(2024) 50% Chardonnay from Grand Cru vineyards in the Cotes de Blancs and 50% Pinot Noir from Grand Crus in the Montagne de Reims, always aged a minimum of four years. Straw/pale lemon in colour with miniscule bubbles, toasted, buttery pastry notes also have a mineral intensity, an intense zestiness at its core. The palate is full and graceful, the required zip and freshness is there, but underpinning is a generous, weight and texture so this is creamy, fruity, but decisive.
(2024) Henriot's non-vintage Blanc de Blancs is blended from 12 different Crus, is aged for 36 months on the kees, and is bottled with 7g/l dosage. It contains a significant proportion of reserve wines, constituting 30% to 50% of the blend. Pastry notes dominate the nose, yeasty with a little nettle character. The mousse is rolling and full, the palate quite sharply tuned: lemony citrus and apple core dryness, that biscuity suggestion of the nose just beginning to fill out with a layer of nutty richness that eases the finish.
(2024) Apanage Brut 1874 is based on Pommery's 'réserve perpétuelle' that forms a significant part of the blend. This release is based on the 2018 vintage, blended with components of 2015 and 2012. The wine spent 48 months on the lees and was bottled with 'a low dosage'. Aromatically it's all about brioche and biscuit, with Golden Delicious fruit and a nutty background. The foamy mousse precedes a relatively crisp palate, plenty of citrus and a prickle of nettles or herbs. The biscuity richness fills in again, for a balanced Champagne with good length.
(2024) From equal parts Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and
Pinot Noir, thus is aged on the lees for between three and five years. The modest mousse subsides to leave aromas that are sweet and rich, suggesting biscuit and ripe, rosy apples perhaps. The dosage is presumably at the high end of Brut, as there seems to be plenty of sweetness. It's perhaps a little too sweet for my palate, but the acid balance in the finish is good for a more approachable style.
(2024) A full 24 months on the lees before release of this wine made from 100% Chardonnay grown in Vertus, Côtes des Blancs. It is made for Laithwaites by Paul Goerg, a well-regarded co-operative. On the nose a certain yeasty meatiness, nutty, with red apple fruit. The palate is quite sweet (though the wine is Brut), and that is the dominant feature through to the finish. There is a nice level of acidity in the finish, a little hint of the nut husk dryness helping that. £27 by the mixed dozen.
(2024) From a family owned and run producer, a Champagne with a delightfuly deep cerise colour coming from the addition of Pinot Noir made as a red base wine into the blend. Gorgeous rose-hip and cherry finesse and elegance runs through the nose and palate, a little toast, and dazzling raspberry-sharp acidity to balance. This is Brut, with around 9g/l dosage, but it finishes gastronomic and savoury. A bargain at Mann Fine Wine's price - other retailers sell for £10 per bottle more.
(2024) From Côte des Bar récoltants manipulants, Champagne Guilleminot, this is 100% Pinot Noir with around 30% reserve wines in the blend. It is bottled with 9g/l dosage. Nettle and fresh, crunching small berries with a subtle biscuit background. In the mouth this is super fresh. There is texture, with a foamy mousse filling the mouth, then the combination of sherbetty lemon and redcurrant fruit and acidity creates a zingy, vibrant style. The dosage adds an easy drinking hint of sweetness, for a useful all-rounder Champagne of good quality.
(2023) Philipponnat is a significant grower, with 20 hectares of Premier and Grand Cru Vineyards in Aÿ, Mareuil and Avenay. Pinot Noir represents two-thirds of their plantings and is the backbone of their cuvées. In this case the base vintage is 2019 with 67% Pinot Noir, 31% Chardonnay and 2% Meunier, though 34% of the blend is reserve wine. The dosage is a modest 8g/l and the wine was disgorged in February 2023. There's a pretty and approachable character here, a particularly fragrant floral and herbal lift to the aromas, then a nutty depth of autolysis fills in beneath. The mousse is cushioning and rich, and though the sheer sweetness and richness of the fruit gives lovely generosity through the mid-palate, there's no shortage of shimmering lemony and salty acidity into the finish.
(2023) The grape for which Bollinger is most famous, Pinot Noir, this comes mostly from the Grand Cru village of Aÿ and has a moderate dosage of 6g/l. It is based on the 2018 vintage, but has 50% reserve wines, including 25% of the 2009 vintage from Aÿ, aged in magnums. In the house style, 50% of the wine was fermented in oak barrels. Plenty of creamy, nutty autolysis, a meaty umami nuance, but there's a highly perfumed floral and herbal lift too. A really intriguing, multi-layered aromatic. The palate has brisk acidity, plenty of dry, pithy lemon, and core of firm Asian pear fruit. Textured and juicy, but taut in the finish, this is delightful.
(2023) Petite Douceur is Gosset's off-dry rosé, the extra sugar combing with extra-long maturation to produce a bronze-tinged wine with rich red fruit and a delicate sweetness. The fruit is all Grand Cru, a blend of 60% Chardonnay from Avize and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, and 40% Pinot Noir from Bouzy, Ambonnay, and Cumières. It's an assemblage, made with 7% still Pinot Noir. It's a full, raspberry and strawberry scented wine with quite robust fruit flavours and a certain umami, savoury character. The fruit and cushion of mousse fills the mouth. In truth it comes across as just off-dry, with lovely weight, texture and acidity all fleshing out and cutting through the sweetness. A deliciously well-balanced Champagne. Ocado and Waitrose online are among the stockists, though at time of review the quoted supplier has a very keen price.
