The first four wines are pairs of the regular and non-dosage cuvées from two different Champagne producers – found myself preferring the unsweetened version on each occasion.
Champagne Laurent Perrier Ultra Brut Nature NV (£43-£51 Selfridges, Harrods, Jeroboams, Harvey Nichols, Waitrose Wine Direct) An elegant, sleek, supermodel of a wine, dry and subtle but packed with flavours of nuts, green apples and dry (as in not sweet) caramel, and with a persistent, smoky, yeasty finish. The more I drank of this (and the worse the football became), the more I enjoyed it. S(+)
Champagne Laurent Perrier Brut NV (£28-£35 widely available) Not as fine-boned as the Ultra Brut, but still elegant, with rounded backed apple and pineapple flesh, and a nutty yeasty finish. B+
Champagne Philipponnat Royale Réserve Non Dosé NV (£34.99 Harvey Nichols, Les Caves de Pyrène) Full, wine-y style of Champagne, rich but bone dry, with aromas of flowers and bread dough, touches of Grannie Smiths and crystallised pineapple, and an elegant finish. S
Champagne Philipponnat Royale Réserve Brut NV (£29.99 Selfridges, Oddbins, Les Caves de Pyrène) Fuller is body , and with quite a firm backbone, but there’s also a wealth of honeyed raisin, pineapple and baked/ bruised green apple core apple flavour, with a creamy brioche finish. S(-)
Champagne Mumm Brut NV (£23-£30 widely available) Young fresh style, not amazingly complex, but with a rich, satisfying fruit flavour verging on the tropical. B
Champagne Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut NV (£25-£35 widely available) Softer and more rounded than the Mumm, but maybe not as concentrated, gentle, slightly yeasty finish. B(-)
Bisol ‘Cartizze’ Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Superiore 2008, Veneto, Italy (£22.99 Bibendum) Starts off lush and peachy, but then the minerally restraint kicks, adding a drier, more serious, clay-like edge and keeping you coming back for more. S-
Cono Sur Brut NV, Bío-Bío, Chile (£9.99 Morrisons, Oddbins, Tesco.com) Toasty sweet’n’sour Riesling character comes through strongly on the nose, also in the mouth. It tends to take over what without it would have been a quite elegant wine. Shame. C+
Codorníu Reina Maria Cristina Cava Brut Reserva 2007, Catalonia, Spain (£18.99 Majestic) Relaxed, confident style, showing some maturity, but still with a core of earthy citrus fruit, and a touch of herbs, a touch of sweetness, but nicely balanced. S-
Petaluma Croser 2006, Piccadilly Valley, South Australia (£16.06 Bibendum – £11.08 in the sale from Feb 2nd-15th) Showing some creamy, even cheesy lees edges, along with some of the strained chocolatey richness of a touch of oxidation. But these are all in balance with the rest of the wine, and the bready/biscuity citrus and pineapple get their chance to shine. Rich but dry, classy style. S
Champagne Moutard Cuvée des 6 Cépages 2004, France (£37.50 – Sommelier Wine Co, Markinch Wine Gallery, Winos, Den Boer Wines, Kevin O’Rourke Wines, Divine Wines, Vineyards, Cherchez le Vin, Ashbourne Wines, K D Brands Ltd, John Gordons Ltd, Beverley Bollons, The Larder, The Naked Grape, Bacchus)
(the 6 Cépages are Arbane, Petit Meslier, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir & Pinot Meunier)
Not much on the nose, or in the mouth. Has a creamy, herby edge, but not a great deal of flavour coming through at the moment. Nor with further time – am I missing the point here? B
A rather diverse sextet of sparkling wines that I’ve just tried from various parts of France and northern Italy…
Blason de Bourgogne Crémant de Bourgogne Rosé NV (£9.99 Waitrose) Slightly bitter edge, but then opens up to show ripe raspberry and cherry. Not complex but a nice drink. B-
Réserve de Sours Sparkling Rosé NV, Bordeaux, France (£10.98 Private Cellar) Sl confected, rather sweet and simple strawberry fruit, OK, but a bit young and raw. C
Bisol Desiderio Jeio Valdobbiadene Prosecco Brut NV, Veneto, Italy (£9.15 Bibendum) Fresh, frothy, almost sherbet-like, soft peachy fruit, attractive but very simple style. B-
Bisol Crede Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Superiore Brut 2008, Veneto, Italy (£14.57 Bibendum) Less frothy but more grip and minerally character here, one of those wines that creeps up on you, an almost volcanic minerally note. B+
Champagne Moutard Champ Persin Côte des Bar Chardonnay NV (£25.99 Woods Wines, Ashbourne Wines, Sommelier Cru) Quite toasty, a lemony edge that’s almost like Semillon (!), quite ripe and plush, not fine but honest, balanced and tasty. B+
Champagne Moutard Vignes Beugneux Côte des Bar Pinot Noir NV (£25.99 R Campbell & Sons, Hanslope Wines, Woods Wines, Kevin O’Rourke Wines) A smoky edge here, ripe, even spicy fruit with a creamy/yeasty richness, very ‘wine-y’ Champagne, rich but dry, with an almost briney tang to the finish. S-
Just added notes on six sparkling wines to the First Taste pages here. Above is a pic of the corks from a couple of the Champagnes – you can tell that the Tsarine has had extra bottle age since disgorging (removing the yeast sediment left from the second fermentation in bottle) by the size of the cork – it’s been held in a compressed state for longer, and retains much of the shape it had in the bottle neck.
Lots of stuff in the news at the moment about how Brits are deserting Champagne for Prosecco, Cava and other cheaper fizzes. Not much of a surprise that, since most of us aren’t awash with cash at the mo. But Prosecco and Cava are for me rather different beasts. Bog-standard Cava can be remarkably good, perfect stuff to practise your sabrage on, but it suffers from an image problem – suggest to someone that they spend £25 on a bottle of Champagne and they’ll say, OK. Suggest that they fork out the same amount for Cava and they’ll start spluttering. As for Prosecco, for me it’s the Pinot Grigio of the wine world. Terrific examples of both exist, but the wines that are currently swelling the sales figures are about as dynamic as Duffy’s dancing.
And Champagne… It’s the annual Champagne tasting this week, which I find a bit of an ordeal. There’s nothing too badly wrong with the wines (apart from their marketing-fuelled prices) but it’s dominated by the major brands, with only a handful of growers on show. I’m giving it a miss this year, partly because I can’t go to every tasting, but also because last year’s event left a bad taste in my mouth.
It’s also one of the most physically demanding tastings of the year. What all the multi-million pound ad campaigns never tell you is the combination of acidity and bubbles not only provides a stiff dental assault, but also has an effect lower down the digestive system, even for those spitting it all out. What chances are there for the region of having a new slogan of ‘Champagne – it gives you wind’?
It’s Valentine’s Day and I probably should be wooing my sweetheart. However, we’ve had a wonderful day together, including a long lie-in, a trip to IKEA (without which no Valentine’s Day is complete), a cuddle at the cinema (Slumdog Millionaire – Anil Kapoor is the Indian Michel Rolland) and a slap-up meal of rib-eye, dauphinoise and flageolets with two pink fizzes as accompaniment.
Yes, you’re right, Bollinger Rosé v. Jacob’s Creek Sparkling Rosé isn’t strictly a fair competition. The Bolly was lined up for the enjoyment bit, and I needed something to moisten the flageolets with poor-man’s pancetta – Sainsbury’s cooking bacon. The JC was at hand, so I thought, ‘why not?’ It’s not a bad drop, solid and fruity, a tad sweet, but perfectly pleasant. But next to the Bollinger… OK, it’s a fraction of the price, but we’re talking Premiership v. Division One. The Bolly sings where the JC shrieks, it smoulders where the JC froths over, it keeps you coming back for more. I’ve met women who are the equivalent of the JC, bubbly and fruity, but not with a huge amount of depth – thankfully I’m married to a beautiful Bolly.
