Champagne and Sparkling

179 Champagne AC NV Brut
Chartogne-Taillet

Grape:60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir (12% alc.)

This is a lovely, delicate fresh style of champagne, its’ very pure fruit showing citrus fruits, with a hint of quince, also brioche and a touch of salty mineral flavour. It comes from 35-year-old vines and is made 80% from the 2006 vintage, and 20% from 2004/2005. Disgorged in November 2009 with a 4.5g/l dosage.

* Half bottles are available

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*New* 180 Champagne AC 2002 Brut
Chartogne-Taillet

Grape:50% Pinot Noir, 50% Chardonnay (12% alc.)

A model of equilibrium between maturity and freshness. The pinot noir here seems very much in the foreground with mouthfilling depth of red berry flavours expanding on the palate with a fine texture and long, ample length. Dosage 7g/l. For drinking now to 2011.

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181 Champagne Grand Cru AC NV Brut Essentiel
Benoit Lahaye

Grape:90% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay (12% alc.)

This comes from grand cru rated 30 year old vines in Bouzy and Ambonnay. Made from the 2005 and 2006 vintages it was initially aged 50% in cuve and 50% in two to five year-old barrels. It was then given two and a half years on the lees before it was disgorged in August 2009 and has a 7g/l dosage. Very expressive on the nose it is a touch richer than blanc de blancs.

* Half bottles are available

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182 Champagne AC NV Brut Réserve
Bérèche & Fils

Grape:35% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir, 35% Pinot Meunier (12% alc.)

Based on the 2006 vintage with a dosage of 9g/l, this has ripe, clear-cut fruit, good texture and vinosity, with a touch of saline minerality. A style that Jancis Robinson finds ‘as perfumed as Riesling, no higher praise’.

* Half bottles are available

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183 Champagne AC NV Brut Reflet d’Antan
Bérèche & Fils

Grape:33% Chardonnay, 34% Pinot Noir, 33% Pinot Meunier (12% alc.)

This is a very specialist champagne designed to show how complex reserve wines can become with age. Fermented in cuve, the wines for Reflet are selected in May following vintage, kept in cuve for another year, then introduced into a solera system (500 and 600ltr barrels) that was started in 1985. Once a year they bottle off two thirds leaving the balance to blend with the next wines into the solera. There is a crossover with wine from Jura here, the champagne offers incredible complexity, dried fruits, almonds, honey, minerality. Dosage 6g/l. Very limited quantity. For drinking now to 2014.

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184 Champagne Cumières 1er Cru AC Brut Nature
Georges Laval

Grape:50% Chardonnay, 25% Pinot Noir, 25% Pinot Meunier (12.5% alc.)

Brilliantly located south facing hillsides (Cumières produces better quality champagne than most of the so called grand cru villages), organically certified vines, hard work and good touch are behind this excellent champagne. It is made entirely from the 2004 vintage (no reserve wine) and was initially aged for ten months in a mix of new to eight year 220 litre and 350 litre barrels. Disgorged without dosage in February 2008, it has notable weight and vinosity, is rich and yet at the same time fresh and mineral. For drinking now to 2014+.

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185 Champagne AC Extra Brut
La Closerie Les Béguines, Jérôme Prévost

Grape:90% Pinot Meunier, 10% Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris & Chardonnay (12.5% alc.)

The initial still wine from the 2007 vintage was oak aged in new to 13 year old barrels for ten months, before being bottled and then disgorged 17 months later in December 2009, at which point no dosage was added. Rich, vinous, dense, complex and extremely long on the palate. This wine has earned serious acclaim from around the world. Limited quantity. For drinking now to 2015.

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*New* 186 Champagne Grand Cru NV Brut
Lilbert - Fils

Grape:100% Chardonnay (12% alc.)

A pure mineral champagne, fresh with a lovely texture and seductive length. A blend of 60% 2005 and 40% 2006, this wine is given a 7g/l dosage. Peter Liem sums up “a particularly delicious combination of ripe complexity and kinetic, soil driven tension, making it feel both accessible and expressive at the same time”. For drinking now to 2012.

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*New* 187 Champagne Cramant Grand Cru NV Brut Perle
Lilbert - Fils

Grape:100% Chardonnay (12% alc.)

Perle is the name for what was Crémant de Cramant, a style of champagne with 4kg of internal pressure instead of 6kg. It’s a style that produces an elegant wine with a light mousse and discreet bubbles. This is a perfect food champagne, with 5g/l dosage; it’s very expressive of the Cramant terroir, from vines up to 75 years old. For drinking now to 2014.

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188 Champagne AC NV Brut Les Vignes de Montgueux
Jacques Lassaigne

Grape:100% Chardonnay (12% alc.)

The south-facing vines here give a delicious, vibrantly fruity (hints of grapefruit/mango) mineral champagne. Viticulture is organic and natural yeasts only are used. It is made 70% from 2006 with 30% oak aged 2005 reserve wine, and was disgorged with 5g/l of dosage in October 2009.

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189 Champagne AC NV Extra-Brut Le Cotet
Jacques Lassaigne

Grape:100% Chardonnay (12.5% alc.)

Lassaigne’s top cuvée comes from 0.6 hectares of 45 year old vines. It’s a blend of 2006 (70%, of which 7% was aged in oak) and 2005 reserve wine (which was kept fresh under capped champagne bottles). This helps to give it more reserve than his other cuvée. It has a very pure, bracing fruit with hints of honeysuckle, straw, hazelnut and just 2g/l of dosage. Very limited quantity. For drinking now to 2011.

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190 Champagne AC Extra Brut
Ulysse Collin

Grape:100% Chardonnay (12.5% alc.)

This outstanding champagne comes entirely from the 2005 vintage and was disgorged without dosage in July 2009. It was aged in five year old barrels during its initial ten months elevage, and so has a touch more weight than Larmandier, and is rich and stylish, with a salty mineral undertone to the very precise fruit. For drinking now to 2012.

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191 Champagne AC Extra-Brut Blanc d’Argile
Vouette et Sorbée, Bertrand Gautherot

Grape:100% Chardonnay (12% alc.)

This comes from a tiny yield of chardonnay produced from a massale selection of cuttings from Anselme Selosse’s Avize vineyard and a famous Chablis grand cru producer (Bertrand wouldn’t divulge the name!). In fact the soils and terroir here are very similar to the limestone vineyards of the Chablis Grand Cru Valmur. Made from the 2007 vintage, oak aged and disgorged without dosage in December 2009, it is a richer style than many blanc de blancs champagnes, like a really good Chablis with bubbles. Very limited quantity.

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192 Champagne 1er Cru AC NV Extra Brut
Larmandier-Bernier

Grape:100% Chardonnay (12.5% alc.)

High quality bio-dynamic champagne from the premier cru village of Vertus (70%) and the grand crus of Avize, Chouilly and Oger (30%) in the Côtes des Blancs. Aged 60% in cuve (2006 vintage) and recent oak foudres for the reserve wines (2004 and 2005). All elegance, it has a gorgeous nose, with a hint of brioche, and dances over the palate with a silky, light touch, leaving a long, mouthwatering, mineral aftertaste. 5g/l dosage.

* Magnums are available

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193 Champagne 1er Cru AC Non-Dosé Terre de Vertus
Larmandier-Bernier

Grape:100% Chardonnay (12.5% alc.)

Mid-slope, older vines on the best hillside of Vertus, are the source of this exquisite champagne. Made from the 2006 vintage, after a six month elevage sur lies fines (50% in recent foudres, a few barrels and the rest in cuve), it was bottled in April 2007 and disgorged in February 2009, at which point no dosage was added. Floral and racy, it is a superb expression of Vertus’ terroir. For drinking now to 2011.

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194 Champagne Grand Cru AC 2004 Extra Brut, Vieille Vigne de Cramant
Larmandier-Bernier

Grape:100% Chardonnay (12.5% alc.)

Pierre’s top champagne comes from very old vines (48 to 75 years) with a southeastern aspect in the beautiful hilltop village of Cramant (where the 50cm of topsoil is richer than Vertus). Aged 50% in cuve and 50% in two to five year old barrels, it naturally has a touch more weight and depth of fruit than the Blanc de Blancs. It is an exquisite champagne with a rarely matched balance and finesse (just 2g/l of dosage), chalky depths of flavour and great length. Limited quantity. For drinking now to 2012.

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195 Champagne AC Extra-Brut Fidèle
Vouette et Sorbée, Bertrand Gautherot

Grape:100% Pinot Noir (12% alc.)

The vines for this brilliant champagne are planted in the lieu-dit of Vouette, on a kimmeridgian limestone slope facing due south. It offers a rich gold colour, typical of low yielding pinot noir and on the palate is vinous with a zesty, mineral vitality. Given a little time in the glass, and served ideally at 12°C, it evolves constantly, revealing layer after layer of flavour. Zero dosage. Very limited quantity. For drinking now to 2011.

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196 Champagne AC NV Brut Val Vilaine
Inflorescence, Cédric Bouchard

Grape:100% Pinot Noir (12.5% alc.)

A champagne with excellent weight and balance exuding delicate fragrances of flowers and beguiling red berry fruits with a mineral imprint from the limestone-clay soil. Made from just 1.45 hectares of 32 year old vines, it comes from the 2007 vintage, was cuve aged, and disgorged without dosage in July 2009. Limited quantity. For drinking now to 2012.

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197 Champagne AC NV Brut Les Ursules
Roses de Jeanne, Cédric Bouchard

Grape:100% Pinot Noir (12.5% alc.)

A touch deeper colour than the Inflorescence, with a beautiful pinot nose. Also made 100% from 2007 juice, Les Ursules (single grape, single terroir, single vintage), spends 28 months on its lees before bottling with no dosage. It has striking clarity, fine mousse and an extremely long finish. Only 3600 bts produced. Very limited quantity. For drinking now to 2014.

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198 Champagne Rosé AC NV Brut
Bérèche & Fils

Grape:18% Chardonnay, 41% Pinot Noir, 41% Pinot Meunier (12% alc.)

A rosé made by assemblage from the 2005 & 2006 vintage. The Bérèche family put in a lot of hard work in the vines and have really good touch in the cave, as displayed by this lovely rosé with excellent texture, ripe red fruits and chalky undertone. 6g/l dosage.

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199 Champagne Rosé 1er Cru AC Extra-Brut Rosé de Saignée
Larmandier-Bernier

Grape:100% Pinot Noir (12.5% alc.)

This rosé is made from macerating old vine pinot noir on their skins for two days - over 90% of rosé champagne are made by blending white wine with red wine. The rosé de saignée method demands that the grapes are ripe – never any problems with Larmandier-Bernier vines – and then gives a rosé which is more akin to a mid-weight red burgundy with real pinot character and only 3g/l of dosage. 95 points from Robert Parker December 2009. Limited quantity.

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200 Champagne Rosé AC Extra-Brut Saignée de Sorbée
Vouette et Sorbée, Bertrand Gautherot

Grape:100% Pinot Noir (12% alc.)

This champagne comes entirely from the 2006 vintage – uncrushed whole grapes were macerated for six days in an open wooden cuve before pressing. Aged for ten months in new to eight year old 400 litre barrels it was disgorged without dosage in January 2009. Crushed red fruits nicely cut through by a refreshing chalky flavour mark this exceptional rosé.

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*New* 201 Champagne Rosé Extra Brut Fac-Simile
La Closerie, Jérôme Prévost

Grape:90% Pinot Meunier, 10% Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris & Chardonnay (12.5% alc.)

In 2007, Jérôme produced 2800 bottles of rosé made from a small section of Les Béguines where the grapes were affected by court-noué which limits the flowering of the vines, and so concentrates the juice in the small quantity of grapes that remain. It is made by assemblage, with 11% of red pinot meunier wine added to the still white before fermentation. Elevage was then carried out as per Jérôme’s main cuvée. A very delicate pale rosé, it offers red fruits with a hint of spice and mineral resonance. Very limited quantity. For drinking now to 2012.

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Champagne and Sparkling

All of our champagnes come from growers who practice good viticulture, whose yields are on average 35% lower than grandes marques champagnes. Practising good viticulture (aided by global warming) also makes it possible to produce zero dosage champagnes from fully ripe grapes. Ten of the champagnes are made with zero dosage and all 23 have dosage of less than 9g/l. This allows the flavours from specific terroir to come flowing through into the glass, without sugar blurring the focus. Taking this a step further 11 of the champagnes are also single vineyard, single cepage, single year champagnes. Prices for top growers’ champagnes are still great value and right now there has never been a better time to buy terroir specific, low dosage champagnes. Benoit Lahaye has quietly been improving the quality of his champagnes over the last five years. Organically certified, he has taken the next step by following bio-dynamic viticulture since 2003. This has helped his champagnes to gain more depth, precision of flavour and mineral essence. Chartogne-Taillet, now in the hands of 27 yearold Alexandre Chartogne, are well renowned growers, just west of Reims. Already highly rated by the likes of Parker and Bettane, Alexandre did a stage with the famous grower Anselme Selosse. Renowned soil analyst Claude Bourguignon was then appointed and ploughing the soil, no herbicides or pesticides, lower yields, natural yeasts are now the norm. Bérèche have 9.30 hectares around Ludes on the Montagne de Reims. Following similar agro-bio lines to Chartogne, they also converted one hectare of vineyard to bio-dynamic methods in 2007. There is a four-strong team at the helm, with sons Raphael and Vincent, both in their twenties joining forces with their parents. They produce an excellent range of champagnes that have deservedly attracted lots of press attention, and we are confident that they will progress to the very top. Georges Laval (run by Vincent Laval) has just two and a half hectares of 30-70 year old organically certified vines on the due south hillside of the exceptional premier cru Cumières, just west of Epernay. Yields are low here and grapes ripen early. You get the impression of being very close to the grapes when tasting Vincent’s champagnes – they are dense, layered champages with a lovely purity and mineral tension. Jérôme Prévost is another protégée of Anselme Selosse and makes brilliant, rich, complex champagnes from a tiny 2.2 hectare vineyard (with 48 year old vines) near Gueux. Viticulture is meticulous and bio-dynamic and his beautiful wines are made in an unmanipulated, natural style with indigenous yeasts, vinification and elevage in a mix of new to 13 year old barrels, no filtration or dosage. His champagnes are the ultimate expression of champagne as fine wine, and age especially well for anyone who can resist temptation and cellar a few bottles.

Vignerons in Cramant since 1746, Lilbert - Fils, one of the superstars of Cramant according to Peter Liem, have 3½ hectares of old vine chardonnay in the top Côte des Blancs villages of Cramant, Chouilly and Oiry. Cuve aged 100% for the initial fermentation (like Cédric Bouchard), this helps their champagnes to preserve focus and fruit. Lilbert have developed an excellent reputation for champagnes of finesse and expression that age especially well.

We came across the champagne of Jacques Lassaigne at the brilliant Noma restaurant in Copenhagen. Lassaigne has just five hectares of chardonnay, in the isolated village of Montgueux to the west of Troyes. Here there is an older strata of chalk (upper cretaceous) than in the Côte des Blancs, and with south east facing vineyards, Lassaigne has no problem in attaining over 11% alcohol naturally for the first fermentation.

Ulysse Collin was a tip from the Swiss importer of Prévost and Larmandier, who mentioned that Collin was at least as good. They make just 8000 bottles of stylish Blanc de Blancs from a single parcel of 35-year-old vines in Vert-la-Gravelle (near Vertus). The style of champagne here is at the richer end of the spectrum, deeply vinous with a firmly prounounced chalkiness.

Bertrand Gautherot crafts exceptionally fine midweight champagne from four and a half hectares near Bar-sur-Seine, nearer to Chablis than Reims. He has practiced bio-dynamic viticulture here since 1998, and with a couple of lovingly tended cows producing the essential for his compost, Bertrand lives in harmony with his terroirs. Viticulture is meticulous, yields are tiny (around 17 hectos per hectare for one cuvée in 2007), grapes are pressed by an old traditional wooden Coquard press, the wine isn’t pumped or fined and filtered, and all the wines are aged in new to eight year old barrels.

Larmandier-Bernier have 15 hectares of old vines (average 33 years old) in the Côte des Blancs. They have developed a fine reputation for producing stylish, elegant champagnes with a crystalline purity and depths of salty, chalky minerality. They were certified organic back in 1999 but have turned to bio-dynamic viticulture since then.

Cédric Bouchard has 2.50 hectares of 30-yearold vines in Celles-sur-Ource in the Aube. He determined to work along the Burgundy principle of one parcel, one cépage, one vintage and low yields, using natural yeasts, cuve ageing and zero dosage. Since setting up in 2000 Cédric has created a terrific reputation for his microproduction and was named Champagne vigneron of the year in the 2008 Gault Millau guide. He is now starting to attract acclaim from wine writers over here – Jancis Robinson, Tim Atkin and The Winegang.