Just released: the new vintage of Veuve Clicquot’s flagship Champagne, La Grande Dame. It’s the 2006, and this year it is 53% Pinot Noir (Grand Cru: Ay, Bouzy, Ambonnay, Verzy…
English sparkling wine versus Champagne – the Noble Rot tasting – my results
I mentioned a while back that I’d taken part in a tasting of English sparkling wine versus Champagne. Organized by counter-culture wine publication Noble Rot, it pitted a carefully selected…
Champagne Dom Pérignon 2006
New release of a classic. And it’s lovely. A really good vintage for Dom P. [Aside, I never realized before that Dom stood for Dominus, and was a title for…
Champagne Vilmart et Cie Grand Cellier d’Or Premier Cru 2010
I recently reviewed Vilmat’s Grand Cellier NV Cuvee, and really liked it. Now it’s the turn of its elder sibling, the Grand Cellier D’Or 2010. This is a remarkable wine…
Champagne Agrapart Avizoise Extra Brut Grand Cru 2008
Enjoyed this last night at The Glue Pot in Reims, which has a lovely list of grower Champagnes and craft beers. This was 94 Euros on the list. It’s really…
Champagne Gimonnet Blanc de Blancs Cuvee Cuis 1er Cru NV
I love this Champagne. It’s one I’ve enjoyed before, and so it was nice that it was the first one to be shown on this trip, in a small tasting…
Champagne Taittinger Prélude Grands Crus NV
Taittinger make some very nice wines. I’ve particularly enjoyed their NV of late, which always shows well in blind tastings. They have a sizeable vineyard holding of 288 hectares, which helps…
Champagne Vilmart & Cie Grand Cellier
This is really good. Vilmart have 11 hectares of vines in the Monntagne de Reims, in the small village of Rilly la Montagne. No chemical fertilizers, insecticides or herbicides are…
Champagne Armand de Brignac: a marketing success story
The Armand de Brignac story is a remarkable one, and represents one of the great wine marketing successes of all time. It begins with the Cattier family, from the village…