticeably dry, yet revealing this very elegant and delicate body that's still giving a great richness, and in fact almost more focused and concentrated - the flavours come through rather forward and with good intensity. It's texturally plush, super creamy, with this really nice brisk firmness that's balanced against the richness. There's that toasty biscuity notes as an overlay, with also a drizzle of honey, almost like toasted Graham crackers. Then more on gooseberry compote, with then a contrasting bit of savouriness of bruised apples. Light outline of salinity. It's really fresh and balanced, flavour wise and texturally. The bubbles here are really fine, with the acidity fresh and delicate, without tartness.
Finish: That savouriness carries through with more on bruised pears, and also brighter more zesty gooseberries and passionfruit, alittle musky too with that malic savouriness. It's very much still plush through the finish, really creamy, receding through a long and seamless finish. Light lingering bit of lemon cream over brioche, with a little bit of mineral salinity.
Our Thoughts
The Pol Roger Brut Reserve was nothing short of pure finesse! Where most of the Champagnes we've tried thus far have been fruit forward, the Pol Roger Brut Reserve is in fact more bready, biscuity and honeyed, cusped then between an overlay of those brighter fruit notes of gooseberries, lemons, mangosteens and passionfruit, sandwiched by then deeper, more malic tones of bruised apples. Yet what really impressed was how on the palate, from the first sip, it's noticeably dry, which has this effect of showing very distinctly the structure and outline of the body, and almost makes the body that much more concentrated, also exposing the minerality. The body here is therefore more svelte and slender, without this overt generous richness. It's firm and brisk, yet at the same time concentrated and rich, with the flavours really forward. It moves at a pace that is a step faster yet with sufficiently stride that you get to appreciate that richness of the body. It's plush and really creamy, yet at the same time really fresh, starting with an incredibly inviting toasty, buttery, bready nose, and finishing off in a long and seamless receding creaminess, with lemon cream on brioche left to linger. Really fantastic!
Rating: 9/10
|
Score/Rating Scale :
|
Champagne Review: Billecart Salmon Le Reserve (Brut Reserve)
Pronounce Beel-car Sal-mo.
Founded in 1818 in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Billecart-Salmon was the result of the marriage of Nicolas Billecart and Elisabeth Salmon, and till this day they remain one of the very few family-owned Grand Marques. In the early days, it was Louis Salmon, Elisabeth's brother, who was an oenologist and thus had made the wines. Yet along the way, the house would pioneer a number of practices that would prove to raise the bar for Champagne quality, from lower temperature and longer ferments, as well as cold settling, these would result in fresher and more elegant Champagnes. In its time, Billecart-Salmon would gain great recognition, most notably being served at the historic 1900 Exposition Universelle, to having been named Champagne of the Millennium in 1999 in a grand tasting held in Stockholm, with the honour going to Billecart-Salmon's 1959 Cuvee Nicolas-François Billecart - even second place went to the Billecart-Salmon, with the same cuvee but from the 1961 vintage! Till this day, the estate is helmed by the 7th-generation of the founding family, Mathieu Roland Billecart.
Whilst Billecart-Salmon is perhaps best known for its Rose - debuted in 1970 and has become the house's flagship, the estate also produces Brut, Brut Nature, Blanc de Blancs, Demi-Sec and Vintage cuvees. More recently, the estate has focused heavily on a return to ancestral methods of vinification through the use of oak ageing, which has led to an extensive expansion of a new chai à foudres, that is equipped with small and large oak casks, used for its Le Sous Bois cuvee. Formally known as the Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve, it is now called the Billecart-Salmon Le Reserve and features a staggering amount of reserve wines used, with also for the first time on this list, a predominance of Meunier!
Blend: 40% Meunier, 30% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay.
Reserve Wines / Lees Ageing: 50-62% Reserve Wines; over 4 years lees ageing (min. 50 months)
Dosage: 3-4 g sugar / litre (actually Extra Brut)
Tasting Notes
Colour: Straw
Aroma: Opens rather doughy, with a floury air about it, with light, brighter tones of citrus and citrus blossoms, white jasmine florals too, with alittle bit of vanilla cream. Light touches of pears, apricots and pineapple compote, with a side of marzipan and some chopped almonds. It's fresh but also supple and delicate, with an underline of salinity and wet stone.
Taste: Medium-bodied, it's immediately rather dry - it is an Extra Brut in fact, with then fresh yet alittle more concentrated notes of poached apples, apple preserves, with some lemon zest. It's more precise and almost more chiselled yet not sharp or steely, with here the minerality coming through more apparently, of wet stone. It's detailed. supple and rich on the body, yet stays clean within its outline, giving it this sort of leanness and lifted freshness. More of that doughiness, toasted almonds with dollops of honey. It has an overall green pear tartness and some of that bruised apple sour savouriness that colours it.
Finish: It follows linearly into this rich yet clean and supple finish, with a nice firm crispness. It's still that apple preserves and green pears that carries through, with alittle bit of that honey and doughiness. It's a long finish, with that green fruit tartness and honeyed breadiness persisting.
Our Thoughts
A really elegant and at the same time really soulful Champagne! It almost completely changes the dimensions here, almost focusing more on conveying a sense of evocativeness rather than banging on a checklist of flavour notes, and so rather than finding that classic Champagne flavour palette, here they work together to give more of a stirring textural and sensual appeal. There are of course still the orchard fruits, florals, doughiness, nuttiness and minerality, yet here we find more of a plushness of both the bouquets and doughiness on the nose, with then a softer touch of the fruits. It's fresh and supple, yet delicate. On the palate, because of the Extra Brut dryness, it concentrates the body - yet not tightly so - to give a richness of apple pie preserves, and a rustic side of doughiness with toasted nuts and honey, which were just absolutely beautiful. The body is cleaner and more precise yet forgoing that tension or drive, which again comes back to it being more of a sensual Champagne, although it is linear still. There's an overt tartness and sourness of green and bruised fruit that is a little nippy, and yet it ends nicely on this clean and supple, crisp finish.
Rating: 8.5/10
|
Score/Rating Scale :
|
Champagne Review: Canard Duchene Brut NV
Pronounce Ka-nar Doo-shen.
From the little commune of Ludes in Marne, one Leonie Duchene, the daughter of a winemaker, and a Victor Canard, a cooper by trade, would marry and decided that they could put their complementary skills to work in the form of a Champagne house - and thus Canard Duchene was born in 1859! By 1968 they would launch their first Champagne, focused on Pinot Noir, to great acclaim! And just a could of years later, their son Edmond, would in 1890 secure a relationship with the Russian Romanov family to supple Champagnes to Tsar Nicholas II of Russia - this was massive, and is why till this day, Canard Duchene is the only Champagne label to feature the Russian Imperial coat of arms (that double-headed eagle)! The house would later come to be acquired in 1978 by French luxury giant LVMH, and in 2003 would be purchased by the Thienot group that owns its own Champagne Thienot, as well as Joseph Perrier, another Champagne Grand Marque.
Canard Duchene has been heavily involved in sustainable viticulture, and produces the breadth of Champagne styles, from Brut to Extra Brut and Demi-Sec, Rose and also Blanc de Blancs and Blanc de Noirs, as well as Vintage cuvee and an Organic label.
Blend: 45% Pinot Noir, 35% Meunier, 20% Chardonnay.
Reserve Wines / Lees Ageing: 20% Reserve Wines; 2 years lees ageing (min. 23 months)
Dosage: 7-9 g sugar / litre
Tasting Notes
Colour: Light Straw
Aroma: Leans fresher and lighter, with bright notes of lemon curd, green apples and sherbet, with an equally bright acidity, as well as bouquets of white florals. There's a distinct minerality of wet stone, and perhaps just a slight bit of toasted almonds.
Taste: It takes quite a different turn here, developing significantly. Here it's crisp and refreshing, leading with soda water, really mineral of spring water, wet stone and slate. Very much on the dry side, with then these lemony citruses and fresh apples. At the back there's some of that toasted almonds again. The mousse is rather substantial with really fine and creamy, velvety bubbles.
Finish: It carries a surprisingly long finish, clean with those lemony and fresh apple notes, along with still that wet stone minerality.
Our Thoughts
This surprised with quite the presence! It initially comes off rather light, which it does very much lean towards a brighter and fresher style, and yet it has quite the holding power and really carries itself through with such length and subtle persistence! It's very gentle on the nose, and yet on the palate, it's incredibly poised and refreshing, really crisp, yet keeping to a very consistent profile. Even though this comes off as a really easy drink, something to start the session, a party aperitif, but yet it actually strikes this immaculate balance where it's just the right dryness for the body and the style, making it superbly satisfying and enjoyable!
Rating: 8/10
|
Score/Rating Scale :
|
Kanpai!
@111hotpot
Get the latest news, recommendations and exclusive offers, poured straight into your inbox! Subscribe here.
Call for Contributors
Hold Up! ✋
