FRENCH CHAMPAGNES  There are 2 products.

Subcategories

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  Blanc de Blancs

  Blanc de Blancs Champagne is derived from the Chardonnay grape only. These are, on release, the lightest and most graceful wines of the lot, but properly aged vintage example take on a gorgeous toasty richness that quite belies the lightness argument. Some favourite styles, if you're buying are Salon,Ruinart,Nicolas Feuillatte,Billecart-Salmon, Drappier,Taittinger Comtes de Champagne, Krug Clos de Mesnil.

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  Blanc de Noirs

  Blanc de Noirs White champagne made from the black grapes, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier,usually with a noticeably darker tone to it, although it's never pink. They can be rather heavy and lumpish, certainly not a beginner's champagne, but when good, their richer style can be impressive. The Pinot Noir brings weight and richness to a blend and helps it to age productively, while the Pinot Pinot Meunier is less distinguished grape in itself, but does lend a distinct fruity immediacy to many blends. Some houses play down the influence of this grape; others including Krug  openly celebrate the function it serves. The Blanc de Noir style are good champagne's to accompany with food. Some of the best Blanc de Noirs Champagne to consider are the Bollinger Vieilles Vignes, de Venoge, Billiot, Serge Mathieu, Alexandre Bonnet.

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  Brut

  Most champagne is labelled Brut, which is the standard bone-dry style. The style of a champagne is determined at the last moment,before the cork goes in,when a quantity of sugar in solution known as the dosage is added to create the final taste. Even brut contains some sugar, since unadorned champagne is a naturally very acidic wine. Avery few wines receive no dosage at all, and may be labelled Brut Zero. Alternatively, an above average amount of sugar can be added to create a sweeter style  either medium dry, labelled Demi-Sec or positively sweet, and labelled either Doux or, sometimes, Rich. Louis Roederer produces a nicely balanced "Rich" 

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  Cuvee

  Cuvée  French Champagne is mostly produced by top - drawer spacial bottling. These are usually, but not always - a vintage wine, produced just to show how good they can really get. They are aged for longer than ordinary vintage wine, or come from particularly favoured parcels of vineyard land.The packaging is often quite diverting, as witness Belle Epoque in its flower painted bottle, or the multi faceted crystal effect of Nicolas Feuillatte's Palmes d'Or. Even more than straight vintage wines, these champagnes have to be aged properly.Some of the best Cuvee to consider are Roederer Cristal, Pol Roger Cuvée , Sir Winston Churchill, Domerignon, Krug Grande Cuvée, Veuve Clicquot,La Grande Dame, Bollinger RD, Perrier - Jouet Belle Epoque, Grosset Grande Reserve, Mumm Rene Lalou, Pommery Cuvée Louise, Laurent - Perrier Grand Siecle, Nicolas Feuillatte Palmes d'Or.

   

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  Cuvee Brut

  Brut Cuvée Champagne, our driest and most traditional champagne offering, is vibrant on the palate until the last sip. Green apple, jasmine, hints of kiwi and peach flavors bubble up for a crisp, lingering finish. bubbling with aromas of Chardonnay, it's an instant favorite for any champagne occasion.

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  NV ~ Non Vintage

  Non Vintage NV ~ The benchmark style, and the wine that the reputations of the houses live or die by,is the non vintage blend. Each year, a quantity of base wine is held back in reserve, and small amounts of this older, maturer wine are used to give a softer feel and more complex flavour to what would be otherwise be very raw,acidic wine. When there has been a run of good vintages, the quality of th NV goes up significantly. Styles vary enormously from one producer to the next . What unites the best are good balance, roundness of texture and depth of flavour leading to a long finish. The best houses to consider are Charles Heidsieck,Pol Roger, Bollinger, Veuve Clicquot,Billecart - Salmon, Taittinger, and Louis Roederer to name a few.

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  Rose Reserve

  French Rose Champagne is made by adding a little still red wine from the locale to the white champagne (a practice not permitted anywhere else in France). A small amount, perhaps two percent, is made by staining the white juice by allowing the red grape skins to soak in it for  a short while. At best, rose champagne have an exhilarating strawberry or raspberry fruit that makes them glorious for summer drinking.Colours vary hugely,from Hollywood - starlet lipstick to a faint brownish tinge ("onion skin is the technical term) for those given the briefest maceration. Some of the best French Rose Champagne to consider are: Pol Roger, Veuve Clicquot, Ruinart,Bollinger, Gosset, Billecart - Salmon, Jacquart  and at the very expensive end Perrier - Jouet Belle Epoque, Roederer Cristal and Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame. 

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  Vintage

  Vintage French Champagne is the produce of a single year's harvest, with the year stated on the label, aged for a minimum of three years on its lees (although the better houses will give it longer). Like port, vintage wine should be theoretically only be made in the best years, maybe three or four times a decade, but it seemingly takes a spectacularly rotten vintage to dissuade everybody from producing a vintage wine.

  On average, vintage wines are released at around five years old (but barely more than three is not unknown, sadly). They don't really come into their own until after eight to ten years. Bear this in mind when you buy it, these wines are too expensive to waste by drinking them immature. The reward is deep, richly complex, honeyed wines, often having the aroma of freshly baked bread or brioche, the best suitable for drinking with food.

  Some of the best French Vintage Champagne producers to consider are: Taittinger, Bollinger, Moet & Chandon, Lanson, Veuve Clicquot, H Blin, De Venoge and Henriot.