Earlier this year I took a trip to Champagne and had a magical experience. Tasting some amazing Champagne’s, eating great food, taking in the culture of the Champagne region (it was immensely picturesque) and learning a lot about champagne.
Christmas is coming and if you’re struggling for gifts or looking for special drinks to buy when hosting family and friends then look no further, I have listed 5 of the best champagnes I tried in Reims and Epernay. I am by no means an expert but I didn’t want to gate keep such important information for this time of your!
- Esterlin – Brut Nature 2009 – €46.99 at venove.it.
This is a unexpected surprise of a champagne. Going to Esterlin, I had no expectations and have never heard of the champagne before visiting their house on Epernay. Their story is different to most champagne houses and you might fear of a quality compromise but let me say that this is simply not true. The quality of the wines was second to none. What I particularly liked about this wine was the it has no sugar added. This might sound like it would be overly dry but it really was not. I was pleasant and well balanced. It had a good amount of tannins and really sat in the throat for quite some time.
- DeVenoge – Cordon Bleu Blanc de Noirs – €44 at enviedechamp.
This a lovely reasonably priced champagne that really gives bang for it’s buck. It has perfectly balanced honey, nectarine notes and is smooth and velvety. I would really recommend giving this a try for a well priced champagne that is a really easy drink.
- G.H.Mumm – RSRV collection – contact G.H. Mumm online for purchase enquiries here.
I tried 3 of the champagnes in the RSRV collection and all three were excellent. There is something for everyone in the RSRV collection. The entire collection was well balanced with notable minerality. It was a pleasure to taste these wines and I would have purchased some at the tasting if I had the luggage allowance on my flight home (which I sadly did not). There were a could of others in the collection that I sadly did not try such as the blanc de noirs RSRV but I would highly recommend the ones I did:
- RSRV collection Rose
- RSRV collection Curvee
- RSRV collection blanc de blancs 2014 (if pushed, I would call this one my favourite of the three). This bottle was £55 to buy at the cellars tour in May 2023.
- G.H.Martel – prestige brut Champagne – £29.99 at affordable wines.co.uk
G.H. Martel for me is one of France’s best kept secrets. It was sold in most restaurants in Reim’s but beyond that on the international scale, you do not see it in supermarkets in the UK. It is a very smooth champagne with a acidity and fruitiness well balanced and has notes of citrus and vanilla. I would highly recommend starting with this champagne if you are a complete novice as it has a great price point. Thank me later, this is a great champagne and very reasonably priced.
- Tattinger – Comtes de Champagne 2012 – £165 from dorsetwines.co.uk
This blanc de blanc champagne was beautiful. At the wine tasting we received two champagnes to try, this was supreme. The bubbles were smaller and lighter, it was lower in acidity and had a really creaminess to it. The taste of the wine was floral yet light, elegant and well balanced. It really is wonderful to drink and goes down well for a special occasion.
A quick beginners guide to understanding champagne
There are three main varieties of grapes and two of those grapes are actually red grapes! The three grapes are
- Chardonnay – white grape
- Pinot Noir – black grape
- Pinot Meunier – black grape
Now why is this important, because understanding the grape varieties will help you to know what type of champagnes you like. Some Champagnes have just one grape variety from the above ie just Chardonnay is called blanc de blanc (made from white grapes only) and some champagnes are made from black grapes only (the pinot noir and pinot meunier grapes) which are called blanc de noirs. Then within all champagnes the amount of each grape and the blending process can greatly vary, which affects the final product and final taste. If you can do wine tasting, I would encourage you to go, as you can start to really understand your preferences and then pick bottles based on grape varieties that you know you will enjoy.
Terroir – this relates to the quality of the soil and conditions that the grapes are grown in, there are top two appellations for champagnes is Grand Cru and Premier Cru, so this is good sign to look for on a bottle of champagne.
Vintages – This means that the grapes in the bottle are solely from that year. So for example if the bottle says 2009 all grape in that bottle were from the same 2009 harvest. Because wine comes from grapes, which may or may not have a good harvest in any given year grapes are reserved for blending with other harvests to ensure champagne can still be produced when there is a ‘bad year’/bad harvest. Vintages may also be a sign of quality and consistency but that is a choice for the drinker to make. If the bottle does not have a year on the label, it is not a vintage wine.
Barrels – wine can be aged in different types of barrels which can greatly change the taste. Some champagnes are aged in oak which will give distinct nutty woody flavours. If this is your preference, look for wines aged in oak barrels rather than other materials such as steel.
I will caveat all this again and say I am no wine expert but I just wanted so share some of the top champagne’s I tasted and share a few learnings which might help you pick out a bottle next time which you will love for a special occasion.
Take care and comment below with any other champagne facts to share!