Champagne of the Week

Champagnes of the Week Champagne Joseph Perrier Brut Blanc de Blancs We featured this two months ago and, tasting it over dinner last week on 19 December in Singapore (above picture) – with two Nino Franco sparkling and two cuvées of Champagne Drappier – this Blanc de Blancs Brut was …

Although the vintage is not reflected on the label, this is the 2004 harvest. For Duval-Leroy, Femme de Champagne being their prestige cuvée, only what the house regard as a top vintage – the year itself – will be declared on the label. This means that this bottle is exceptional …

The purity, intensity, and persistence of this pure pinot noir is impressive and made me sit up – figuratively – as soon as I tasted it. I offered a glass to Camilla, a waitress related to the Forlino Family that own No Menu, and although standing, she was visibly knocked …

Made up of 65% pinot noir, 30% chardonnay and a pinch of pinot meunier, Philipponnat’s flagship brut calls on reserve wine from a solera system. The base wine for this present batch of Royale Reserve is the 2014 vintage. Ageing of the wine with the spent lees in bottle is …

Nicolas Feuillatte is a large cooperative of growers with combined vineyards in the thousands of hectares. In every sense of the meaning, therefore, Nicolas Feuillatte is a growers’ champagne. The quality is high and the prices of the wines very reasonable. The brand is readily available in supermarkets in France. I have visited …

For as long as I can remember, whenever they entertained at Mouton or Lafite, the Rothschilds (like the vast majority of Bordeaux) always began with bubbles. I don’t recall the brands but champagne was mandatory. And of a status and quality to reflect that of their wine. The families later …

A wine can be like a person you first set eyes on. Instant attraction. So it was last Friday, a friend brought this to dinner (which he was hosting). I got somewhat lost getting to the venue but was very relived the other guest – Basile Guibert of Mas de …

Bottle-Age Your Champagne I try to buy my champagne in advance. By that, I mean that what I drink now is the previous batch I bought several months ago. I do that so that the wines garner more bottle-age. The result is a less acidic, more rounded wine with fruit that is more expressive …

Francis Egly is, for me, one of the top winemakers in Champagne. The fact he is modest, conscientious, and so very talented makes him and his wines that much more remarkable. No chemical fertilisers, herbicides, pesticides or chemical anti-fungal sprays are employed in the vineyard. Low yields ensure wine of …

Marie-Charlotte Mignucci of Champagne Deutz holds a magnum of Amour de Deutz 2007 with Alfred Leung, Founder & CEO of Imperial Treasure Group, in their new Paris restaurant. This pure chardonnay blanc de blancs is going from strength to strength. From magnum, the fruit is still very primary. With hints …