Champagne
In 1668, Dom Pérignon is said to have discovered how to make sparkling wine; today his technique is used the world over, although Champagne continues to make some of the finest. France’s most northerly wine region, Champagne is now home to 15,000 growers and 290 ‘houses’. A blend of grape varieties is usually required: white Chardonnay to add fruit and elegance, and two reds – Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier – to provide body and backbone.
Our wine buyers leave no stone unturned in their quest to find the best Champagnes, and Berry Bros. & Rudd takes particular pride in its eclectic range of artisan Champagnes that represent a real sense of terroir, original winemaking, labour-intensive viticulture (often organic/biodynamic) and the uncompromising excellence of the end product.
How Champagne is made
In 1668, in the village of Hautvillers, the monk turned cellar master, Dom Pérignon, is said to have discovered how to make sparkling wine; while the same technique is used all over the world today, the region of Champagne continues to make some of the finest.
So what makes wine sparkle? Adding a solution of sugar and yeast to a white wine starts another fermentation in the bottle which results in the bubbles. Once the yeasts have done their job, a sediment known as ‘lees’ collects on the side of the bottle; contact with this deposit during maturation gives the wine its characteristic flavours of freshly-baked bread, toast and biscuit. Once this sediment is isolated (remuage) and removed (dégorgement), the Champagne is topped up with a sugar solution to make it dry or sweet
The Champagne Wine Region
Champagne is the most northerly wine region in France and is situated north-east of Paris. There are three main vineyard areas: Côte des Blancs, Vallée de la Marne and Montagne de Reims.
Ripeness of the grapes is often a problem, which is one reason why a blend of grape varieties is usually used: the white Chardonnay to give fruit and elegance, and two reds – Pinot Noir (particularly to provide a ‘backbone’) and Pinot Meunier.
In Champagne there are around 15,000 growers and 290 Champagne houses. Traditionally, growers have sold their grapes to the Champagne houses which account for 70 percent of production and 90 percent of exports. Recently, increasing numbers of growers are making growers’ Champagnes themselves, using their own grapes.
The Champagne houses used to be organized into a Syndicat des Grandes Marques, which had 28 members, not all of them of equal quality. That has now been superseded by the Club des Grandes Marques, with 24 participants: Ayala, Billecart-Salmon, Bollinger, Canard- Duchêne, Deutz, Dom Pérignon, Heidsieck & Co. Monopole, Henriot, Krug, Lanson, Laurent-Perrier, Moët & Chandon, G.H. Mumm, Perrier Jouët, Joseph Perrier, Piper-Heidsieck, Pol Roger, Pommery, Ch. & A Prieur, Louis Roederer, Ruinart, Salon, Taittinger, Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin.
Champagne Styles
Vintage Champagne
Made exclusively from grapes grown in a single year, this is produced only in the best years, and is released at about six years of age.
Non-Vintage Champagne
Most of the Champagne produced today is Non-Vintage, comprising the blended product of grapes from multiple vintages. Typically grapes from a single-year vintage will form the base of the blend, ranging from 15 percent to up to 40 percent.
Rosé Champagne
Typically light in colour, rosé Champagne is produced either by leaving the clear juice of black grapes to macerate on its skins for a brief time (known as saigneé), or by adding a small amount of Pinot Noir red wine to the sparkling wine cuvée. The saigneé method is more elaborate and costly, requiring highly-skilled winemaking, hence only a few houses still use it – among them Laurent Perrier and Louis Roederer.
Luxury (Prestige) Cuvée
Top of the range, this is vintage-dated. Famous examples include Louis Roederer's Cristal, Laurent-Perrier's Grand Siècle, Moët & Chandon's Dom Pérignon, Duval-Leroy's Cuvée Femme and Pol Roger's Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill.
Demi-Sec (Rich) Champagne
Demi-Sec or Rich is a medium-dry to medium-sweet style which occupies the other end of the spectrum from the standard dry "Brut" style. Brut Natural or Brut Zéro contains less than three grams of sugar per litre, Extra Brut has less than six grams of sugar per litre, and Brut less than 12 grams of sugar per litre.
Recently Disgorged Champagne
R.D. (Recently Disgorged) style was introduced for the first time by Madame Bollinger in 1961, on the 1952 Bollinger Grande Année vintage. Late disgorgement allows the Champagne to retain its freshness, vivacity and fruity expression, despite the ageing.
Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Blanc de Blancs denotes a Champagne made exclusively from Chardonnay grapes.
Blanc de Noirs Champagne
Blanc de Noir Champagnes are made exclusively from black grapes, Pinot Noir (typically) and Pinot Meunier grapes. Bollinger's prestige cuvée Vieilles Vignes Françaises is the lead example.
Prices:
H/Bottle
£16.75
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl184cs
Bottle
£28.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl2,635cs
Magnum
£61.00
Magnum 3 x 150cl291cs
D. Magnum
£150.00
D. Magnum 1 x 300cl41cs
This is without doubt one of the finest, yet least known, Grande Marque Champagnes, made with mainly Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. This Champagne is lively, elegantly textured and fresh, with a very long finish.
H/Bottle
£22.00
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl14cs
Bottle
£39.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl25cs
Bottle
£27.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl20cs
This is a classic apéritif Champagne. Deliciously light, crisp citrus and apple orchard flavours mingle with sundry red-berried fruit. It is beautifully plumped out in the middle, courtesy of Premier Cru Pinot Noir fruit from the evocatively named village of Dizy, ending with delicate toasty notes.
Bottle
£28.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl127cs
Gardet Brut Reserve showcases the character of aged reserve wines, as well as the ‘prestige' style of this Champagne house. This is two-thirds Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier with one-third Chardonnay, 25% reserve wine added, aged on lees 5 years, the dosage being 5 g/L. Dark straw-yellow colour with some golden hues. The bouquet is full, rich, with strong toasty overtones, backed by layers of creamy notes. This is a robust wine with intense flavours, quite open in expression.
Bottle
£32.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl4cs
The reputation of Bouzy resides in the quality and style of its Pinot Noirs, generally ripe, rich and very expressive. All three of these adjectives apply to this, the signature wine from Champagne Bara: a charming, forward Champagne, with a nose evocative of nectarine, plum and spice, then delicious flavours in the mouth which combine ripe fruity notes, a very fine mousse and an elegant, finely sculpted finish.
Paul Bara is a legend in Champagne. He took over the firm as a teenager 60 years ago and remembers every vintage in perfect detail. He belongs to the sixth generation to run the company since it was founded in 1833. Many major champagne houses have approached Bara over the years to try to buy the 30 exceptional locations he controls in the village...Despite the traditional methods, Bara's wines have a very elegant fruitiness, which is unique in Bouzy.
Juhlin's Champagne Guide, 2008
Bottle
£32.00
Under the gifted management of Gilles Marguet, Le Mesnil is making stunning Grand Cru Champagnes from Chardonnay. With an unrivalled provenance and over two years’ bottle-ageing, our own-label Blanc de Blancs has a generous floral nose, a deliciously refreshing, yet rich palate and a clean, satisfying finish. The perfect apéritif for festivities, this Champagne is an absolute winner every time.
Under the gifted management of Gilles Marguet, Le Mesnil is making stunning Grands Crus Champagnes from Chardonnay. With an unrivalled provenance and over two years’ bottle-ageing, the wine has a generous floral nose, a deliciously refreshing, yet rich palate and a clean, satisfying finish. The perfect apéritif for festivities, this Champagne is an absolute winner every time.
Bottle
£33.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl596cs
A blend of 30 percent Chardonnay, 40 percent Pinot Meunier and 30 percent Pinot Noir, this has nine grams per litre dosage. The nose has pure, red-berry aromatics of strawberries, raspberries and hints of pink grapefruit. The palate is vibrant with an attractive weight from the dosage.
The NV Brut Rose Premier Cru is a beautifully poised, centered wine. Predominantly Pinot Noir, the Rose impresses for its breadth and rich, voluminous personality. Hints of crushed flowers, Rose petals and sweet red berries linger on the refined, polished finish. The Rose is 40% Pinot Meunier, 30% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay, including 18% still red Pinot.
Drink: 2012-2016.
Antonio Galloni - Wine Advocate - eRobertParker.com - Nov 2012
Bottle
£33.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl18cs
Champagne R&L Legras Brut is a pure and very satisfying expression of Chardonnay; the Brut has been aged for three years on its lees and has a modest dosage of six grams per litre. The floral aromas are complemented by an autolytic yeastiness and yellow fruits on the palate. Linear and focused, yet not without an attractive depth of flavour, the wine has a long mineral finish.
Bottle
£33.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl47cs
Magnum
£70.00
Magnum 3 x 150cl6cs
The nose is honeyed with lime blossom and white peach – fresh, floral and elegant. There is a typical Cramant softness on the palate, with lovely harmony, absolutely no rough edges and a long creamy finish. Uncomplicated and hedonistic, this is a magnificent vin de plaisir, a pure old-school expression of Côte des Blancs Chardonnay: floral, rounded and wonderfully complete. White fruits, honeysuckle and gently buttered toast all vie for attention; this is impossible to resist!
Uncomplicated and hedonistic, this is a magnificent vin de plaisir, a pure old school expression of Côte des Blancs Chardonnay, floral, rounded and wonderfully complete. White fruits, honeysuckle and gently buttered toast all vie for attention; the wine has all the honest exuberance of the man himself and is impossible to resist!
(Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer)
Bottle
£34.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl67cs
Moët et Chandon’s Brut Impérial, the House’s non-vintage cuvée, is still the number one best-selling non-vintage Champagne. Enticing with green apple and citrus fruit notes, it has an impressive depth and elegance.
Bottle
£34.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl57cs
Simon Field MW, Champagne Buyer
Bottle
£34.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl6cs
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer
Bottle
£34.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl3cs
From the best plots amongst Bonniare’s impressive (and I suspect unprecedented, for a grower at least) 17 hectares of Grand Cru vineyards in the village of Cramant, this is prestigious indeed. With ripe aromas, hinting at honeysuckle and quince, then a palate with plenty of autolytic depth, the wine has a rich buttery core and a fine stone-fruit personality, which drives on to a powerful finish.
Bottle
£35.95
Simon Field, MW - Wine Buyer
Bottle
£36.00
Magnum 3 x 150cl2cs
Who better than Benoît Marguet, doyen of Ambonnay, to complete our UKC Grand Cru trilogy? Sourced from the finest Grand Cru villages, this is perfectly balanced and richly structured. It is an exuberant and beautifully fragrant wine, with red berries and other summer fruits dancing harmoniously on the palate.
Bottle
£36.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl222cs
The 2008 vintage was outstanding in Champagne and Mailly has crafted a typically complex wine, dominated by toasty and savoury Pinot Noir with the balancing Chardonnay providing just that; a joyful and harmonious balance. The wine’s fruit-stone core cedes to a long refreshing finish, while its impressive concentration bodes well for the future.
Bottle
£36.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl164cs
Magnum
£75.00
Magnum 3 x 150cl53cs
Billecart-Salmon is renowned for the quality of its delicate rosé – and rightfully so. This is a delightful rosé with a charming, fruity nose and palate with hints of roasted nuts.
H/Bottle
£38.00
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl12cs
Bottle
£65.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl22cs
Benoît and Valérie Lahaye registered their property as fully biodynamic in 2003, quite a big decision in such a marginal climate. The seriousness of their intent is demonstrated in their Champagnes; real vins de terroir of astonishing complexity and depth. The wines are rich and perfectly balanced, their good levels of acidity harmoniously matched by impressive extract and maturity of fruit.
Vinified in fût, this is a blend of 90 percent Pinot Noir and 10 percent Chardonnay. The wine has an astonishing purity of flavour, showing its full biodynamic pedigree and a real gout de terroir, its vinous quality in no way overshadowing the pinprick acuity of its attack. Notes of mandarin and quince are also evidenced. One for fruits de mer.
Bottle
£38.00
With only four grams of residual sugar but appropriately enough, four years of lees’ ageing, this superb new cuvée takes Legras to new heights of excellence. Julien Barbier, the winemaker, extols its purity, power and its precision on the mid-palate, sentiments with which we fully concur.
Bottle
£38.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl4cs
From four parcels in four villages, Pierre Peters’ Extra Brut is far from foursquare, stretching its modest two grams of residual sugar into a symphony of stone fruit and flowers. The wine is incredibly complex; the putative austerity of an Extra Brut all but forgotten in this maze of flavours, where one is just as likely to fall upon liquorice and cinnamon as the more usual descriptors of plums and other orchard fruit.
Bottle
£42.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl2cs
This has a truly wide appeal and is perfect for lovers of exuberantly styled Champagnes. Feminine and fruity in its youth, it takes on a fuller flavour with age. The added reserve wines are specially selected to achieve the requisite elegance, balance and harmony. It’s perfect for the cellar as well as current drinking, which is an excellent excuse to buy more than one case!
Bottle
£42.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl61cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl1cs
This wine is without doubt one of the very top non-vintage Champagnes. Its elegant complexities come from the barrel-ageing of a high proportion of the blend, together with at least four years' maturation in bottle before disgorging.
The quintessence of the House style, Brut Premier offers quality and glamour as well as excellent value. A structured, elegant wine, it is deliciously creamy with almond and toast characteristics alongside the complexity and roundness that are the hallmarks of this House.
Bottle
£42.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl30cs
Magnum
£80.00
Magnum 3 x 150cl2cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl1cs
With its famous yellow label, this non-vintage Champagne is recognised as Veuve's flagship wine. It is a blend of around 50 Cru village and reserve wines from different vintages. Exhibiting fruit, finesse and style, this is a rich, classic Champagne with a yeasty bouquet that truly deserves its status as a Grande Marque.
Bottle
£44.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl46cs
Until 3rd July 2017 we are offering a discount of 25% on Bollinger Special Cuvée when purchased by the 6-bottle case. Usual case price £40.45.
Bollinger was established in 1829 by Jacques Bollinger and Paul Renaudin. The House has a reputation for producing muscular Champagnes with body, depth and power; these are classic, complex, Pinot-Noir dominated Champagnes with the ability to age gracefully for many years.
A blend par excellence; Special Cuvée is the purest expression of Bollinger's house style. Its biscuity nose is endowed with hints of white fruit and the rich, full-bodied palate is perfectly balanced by fresh acidity and a soft, delicate mousse. A stylish Champagne that is ideal to drink now or in the next two or three years.
Bottle
£44.95
Made from 40 percent Chardonnay and 60 percent Pinot Noir, R de Ruinart makes use of 40 percent reserve wine and is aged on its lees for three years. The wine is elegant with floral notes to the fore and hints of white peach and acacia on the palate. An excellent apéritif wine, this is a splendid introduction to the delights from this most ancient of Champagne Houses.
Bottle
£45.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl24cs
Bottle
£46.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl18cs
The key seems to be to stick with the winning formula, namely a third each of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, but to select from specific vineyards and to age it a little longer, thereby engendering a natural softening. Spicy, with notes of crushed apple, broiche and peach stones, this is a very successful wine. Suitably cerebral to accompany any lively debate over a plate of 12 Fine de Claire Oysters.
Bottle
£48.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl10cs
A star wine at our inaugural Grower Champagne tasting, this is the “deluxe” cuvée from our friends at Guy Larmandier; I put deluxe in inverted commas because the price is far from deluxe, despite the incredible quality of the wine. The quintessence of Grand Cru Cramant, the 2007 boasts honeysuckle and nectarine on the nose, re-joined by a delicious, richly textured palate and an elegant, almost ethereal finish.
Bottle
£48.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl26cs
The Présidence has been aged for over four years and has a charming nose of brioche, almonds and apricot. The palate is refreshing; it’s full and ripe yet restrained: a pleasing compôte of contradictions in other words and one of the House’s strongest releases to-date.
Bottle
£50.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl1cs
All the hallmarks of Grand Cru are here, with brioche and flowers on the nose and an elegant palate which marries notes of lemon grass, gingerbread and honeysuckle. The wine effortlessly combines structure and finesse, and reverberates with a really authoritative Grand Cru crescendo on the finish.