Champagne of the Week

The winemaking is very precise at Bruno Paillard and never more so that with their rosé. Only the first pressing is used. Part of the pinot noir is gently pressed and the juice and skin quickly separated for fermentation to begin. Another part of the pinot is macerated, with the …

Founded 200 years ago in 1818, this Mareuil sur Aÿ house provides the benchmark for a lively aperitif champagne rosé. Pink in complexion with  unripe strawberries/raspberries and pink grapefruit. Crisp, lifted, and very refreshing on the finish. Billecart-Salmon is majority owned by the Frey Family, proprietors also of Chateau la Lagune …

Bollinger Special Cuvée is just that, special. It is made to a non-reductive style. Nor is it oxidised. “Poised” would be an appropriate description: between fruitiness, structure, and freshness. Special Cuvée was – and remains – a very good wine before becoming a champagne. There is always a lemony zestiness …

It must have been something like 15 years ago I first had a bottle of Champagne Andre Clouet. It was in Paris. I was drawn to the label, like a helpless insect to the light. The labels were, and remain, artistic, classic, and incredibly tasteful. So too the wines. Solid, …

Absolu is entirely chardonnay, parcels of fruit all from the Premier Cru village of Vertus in the Cote des Blancs. This blanc de blancs is absolutely delicious. There is so much concentration of fruit to withstand the non-dosage. A distinct aroma of honey, followed by sunny ripe fruit with a …

Connoisseurs of Champagne recognise that the House of Bruno Paillard produces exemplary, commanding wines. Take, for example, their flagship Premiere Cuvée. Only the first pressing is used of 45% pinot noir, 33% chardonnay, and 22% pinot noir from 35 villages. The multi-vintage also comprises up to 50% reserve wines from …

Founded in 1808, Champagne Henriot celebrated its 200th anniversary with one of the greatest vintages of Champagne ever, 2008! It also remains family-owned. Produced from chardonnay and pinot noir, only fruit from Premier and Grand Cru villages find their way into Champagne Herniot’s Millesime or Vintage. Gold in colour, this …

The Coulon Family has roots going back to 1806. The ninth generation – brother and sister Edgar and Luise respectively – is in place to continue the tradition. The Champagne house is based in Vrigny, Montagne de Reims. This grower wine is comprised of 60% pinot noir, 20% pinot meunier and 20% …

Created by the late Bernard de Nonancourt in the 1950s and launched in 1959, Grand Siecle is one of the greatest, most ingenious champagnes ever made. Knowing full well the vagaries of the weather and how Champagne can deliver vast differences from one vintage to the next, Nonancourt concluded that Nature was …

The wine is 15 years in the making. In October 2017, speaking to The Drinks Business, CEO of Champagne Deutz Fabrice Rosset explained, “When we do the blending  following the harvest we have all these wines to choose from and it just happens that pinot noir from these two plots always come out …