France

Champagne

The drink for all occasions. “In victory we deserve it! In defeat we need it!” Sir Winston Churchill.

The days of relying on a few big houses, with massive marketing budgets turning out swill are over. No longer do we have to put up with getting served battery acid with alcohol, bubbles and sugar in it.

Today, the best Champagne comes from houses dedicated to quality in the vineyard and winery. They are becoming better known and getting the recognition they deserve. More importantly, these delicious Champagnes are making their way into our glasses!

Champagne styles that can be drunk through every stage of a celebration and meal, from a crisp aperitif style to rich Blanc de Noirs made from 100% Pinot, complex blends, and, when they get it right, some of the most inspiring Rosé.

The best Champagnes are best drunk from a bigger glass, a little warmer, and, believe it or not typically taste just as good when they’ve lost their bubbles and gone flat!

Try a little salty hard cheese, Percorino or Reggiano Parmigiano work a treat to bring out the flavours.

Most Champagne is made form three grape varieties, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and, Pinot Meunier. On rare and typically special occasions you’ll find Champagnes made with all seven permitted varieties, adding Fromenteau A.K.A Pinot Gris, Abanne, Pinot Blanc, and, Petit Meslier.

Winemakers in Champagne are master blenders. They have an arsenal of options at their disposal, whether it be combining varieties, fruit from different sites and sub-regions, fermenting and maturing base wines in different vessels, particularly old oak barrels, or, using reserve wines made using a solera system across multiple vintages often covering a period of decades.

Equally some of the finest Champagnes are made from single vineyards and vintages.

Like many of the world’s large wine regions there are efforts underway to further define the sub-regions of Champagne. Partly in a push to recognise the quality of sites previously given less recognition.

You can explore the world of Champagne further in the Wine Bites Mag.

Showing 81 Delicious Wines!

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André Clouet Dream Vintage 2016

Chardonnay | Champagne

This 2016 Dream Vintage sits proud next to the divine 1911 & V6. Made with 100% Grand Cru Chardonnay it is an enigma for a Champagne house dominated by Pinot Noir from Bouzy. As the name implies it is only made in the best years. As always, Jean François Clouet has created a complete Champagne harnessing time to yield a beautifully developed bottle of fizz adding richness and generosity to a linear, mineral backbone of Chardonnay. I get the feeling there is a lot more than meets the eye

$136

$131ea in any 3+

$126ea in any 6+

André Clouet Dream Vintage 2014

Chardonnay | Champagne

This 2014 Dream Vintage sits proud next to the divine 1911 & V6. Made with 100% Grand Cru Chardonnay it is an enigma for a Champagne house dominated by Pinot Noir from Bouzy. As the name implies it is only made in the best years. Made only from Chardonnay grapes from the oldest vines of the champagne estate. The Blanc de Blancs presents itself on the nose with intense aromas of white stone fruits, paired with a refreshing citrus note, which make the champagne feel crystal clear. On the pa

$136

$131ea in any 3+

$126ea in any 6+

The Fabrice Session 🎧 & 🎥 Inside!

R.Pouillon Grande Vallée Brut (2018/2019) NV

Blend | Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Avenay-Val-d'Or

The perfect introduction to Pouillon's wines, yet, far from an entry level. The gives you a peak into just how much personality and vitality his wines have. In its youth, March 2023, it needs a little warmth and air to coax out the fruit. Patience, 2-3 years will be well rewarded! Balancing a hint of oxidative character with delicious fruit with great length and depth. The Grande Vallée (previously labeled the Réserve) represents a little splash of fruit across most of Pouillon's holdings.

$138

$133ea in any 3+

$128ea in any 6+

Made with Passion!

Larmandier-Bernier Longitude Blanc de Blancs (2018) NV

Chardonnay | Vertus, Champagne

Deceptively sophisticated, the depth of fruit is beautifully counterpointed with stunning mineral acid & layers of flavour! Larmandier-Bernier was one of the first grower Champagnes to make a mark in Australia. Everyone had been used to hyped up, over marketed crap from big houses. These guys sent a ripple through the market that became a shock wave of yumminess! 100% Chardonnay Longitude is the more elegant of the two in comparison with Latitude. The Longitude base 2018 is a raging success.�

$148

$143ea in any 3+

$138ea in any 6+

André Clouet Dream Vintage 2006

Chardonnay | Champagne

This 2006 Dream Vintage sits proud next to the divine 1911 & V6. "The original generosity of this vintage is reinforced by a clear structure that gives it freshness and precision. Fine, bright and elegant. Full, complex nose of grapefruit, peach and raspberry. Structured on the palate, with surprising acidity. A voluptuous Champagne that fills the palate." As always, Jean François Clouet has created a complete Champagne harnessing time to yield a beautifully developed bottle of fizz.

$149

$144ea in any 3+

$139ea in any 6+

Champagne Suenen Oiry Blanc de Blanc Grand Cru NV (Base 2018)

Chardonnay | Oiry, France

2018 base with 50% reserve wines from the previous three vintages. Together with Suenen’s single-vineyard offering (La Cocluette), these represent the only pure Oiry wines on the market. This is drawn from just 1.5 hectares split between five separate parcels. The vines are all planted in Oiry’s compact, white Campanian chalk soils. From Le Champ Braux planted in 1955 to La Cocluette planted in 1987 and 1999, the average age of the vines is now 45 years. These vineyards lie at the base

$163

$156ea in any 3+

$149ea in any 6+

Agrapart 7 Crus Brut (Base 2020/19)

Chardonnay | Oiry, Champagne

Disgorged June 2023. Limited. 100% Grand Cru, with the fruit sourced only from great sites across four revered villages in the Côte des Blancs: Avize, Cramant, Oger and Oiry. Together with the terroir, vine age is a key factor in quality. The average age of the plantings is more than 50 years. This release is based on 2019 and 2018, with the reserve wine making up a remarkable 80% of the cuvée—another key to the quality. After natural fermentation, half the wine matured in large-format, n

$171

$164ea in any 3+

$157ea in any 6+

Pierre Péters Blanc de Blanc L’Esprit de 2017

Chardonnay | France, Champagne

The Côte des Blancs is home to all the great Chardonnay vineyards in Champagne. The Grand Cru vineyards are the best of these. When I worked at Legras et Haas, the Grand Cru Chardonnay was exceptional. I was blown away just tasting the juice. The quality of this wine reminds me of that oh so delicious juice! L'Esprit de 2017 sees a shift to freshness from the slightly Oxy style of the past. The line and length is excellent, chalky acid supports fruit of great depth and length. Loads o

$179

$172ea in any 3+

$165ea in any 6+

Precise & Delicious!

Louis Roederer et Phillipe Starck Brut Nature 2012

Blend | Champagne, France

Only the 3rd release of this exception Brut Nature Collaboration with Phillipe Starck & it's a cracker! When you have no sugar in the Liqueur d'Expedition, no sugar added to the wine, there is no-where to hide. The fruit quality and winemaking must be impeccable. The 3rd collaboration wine holds its own comfortably. The core of fruit powers through, pith and citrus rind float across your palate. Fresh with hints of strawberries, development comes through in the form of toasty brioche and hints o

$180

$175ea in any 3+

$170ea in any 6+

Precise & Delicious!

Louis Roederer et Phillipe Starck Brut Nature Rosé 2012

Blend | France, Champagne

The Very First Release of Rosé from the Brut Nature Collaboration with Phillipe Starck! Kicking off with 2012! The 2012 Brut Nature Rosé is rich, explosive and pulsing with energy. Chef de Caves Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon adds an infusion of 25% cold soaked Pinot Noir into the same base wine as the 2012 Brut Nature, an approach that works beautifully in bringing out the energy and focus that make Champagnes from Cumières so distinctive. Even with all of its power, the 2012 is delicate, airy and

$180

$175ea in any 3+

$170ea in any 6+

Egly-Ouriet ‘Les Prémices’ Base 18 NV

Blend | France, Champagne

Egly easily sits in my list of top 5 Champagne Houses The current release is the first blend to include three vintages and the wine is all the better for it. The dosage for this release was just two grams per litre. We really love this wine and the contrast it offers from the rest of the range. It’s a super mineral, pure fruit wine with a weight and personality that reminds us of the great Jérôme Prévost (perhaps it’s the Meunier influence). Regardless, expect wonderful precision, the del

$181

$174ea in any 3+

$167ea in any 6+

Benoît Lahaye Blanc de Noir Base 18 NV

Pinot Noir | Montagne de Reims, Bouzy

After drinking a bottle of his 2012 I literally had no choice but to get more of Benoît’s wines in! The Lahaye hallmarks are all here. Pinot shines through with red fruit of excellent length & depth. Beautifully developed with what appears to be the typical energy and superb balance of the house. Lahaye clearly has great touch in both vineyard and winery. 100% Pinot Noir from Bouzy (“Les Vaux Bétins” and “Les Hannepés” plots with deep soils) and Tauxières, in an area call

$187

$177ea in any 3+

$167ea in any 6+

Such depth!

André Clouet Cuvee 1911

Pinot Noir | Champagne, Bouzy

Fermented in Sauternes barrels, this baby has an extra dimension of pleasure woven in! 100% pinot noir from Clouet's 10 best plots, dubbed by Jean-Francois 'the golden square of Bouzy' 50% fermented in Sauternes barriques from Doisy-Daëne, 50% solera of reserve wines; full malolactic fermentation, a symbolic production of just 1911 bottles. All this combined with a slightly lower pressure gives the wine a lucious mouthfeel. It just draws you in! Incredible layered and complex, playing oxida

$189

$182ea in any 3+

$175ea in any 6+

The Fabrice Session 🎧 & 🎥 Inside!

R.Pouillon ‘Les Terres Froides’ Premier Cru NV

Chardonnay | Tauxières, Aÿ

Often in the 'Pro' wine circles, you're asked to nail your banner to a mast in a blind tasting. Although a Chardonnay, Fabrice has fooled, without malice, many a Champenois, who has called this wine a Pinot. It's not so much the flavours, but, the body, richness, and, mid-palate power that this wine offers that can confuse. In the end, all of this is irrelevant. What you have in front of you is a wine of purity, line, length, excellent acid, with lovely ripe flavours, a little pith and grapef

$190

$183ea in any 3+

$176ea in any 6+

The Fabrice Session 🎧 & 🎥 Inside!

R.Pouillon Rosé Brut NV

Pinot Noir | Vallée de la Marne, Champagne

Such a beautiful Rosé. If finding a good wine is hard, finding tasty Rosé Champagne is a true mission. There are so many tricked up hard angular wines. Fabrice has got it all going on here. Rosé made by allowing fruit skin contact rather than dosing a white wine with some Red really does appear to offer a much more refined result. This one has lovely fresh, yet developed, red fruits, a little savoury edge and so much more going on. The halmark Pouillon harmony and energy. Just that very sligh

$190

$183ea in any 3+

$176ea in any 6+

Champagne Suenen C+C Blanc de Blanc Grand Cru NV (Base 2018)

Chardonnay | Cramant, France

The C + C Blanc de Blancs is blended from nine parcels across both north and south-facing hillsides in Cramant and Chouilly. Here the soils are deeper, with silty clay overlying the chalk. This, with a good dose of southern exposure, makes for a much more hedonistic wine. The blend is split between Cramant (70%) and Chouilly (30%). Although tempted to bottle each village separately, Suenen has found the two villages work even better as a blend: the textural finesse of Cramant marrying perfe

$191

$184ea in any 3+

$177ea in any 6+