Perrier Jouët Grand Brut 1998 Champagne
Fresh, precise, lemony perfumed nose. The focused
palate is crisp and savoury. Quite tight with lovely freshness to the
fruit and nice lemony, toasty complexity. There’s a subtle green edge
too. A nice wine that’s youthful at the moment with a real sense of
presence. 90/100 (£31.99 Majestic, Selfridges) 03/07
Champagne Georges Vasselle Grand Cru Bouzy ‘Juline’
NV
Mainly Pinot Noir. Colourfully packaged. Deep gold
colour in the glass. Rich but balanced perfumed nose with a lemony
undercurrent to some bright, bready, toasty notes. The palate is dry and
fresh with toasty depth to the fruit. A beautifully balanced, quite rich
style, with good concentration. 92/100 (£49.35 www.lovelybubbly.co.uk)
05/06
Champagne Lallier Grand Cru 1999
Intense, quite complex nose is tight and yeasty, with
savoury bready notes. The palate is savoury and concentrated with toasty,
herb-tinged lemony fruit and good acidity. Quite a serious savoury style
with a long future ahead of it. 91/100 (£40.71 www.lovelybubbly.co.uk)
05/06
Champagne Oudinot Cuvée Rose
NV
Quite fresh and savoury: not as sweet as many fizzy pinks,
with a tight, savoury, herby acid edge to the strawberry fruit. A good
food fizz. 86/100 (£20.99 Marks & Spencer) 02/07
Champagne Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut NV
Nice complex toasty nose, with a bit of herbiness. Quite
tight. The palate is fresh and complex with tight herby flavours and a
lovely savoury character. Impressive. 91/100 (£25.99 Oddbins, Majestic,
Harrods, Selfridges) 02/07
Champagne
Pommery Brut Royale NV
Lovely
fresh yet deep nose, with vanilla, toast and some sweet honeyed fruit. The
palate is crisp, with lemony freshness and good acidity, as well as warm,
nutty vanilla flavours. Great balance here with good complexity. Nice
stuff. 92/100 (£24.99 Oddbins) 11/06
Champagne
Zoémie de Sousa NV
Disgorged
09/09/05. An unfiltered wine with 50% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir and 10%
Pinot Meunier. Interesting stuff with an aromatic nose that's appley with
some apple crumble notes and a hint of raisins. There's also some lemon
and a hint of cream, The palate is quite open and fruity with an acidic
kick. A little funky, this is a wine with lots of personality in a
slightly oxidised style. 85/100 (Great Western Wines) 11/06
Champagne Bollinger Grand Année 1997
Lovely complex, full-flavoured fizz, with rich, toasty,
nutty flavours and good acidity. Bold but balanced, this is delicious.
92/100 11/06
Champagne Pol Roger Cuvée Winston Churchill 1996
Delicate, fresh and balanced with real finesse. Lemony,
bready and complex. Good acidity. A fantastic wine with finess and
complexity. Precise. 93/100 11/06
Champagne Mumm de Cramant NV Grand Cru Brut Chardonnay
There's a bright, fresh,
perfumed, almost salty quality to the nose. It's tight, savoury and shows
lemony freshness alongside some denser herby, toasty notes. The palate is
bright, fresh and savoury with complex toasty, honeyed, herby depth.
There's precision here, as you'd expect from a Blanc de Blancs, but
there's also some midpalate depth and savoury weight. All in, it's a
really lovely fizz. Bottled with 8 g/l dosage and a lower pressure (4.5
atmospheres versus the usual 6, which makes it less fizzy). Very
good/excellent 93/100 04/07
Champagne Gosset Brut Excellence NV
Lovely open stylish
fruity nose: aromatic, fresh, herby, appley. The palate is elegant and
very fruity with lovely balancing acidity. Itfs complex, full flavoured,
but not at all clumsy. So overall, an unusual combination: a Champagne
that is very fruity, but at the same time complex and stylish. Very
good/excellent 92/100 (Great Western Wine) 03/07
Charles Heidsieck Brut
Réserve Champagne NV
Full yellow colour with hints of green. Lovely nose combines fresh
lemony fruitiness with light toasty richness and hints of honey. Notes of
straw and hay, too. The palate has good concentration with some structure.
Rich flavours of toast and sweet-edged fruit, with good balance. A
beautiful Champagne. Very good/excellent 91/100 12/05
Champagne Drappier Grande Sendrée 1996 Champagne,
France
A full flavoured, complex Champagne that’s rich, full and malty.
Perfumed, toasty nose has some finesse, and I’m guessing that there’s
a fair bit of Pinot Noir here because of the richness. There good fresh
acidity and fine balance on the palate: lovely and quite serious. Very
good/excellent 92/100 04/06
Champagne Drappier Grande Sendrée 1998 Champagne,
France
Quite tight with a dense flavour and good acidity. It’s fresh, with
nice complexity. A full flavoured fizz that has some developing to do.
Delicious now but will be better in a couple of years. Very good/excellent
91/100 04/06
Jacquart Brut Nominée NV, Champagne, France
From magnum. Deep yellow colour. Very fresh, perfumed nose of lemon,
toast and herbs with nice balance between the richness and freshness. The
palate is packed with flavour, showing savoury, toasty evolved characters
along with sharp lemony acidity. Some savoury depth here – a good
food-compatible fizz. Very good/excellent 91/100 04/06
Sainsbury’s
Champagne Premier Cru Extra Dry NV (Duval Leroy)
Really nice nose with some honey and a bit of toast. It’s yeasty and
creamy. The palate is very dry with a nice savouriness. Verging on the
austere. Nicely complex and a highly food compatible style. Very good+
89/100 (£?? Sainsbury) 11/05
Mumm
Rosé Champagne NV
Nice soft full strawberry fruit on the nose. The palate has a nice
richness with soft, full fruit and nice herby complexity. Very
approachable. Very good+ 88/100 (£28.99 Oddbins) 02/06
Heidsieck
& Co Monopole Rosé Champagne NV
Herby, yeasty edge to the nose. Palate has nice herb-tinged fruit with
some strawberry sweetness. Tangy acidity keeps things fresh. Very good+
88/100
Champagne Devaux Cuvée Rosé NV
Lovely salmon pink colour. Very fine nose of herbs, toast and soft strawberry fruit. The palate is
quite broad with delicate balance, nice fruitiness and a creamy, bready
texture. There’s even a bit of grip on the finish. Very good/excellent
90/100 (£24.95 Moriarty, Frank Stainton, Robersons, Villeneuve, Liberty
Wine) 01/07
Champagne Trudon Cuvée Tradition NV
From Noel Trudon’s 7 hectare family estate, this is a fizz mainly
from the 2002 vintage which is a varietal Pinot Meunier, which is unusual.
It’s full flavoured but with some finesse, too. Savoury and subtly herby
with some toastiness, and rich, almost structured fruit. Good density and
concentration. There’s some lemony delicacy and it finishes very dry. Very
good/excellent 90/100 (£18.95 Waitrose) 07/06
Laurent
Perrier Champagne Brut NV, Champagne, France
Nice nose: fresh with herby, toasty complexity. The palate shows good
weight and concentration. There’s some savoury, toasty richness together
with plenty of fruit: a rich style of wine with a lemony freshness backing
up the full, savoury palate. Great balance here. Very good/excellent
91/100 (£24.99 Oddbins) 01/06
Moët
et Chandon Vintage 1999 Champagne, France
Full, attractive nose of herb-tinged, slightly sweet fruit with a
richness to it. Hints of caramel and vanilla. The palate is forward and
classy with some vanilla richness and nice balance. Good concentration and
a distinctive herbal edge. Very good/excellent 90/100 (£30 Waitrose)
12/05
Château
Le Mesnil Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs NV, Champagne
This is lovely: mealy, oaty edge to the complex, refined, fruity nose,
which is savoury and engaging. The palate has a lovely freshness combined
with a savoury depth. It’s not too rich but there’s a lovely finesse
to the fruit. A serious effort. Very good/excellent 91/100 12/05
Lanson
Gold Label Brut 1996 Champagne
Refined nose with a fresh lemony edge and some tight, toasty bready
notes. Clean and youthful. The palate is very fresh with concentrated
flavours of lemony fruit with a slightly savoury, rather herbal toasty
streak. Very high acidity suggests that there’s a long life ahead for
this wine, but it’s touching on the austere at the moment with its
killer acidity. Very good/excellent 90/100 12/05
Pol
Roger Blanc de Blancs 1998 Champagne, France
Nice
bright yellowish colour. It’s really refined and fruity with clean,
crisp, rather citrussy fruit and a bit of toasty, spicy complexity. Quite
sophisticated. Very good/excellent 91/100 11/05
Roederer Brut Premier Champagne NV
A deliciously rich Champagne with an aroma of warm toasty, herbs and
lemons. It tastes rich and broad, with toasty notes at one end and the
fresh lemony fruit at the other. A well balanced, almost complete wine.
Very good/excellent 92/100 (£26.99 Oddbins, Waitrose, Selfidges, Harvey
Nichols) 11/05
Pierre
Moncuit Grand Cru Champagne Blanc de Blancs NV
France
Fresh nose is showing appley, yeasty, lemony notes.
There’s a nice savoury, yeasty depth to the palate which shows yeasty,
toasty notes. Plenty of concentration and weight: a nice wine. Very
good/excellent 90/100 (£15.50 H&H Bancroft Wines) 11/05
Pol Roger 1998 Champagne
Pol Roger is famous for being Winston Churchill’s favourite Champagne,
and the 1998 version is pretty good. It’s fresh and very savoury, with a
tight, smoky, minerally aroma and a precise taste with good weight and
complexity. It’s only a baby at the moment: expect this to develop
wonderfully over the next five years, but the class is already apparent.
Very good/excellent 92/100 (£39.99 Sainsbury, Oddbins and Majestic, where
it is £29.99 if you buy two)
Mumm Grand Cru Champagne NV
Blending together Chardonnay from Avize and Cramant with Pinot Noir
from Bouzy, Verzenay and Aÿ, Mumm have produced a very successful fizz.
It has a lovely full-on nose that is rich, smooth and elegant with notes
of herbs, toast and honey. The palate is smooth with rich, ripe fruit and
some toastiness, kept fresh by lovely acidity. A sophisticated, rich
style. Very good/excellent 92/100 (£30.99 Waitrose) 10/05
Krug NV Champagne
This is fantastic. Delicate yet intense nose with slightly toasty,
lemony fruit. With time in the glass this becomes progressively more
toasty and rich. The palate has lovely crispness and long, minerally,
subtly toasty fruit. Almost perfect. Excellent 95/100
08/04
Fleury Brut Champagne NV
From vineyards that have been run on biodynamic lines since 1992, this
is a rarity: an organic Champagne. It’s quite an elegant fizz, with an
open, fruity, yeasty aroma and fresh, tangy fruit in the mouth. Lots of
flavour, and worth the relatively high price tag. Very good/excellent
91/100 (£21.99 Waitrose) 10/05
Gosset Grand Millésime 1996 Champagne, France
I like Gosset’s Champagnes. This is from the classic 1996 vintage.
It’s firm, complex and very classy with good acidity. A serious, tight
vintage Champagne with lots of class. Very good/excellent 92/100 (£42.95
Berry Bros) 10/03
Bollinger Special Cuvée NV, Champagne
A blend of 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier. Quite
deep coloured. Lovely classy, intense nose shows savoury bready notes and
a touch of lifted acidity, with a complex toasty edge. The palate is very
full flavoured with great intensity and almost austere savouriness.
Impressive stuff. Very good/excellent (retails for just under £30) 08/02
Louis Roederer Brut 1990, Champagne
Nicely poised with a taut, herbal, slightly toasty nose. Lean,
intense palate shows herbal complexity with a yeasty, bready
character. Satisfying in a savoury style. Very good/excellent (£45
Waitrose) 10/02
Heidsieck Brut Héritage NV Champagne
Toasty, yeasty nose. Good depth of flavour on the herb-tinged,
toasty palate. Attractive. Very good+ (£16.49 Majestic) 10/02
Canard Duchêne Brut NV Champagne
Rich, creamy nose with a touch of toasty character. Fresh, lively
full flavoured palate is quite classy and satisfying. Very
good/excellent (£17.99 Majestic) 10/02
Nicolas Feuillatte NV Champagne
Rich, appealing nose shows a touch of caramel. Slightly lifted.
The boldly flavoured palate has good acidity and lovely balance.
Impressive fizz: rich but balanced. Very good/excellent (£17.99
Majestic) 10/02
Jacquart Brut Mosaique NV Champagne
Racy, assertive acidity on the palate. Quite a structured wine.
Very good (£19.49 Majestic) 10/02
Piper-Heidsieck Brut NV Champagne
Slightly herby, toasty nose leads to a full flavoured herby,
structured palate with high acidity. Intensely savoury. Very good+ (£19.99
Majestic) 10/02
Heidsieck Gold Top 1996 Champagne
Taut and structured with some classy herby and savoury toasty
notes on the palate. Tight at the moment but with room for
development. Very good+ (£22.49 Majestic) 10/02
Jacquart 1996 Champagne
Lovely intense focused nose is toasty and slightly buscuitty –
very savoury. Intense, boldly flavoured palate with good acidity and
savoury richness. Very good/excellent (£25.49 Majestic) 10/02
Champagne Raymond Boulard Grand Cru Mailly Brut
A pale yellow-gold colour, this has an enticing yeasty, biscuitty nose with
a lifted streak of acidity (a tiny bit volatile?), a touch of grapiness and
fresh-baked bread notes. The palate is full, complex and balanced if just a
touch rustic, with a lovely savouriness and tingly acidity. Quite delicious
in a full flavoured style. Very good/excellent 07/01
Salon Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil 1985, Champagne
A vintage Champagne made solely from Chardonnay grapes, this is still alive
but is just beginning to show its age a little. A full golden colour with a
rich, toasty, part-oxidized nose. On the palate it is rich, full flavoured,
bready and with fine bubbles. I like it a lot: it’s nice, full flavoured
stuff, but others at the table think it may be a little past its best. Very
good/excellent. 1/01
Deutz 1990 Champagne
Smoky toast and biscuit-like notes. Mature and complex, with good
concentration of flavour. Very good 1/00
bubbles into these thin,
tart, mean wines by allowing a secondary fermentation to occur in the
bottle. Champagne is usually made from a blend of grapes sourced from
different vineyards across this large region, and the varieties used are
predominantly Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Although you'd be
forgiven for thinking that Champagne is all about image, once you get away
from the often unimpressive inexpensive Champagnes and sample the
vintage-dated examples from quality-minded producers, you'll see what all
the fuss is about. Three quarters of all Champagne sold is designated as
'non-vintage': this is a blend vintages (predominantly the most recent)
and can vary widely in quality depending on the producer. Champagne from a
single vintage is designated 'vintage', and is produced in lower
quantities and only in the better years, so it is usually much higher
quality. Many Champagne houses also make a prestige cuvée, which is often
the pinnacle of Champagne production both in terms of quality and price:
examples include Dom Pérignon from Moët & Chandon, Belle-Epoque from
Perrier-Jouët and La Grande Dame from Veuve Clicquot. Other terms to look
out for on the label