Why the CEO of a Champagne House Took on the Challenge of Creating a Zero-Alcohol £100-a-bottle Sparkling Wine
This new non-alcoholic sparkling wine is aimed at lovers of mature vintage Champagne with money to spare
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Dec 14, 2023
The Festive Champagne and Sparkling Wine Guide 2023
Welcome to my roundup of Champagnes and sparkling wines for the festive season. It's always a pleasure to publish this – with an...
Dec 1, 2022
WINE OF THE WEEK: Jacques Boncoeur Brut Réserve Champagne, France
£22 (on offer), Bon Coeur Fine Wines A timely reminder that in the season of the cheery Champagne deal supermarkets are not the only...
Nov 22, 2022
So Much More than a Pretty Bottle: Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque 2013
The seminal Belle Epoque bottle decorated with the Japanese anemone motif designed for Perrier-Jouët by Émile Gallé, one of the pioneers...
May 11, 2022
Moët's Luxury Cuvée MCIII and the Enigmatic Non-Appearance of its Successor
The text of this article was first published in The World of Fine Wine issue 68 (June 2020) LATEST, April 12, 2022: I asked Moët to give...
Feb 2, 2022
The Essence of Cristal Through the Prism of the 2014 Vintage
"If I don't make mistakes, I never learn." Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon's words are hardly original but still they took me by surprise. I...
Dec 9, 2021
The Festive Champagne Guide 2021
It goes without saying that it's always a pleasure to publish my annual round-up of Champagnes to meet the varied needs of the festive...
Aug 25, 2021
Why the 2008 Rosé Marks A Mini Revolution at Champagne Charles Heidsieck
It's not the ten years on lees – the 2005 rosé had 11 years – or the 2mm smaller diameter bottle neck "to tighten the ageing" that chef...
May 11, 2021
Cristal 2013: the Vintage that Outdoes the Cristal of Cristals
If Louis Roederer Cristal 2008 was "the Cristal of Cristals", in the memorable words of chef de cave Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon at the...
Mar 8, 2021
Tales of the Unexpected: Bollinger R.D. 2007
With the 2007 vintage the disgorgement date has returned to the front label If I'm ever asked who from history I would choose as my...
Dec 16, 2020
The Festive Champagne Guide 2020
I hardly need say that the past year isn't going to go down in history as very celebratory and that 2021 is looking shaky, but I don't...
Sep 2, 2020
More than Skin-Deep: Never Mind the Look, Feel the Eco Credentials
New generation, sustainable, reusable, ice-bucket resistant, bottle-hugging paper case instead of the usual gift box for Ruinart...
Aug 4, 2020
Prime Time for Pink: Summer Rosé Round-up
Another summer, another round-up of delicious dry rosés, plus a featherweight, lightly sparkling sweet wine from Italy and a pink...
Jun 16, 2020
Heavenly Champagne from a Hellish Year: Charles Heidsieck Brut Millésimé 2012
The 2012 vintage in Champagne was expected to be a disaster – as bad as 1984, and that's saying something. There was winter frost, spring...
Jun 1, 2020
Dom Pérignon Rosé 2006 and Moët Grand Vintage Collection 2002
I was going to call this A Taste of Dom Pérignon Rosé 2006 and Moët Grand Vintage Collection 2002 but, reader, I drank them, not by...
Jun 1, 2020
Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 2006 vs 2007
Caroline Fiot at Ruinart HQ in Reims, one of Ruinart's team of three winemakers The text of this article was first published in The World...
Dec 13, 2019
The Festive Champagne Guide 2019
Writing my annual Festive Champagne Guide is, as you can imagine, no hardship, not least because I have tasted everything in it recently....
Oct 25, 2019
Down in a deep, dark sea... Drappier Champagnes
Encrusted sea-aged Grande Sendrée 2008 and a pristine bottle conventionally matured in Drappier's Champagne cellars in the Aube Why age...
Oct 17, 2019
WINE OF THE WEEK: Joseph Perrier Cuvée Royale Brut Champagne, France
£34/£27, Tanners Wines I wasn't planning to do Champagne this week, but now is the time to stock up on this Joseph Perrier. The current...
Jul 3, 2019
Bruno Paillard's zero-dosage Champagne comes of age
D : Z is one of two new launches for Champagne Bruno Paillard. The other is the 2009 Assemblage, a vintage that Alice Paillard admits...
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