About the Champagne wine region
Champagne is a sparkling wine made from grapes coming from the Champagne region in north-central France. Producers must follow rules requiring the secondary fermentation of the wine in bottle to create the bubbly carbonation. Champagne is a blending of base wines which, ideally, create a whole greater than the sum of its parts. These “base” wines come from an assortment of wines—the Chardonnay white grape and Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier for red—from various villages and vineyards.
Two areas in the Champagne region are thought to be best for their superior grapes: the Montagne de Reims, which is perfectly located for producing the Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier red grapes, and the Côte des Blancs, whose soils of limestone and chalk are excellent for Chardonnay. The Vallee de la Marne, which lies in a thin band along most of the region and is home to both red and white grapes, is the biggest area other than the Aube district, which lies further to the south.
Each decade, there are only four out of five harvests in the tough climate northeast of Paris that generate the needed ingredients to produce complete and balanced Champagne, vintage-designated, wines. They are, by definition, wines made entirely during the year indicated on the label. Because of this, most Champagnes also blend juice from two and more vintages.
This act of blending vintages is the means Champagnes producers employ to maintain their “house style” and provide their customers with a dependable, and consistent, product. With non-vintage wine accounting for about four out of five bottles of all Champagne produced, it makes sense that the status of most major houses depends on the quality and uniformity of their non-vintage offerings. Lucky for the Champagne-enthusiast, non-vintage bottles are often just as good as their vintage counterparts—and considerably less expensive.
Creamy and well-balanced, this lively Champagne offers flavors of ripe black currant and black cherry, candied lemon peel, and brioche, plus fragrant notes of anise and clove. Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay...
(95+ points) One of the greatest hits from Rare Champagne, the 2012 Rare Millésime is produced from fruit harvested between September 10 and 26. Disgorged in November 2023 with a dosage of eight grams per liter, it is a...
The 2018 Blancs de Blancs is a Champagne of total pleasure. Citrus peel, orchard fruit and floral notes are very nicely delineated. The 2018 is an airy, breezy Champange, very much in the style of a vintage in which so...
A thread of minerally smoke, oyster shell and saline drives this refreshing Champagne, underscoring flavors of poached apricot, tangy blackberry, lemon curd and gingerbread as they ride the refined mousse. Pinot Noir...
A composed, deeply refined nose unfolds with Granny Smith apple, macadamia and saline patisserie, accented by violet. The palate is poised and authoritative, its fine, persistent perlage carrying rose petal, fresh almond...
Attractive salmon color with flint, white-pepper and delicate cantaloupe aromas that follow through to a medium body with bitter grilled-lemon and orange-peel flavors. Very intense aftertaste. Lots of character. A blend...
Just as 2004 Champagnes often seem to eclipse 2002 today, some wonder whether 2013 will do the same to the highly rated 2012. This doesn’t seem to be the case with Sir Winston Churchill, though, where 2012’s strengths...
A vibrant Champagne, with a firm frame of acidity well-meshed with flavors of crushed white cherry, tangerine peel, oyster shell and blanched almond. Fine and creamy. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Disgorged September 2024...
The bright straw-colored NV Champagne Collection 245 is juicy and ripe, revealing notes of ripe, fresh peaches and bread, with a chalky, elegant texture and a pinpoint, refined mousse. This medium-bodied Champagne...
A bright medium pink color, the 2015 Champagne 1er Cru Rose Emotion Brut Rose is 12% vin rouge with 8 grams per liter dosage. The nose is sunny and pretty with aromas of wild mixed berries, tangerine, biscotti, and...
One of my wines of the tasting, this has terrific tension, elegance and completeness from start to the persistently long finish. It has super-refined definition with minerals, nougat, cream, toast and sweet white pear...
The same blend as the Blanc but including 5% red wine from their La Côte aux Enfants parcel, the 2015 Champagne La Grande Année Brut Rosé is a lovely wine on the nose, and I think I might like it more than the Blanc in...
Jacquesson's Cuvée 748 is based on the 2020 vintage. It has 2 grams per liter of dosage, and was disgorged in August 2024. It gallops out with energetic notes of ripe apples, pear tart, and persimmons, with hints of crème...
Incorporating some 16% of lieu-dit Caurés to temper the richness of Montaigu in sunny vintages, Guiborat's 2015 Extra-Brut De Caurés à Montaigu offers up aromas of crisp green apple, white flowers, citrus oil, freshly...
The NV Champagne Premiere Cuvee Brut is a medium yellow hue, showing beautiful mature and pure notes of layered and nicely maturing notes of apricot. Medium to full-bodied, it has more volume and fills the palate with a...
From 12 crus within Champagne, the NV Champagne Blanc De Blancs Brut is based on the 2017 vintage and has between 30-50% reserve wines in the blend. It boasts a bright yellow/golden color and offers ripe aromas of...
Based on the 2022 vintage, complemented by a perpetual reserve kept in tank and disgorged in September 2024 with a dosage of two grams per liter, the new NV Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Latitude is blossoming in the glass...
An enticing rosé Champagne, with a core of ripe and juicy raspberry, white peach and cherry, fragrant anise, cardamom and cumin, plus accents of slivered almond, candied ginger, blood orange peel and white blossoms...
Hints of brioche and lemon meringue pie enrich the flavors of cassis and apricot fruit, pickled ginger, smoke and roasted hazelnut in this classy Champagne, backed by vibrant acidity. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot...
A reductive style with grapefruit, limes, yellow plums and broom flowers. Vinous. Fine mousse with zesty acidity, very light body and a leaner finish. A bit more complexity expected. Drink now.
A creamy version, with a firm spine of acidity and flavors of strawberry tart, blood orange sorbet, oyster shell, dried thyme and candied ginger. Lightly spiced through the finish. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Disgorged...
This refreshing Champagne boasts balance and a satiny mousse, offering an accessible range of steeped cherry, poached quince, Meyer lemon peel, anise hyssop and candied ginger flavors. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier...
Pouring a bright pale silver/straw color, the NV Champagne Cuvée L'Orme Extra Brut is composed of Pinot Noir from the 2019 vintage, aged for 10 months in 228-liter barrels before bottling. It’s a very pretty wine with a...
The NV (2021) Initiation is an attractive wine, perhaps a bit lithe in this release, but still very pretty. Crushed rocks, flowers, mint, dried herbs and red-toned fruit all grace the palate. Blocked malolactic...
A bright silver/yellow color, the NV Champagne La Rue Des Noyers Brut Nature is from the 2019 vintage and is 100% Meunier, aged for 11 months in barriques before bottling. The oak frames the aromatics of this wine, which...
The (2021) Extra Brut Rosé Cuvée Initiation is superb. Here, the addition of 7% still red Pinot fills out the mid-palate and gives the wine some of the textural presence that is missing in the Blanc de Blancs bottling...
Disgorged in June 2024 with a dosage of 3.9 grams per liter and based on the 2018 vintage, supplemented by 37% reserve wines from 2017, 2016 and 2015, Billecart’s NV Le Blanc de Blancs offers up aromas of pear, lemon...
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