This weeks Sparkling deals, 8th April 2011

Duval Leroy Premier Cru 75cl - £14.99 at Waitrose (http://www.waitrosewine.com)


This is an exclusive to the on-trade and Waitrose. Its a Chardonnay dominant blend which gives it great finesse and a vibrant acidity. It also has subtle floral notes and a mouth-filling, creamy mousse. All the grapes come from premier cru vineyards which means they have been rated 90-99% on the eshelle des crus. Overall this means the grapes can achieve greater ripeness due their preferable location. Waitrose claim this is a half price offer but I have always thought of this champagne to be worth around £25 rather than £30 but at £14.99 its a steal.

Nicolas Feuillatte Brut NV - £14.49 at Tesco (www.tesco.com)


I always seem to be recommending this champagne but the fact is that at £14.49 it is great value and a decent tipple. Buy a bottle and make the most of this fantastic weather while it lasts.

Bruno Paillard Profile

Bruno Paillard is the youngest of the grande maisons, having only been founded in 1981 by, you guessed it, Bruno Paillard at the tender age of 27. By having a philosophy of quality and purity, this champagne house has grown in stature to a point where it now commands as much respect as many of its fellow grande maisons. There is good reason for this. Bruno Paillard has a strict chart to control the quality of all its Champagnes:

• Only the top grapes from the vintage are used, the rest are declassified and sold on,
• Only the first pressings, or premiere cuvee, go into the final champagnes,
• Bottle ageing for up to 2-3 times longer than regulations require,
• Lower dosage, 6-7g depending on the blend, to respect the purity of the wine.

Bruno Paillard was the first house, in a growing trend, to state the disgorgement date on the back label. This gives the consumer better control over when in the wine's stage of development they want to drink it. Currently, it has six different champagnes. A Brut Premiere Cuvee , Rose Premiere Cuvee, Blanc de Blanc Reserve Privee, Vintage Blanc de Blanc, Vintage Brut and their Prestige Cuvee Nec Plus Ultra (the last word). I tasted the following from their range at the London Annual Champagne tasting:

Brut Premiere Cuvee - this has a citrus-dominated nose full of sour grapefruit and lemons. On the palate there is an initial acidity hit, which gives way to a melange of fruits, including grapefruit, red current and cherry. There is also a defined minerality and mouth-filling mousse, leading to a dry finish. This is a food-friendly style which would be great with fruit de mer and a number of fish dishes. 

Blanc de Blanc 1999 - This is a stellar wine from the initial hit to the finish. This vintage was particularly warm, being about 1 -1.5 degrees warmer than average, and it is apparent in this offering. It has fairly low acidity but still maintains a great balance. The palate is honeyed and has great minerality and Alice Paillard, Bruno's youngest daughter, describes this vintage as "vivacious," which i think is spot on. Interestingly, all Bruno Paillard vintage champagnes have specially commissioned artwork on the front label and the 1999 is still being worked on as I write this. This is genuinely one of the best champagnes I have had and is well worth its £55-60 price tag. Dig it out for a special occasion. It's worth noting, that even though this is drinking well now it will continue to develop for 10 years.

Rose Premiere Cuvee - A Pinot Noir dominant blend with just a touch of Chardonnay. It has a pretty, coppery colour with a nose of fresh summer fruits including strawberries and floral notes. The palate is packed with ripe, red fruits but is incredibly delicate. This is proof that Pinot Noir based champagnes don't all have to be rich and dense.


If you are going to try something new this month I cannot recommend Bruno Paillard enough.


Available to buy though Bibendum Wine, Laithwaites and Slurp Wine

Comite Champagne Annual Tasting - London 2011

Last week was the 2011 Annual Champagne Tasting in London hosted by the Comite Champagne. This is one of the most anticipated events on the champagne calendar in the UK. It's a great opportunity for the trade to meet the people behind some of the legendary champagne houses, as well as some humble growers making exceptional champagnes. It is often the first chance the trade have to taste new releases and this year was no exception.

Events like this are a perfect opportunity to taste champagnes side by side. You can compare champagnes from the same vintage, champagnes with similar blends and champagnes from the same region. This gives you a great insight into what defines each champagne house.

With 68 brands showing their champagnes and over 200 champagnes on show it was impossible to taste everything, so my game plan was to concentrate on slightly lesser known houses, which I think will grow in profile over the next few years.

Here are my top 3's for the event:

Money no object best champagnes:

1) Bollinger Grand Anne 2002 (available nationwide) - a superstar champagne from a great Pinot Noir vintage.

2) Bruno Paillard Blanc de Blanc 1999 - an expressive champagne which is entering its drinking window, but will age beautifully for at least 10 years.

3) Delamotte Blanc de Blanc 1999 (Oddbins) - this is a really unique champagne which will really suit lovers of white Burgundies. 

Champagne houses to watch:

1) Bruno Paillard - this is a champagne house with the upmost standards. They only use the first press grapes, age each champagne for a minimum of 3 years and use a low dosage to allow the flavours to really express themselves. (full profile to follow)

2) Delamotte - Delamotte is the sister house of Salon and has a reputation for sourcing top chardonnay grapes from the top Cotes de Blanc communes of Le Mesnil, Oger and Avize. Quality has been on the rise since it was acquired by the Laurant-Perrier group 

3) Philipponnat - This house has already got a great reputation amongst champagne connoisseurs but I think it has the quality to hit the mainstream. 

Best Value Champagnes:

1) Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Vintage 2004 (£19 in Majestic) - there is a lot of quality out of the 2004 vintage. This champagne shows complexity way beyond its price point. It has pure fruit and lovely bread-like characters which a lot of cheaper champagnes cannot achieve.

2) Le Mesnil Blanc de Blanc Grand Cru 2004 £29.44 (Waitrose) -At £30 this isn't particularly cheap but the fruit is sourced from some of the best vineyards in the Cote de Blanc and the 2004 vintage was a great vintage. This champagne has very vivacious bubbles and citrusy fruit with floral high notes. It has a balanced acidity and will continue to get better for the next 5 years.

3) Delemotte Brut NV £25 (available nationwide) - top grapes go into this chardonnay-dominated blend. It even takes grapes from vineyards that go into the fabled Salon champagnes. This champagne has a fruit-forward style with delicate pear and citrus flavours and a fine bead of bubbles.

Jacques Cartier brut NV

When this Negociant champagne first came to me I was a bit hasty to form an opinion on it. Try as I might, I couldn't help looking at the bottle and thinking, "Here's another average tasting, sub £20 champage which is destined for a corner shop near you." I have to admit that, when I first tried it, I wasn't hugely impressed by the wine inside either, but on my second tasting I had a bit more time to deliberate. It has a striking colour; bright and golden. On the nose it has quite a reductive character but it brings interesting orange peel notes with it, as well as a strong, toasty core. But what about the taste...? Surprisingly good. The orange peel flavours carry through to the palete and bring with them robust, toasted-brioche, low notes. It is a Pinot Meurnier dominent blend and this explains the robust nature of this champagne. Dare I say it, this has a similar flavour profile to Bollinger Brut NV, it's just a little bit less complete.

Jacques cartier is by no means a world-beater, but for the money, it is a solid champagne which I am happy to recommend to price conscious consumers.

Deal of the Week - Perrier Jouet Grand Brut NV - £20 at Majestic

This is the cheapest I have seen PJ for years. Its a fantastic grande marque champagne for those of you who prefer a lighter, Chardonnay dominated style. This deal is only on for 2 weeks so it is well worth getting a case in preparation for some summer al fresco drinking

What Majestic say "A well-priced Champagne of considerable charm. Perrier-Jouët is light, certainly, but displays a lovely weight of soft-apple fruit and an easy-drinking, well balanced style that make it extremely popular."

Good Valentines Day Champagne Deals

Here are a few supermarket deals on at the moment which caught my eye. Buy one for Valentines and one for the cupboard.

Lanson Rose Brut NV £17.40 in Tescos - light with red berry fruits, this is a good partner for all the chocolates you will be gorging on! Don't be put off by the hidious limited edition bottle.

Nicholas Feuillate NV £14 in Morrisons (£14.49 in Tescos) - One of my favourites out of the more reasonably priced champagne houses. The tangy green apple flavours are nicely balanced by the trademark yeasty notes.

Taittinger Brut Reserve NV £23.32 in Sainsburys - Though Taittinger has devalued over the passed year or so, the liquid in the bottle is still great. Taittinger, traditionally, has a high proportion of Chardonney in the blend which gives it a lovely perfume and a light, elegant nature. This is perfect to get your juices flowing before the big meal.

 

Lanson £14.74 at Sainsburys until the 8th February!

With Valentines day around the corner now is a good time to keep an eye out for some tasty drinks deals in the supermarkets. This one from Sainsbury's is a good one to start us off.

Lanson is generally in the cheaper end of the Grand Marque champagne scale but it's not a champagne to be sniffed at. Lanson is one of the oldest champagne houses around and was founded back in 1760. Traditionally is very light and acidic in youth with heaps of mouthwatering, citrus flavours. This is due to it not going through malolactic fermentation like the majority of other big name champagnes. It makes it the ideal partner for simple fish dishes. Try it as a partner to oysters as well, they are a match made in heaven. The lemony flavours cut through the juicy oysters perfectly and leave your pallet cleans and refreshed.

It is worth mentioning that this is not the ideal champagne to drink on its own. The high acidity levels could leave you with terrible heart burn!