The Drinks Business Gold Medal Winner

'Aged on the lees for 3-to-5 years in cellars dug out of ancient Gallo-Roman chalk pits, this rosé Champagne is serious, and seriously delicious. Displaying a medium ‘vieux rose’ hue and narrow cordon, the wine exudes summer pudding fruits and fresh bread notes. On the palate, the wine shows finesse in its light body, zippy acidity and ‘crackling’ mousse texture. Nicely balanced with good length. Quite vinous, this wine is a lovely aperitif but will also work well with wild salmon or even light desserts.' Patricia Stefanowicz MW

Tasting Notes

This champagne has a special place in the history of the House. It is from a family plot of Pinot Noir in Cumières that this precious red wine comes, giving our blend a unique personality.

Colour

An elegant light pink colour with shards of gold. Extremely delicate, lively and regular bubbles.

Nose

The first aroma reveals gourmet aromas of cherries and red currents, followed by notes of blood orange after aeration.

Palate

Delicately straightforward in the mouth. Flavours of wild strawberries enhanced by notes of mint produce a freshness combined with a very pleasant sweetness.

History

Founded in 1825, Joseph Perrier has been owned and run by the same family since 1888. Current director Benjamin Fourmon represents the 6th generation. Champagne Joseph Perrier owns 21 hectares of vineyards, situated in the heart of the region on the right bank of the River Marne, around Hautvillers and Cumières – two villages classed 93% in the ‘échelle des crus’.

They are mostly planted with Pinot Noir but include 2 hectares of Chardonnay. The cellars stretch over three kilometers and date back to the Gallo-Roman period. The chosen name for these cuvées is no accident, nor any false claim to grandeur - ‘Cuvée Royale’ alludes to the historic relationship between Joseph Perrier and Queen Victoria and King Edward VII, as the royals’ Champagne of choice - probably the highest honour any Champagne House can hope to earn.

All the wines are made with a keen focus on freshness and purity, a theme which runs right through the range and really shows its worth in the vintage cuvées which show impressive energy and poise and remarkable ageing potential. Aside from the royal connection, Joseph Perrier has been associated with some pivotal events, which represent great human achievements, from the celebrations around Concorde’s inauguration in 1976 to, more recently, the Noble Prize in Medicine.

Aged for 3 years, the Cuvée Royale Brut of Maison Joseph Perrier brings together more than 20 different vintages with great terroirs such as Cumières, Damery, Hautvillers and Verneuil.

 Accolades

• Gold Medal - The Drinks Business
• Vinum: 17/20
• The Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships: Silver

Specifications

This appealing north Italian organic sparkler, produced from 100% Pinot Noir, has layers of honeyed fruit and toasty character.

Tasting Notes

Nose

Aromas of lemon and brioche with lightly toasty notes.

Palate

The palate is fresh and dry, with citrus and apple characters balanced by crisp acidity. The wine has a fine and persistent mousse with honeyed fruit on the long finish.

Production

Produced from a selection of estate-grown grapes in Casteggio and Calvignano - where the Pinot Noir vines are planted on south-westerly facing hillside sites (around 300m altitude), in chalky clay soils. The wine is then produced according to the Charmat method, with second fermentation in tank.

Producer

Castel del Lupo, in the heart of Oltrepò Pavese, dates back centuries - and includes the eighteenth-century Palazzo Pegazzera. In 1974 three entrepreneurs took over this historic estate and began a regeneration process. Giovanni Doglio, whose father and grandfather were both Piemontese winemakers, has over 40 years of experience managing wineries. Recently joined by his daughter Federica, he has worked tirelessly to develop the estate. They have purchased more vineyards (to cover 100ha at around 300m altitude), planted new vines and built a new cellar. The vineyards are now certified organic. The winery's main focus is high-quality bottle-fermented sparkling wine, and much of the vineyard is planted with Pinot Noir for this purpose. However, these vines are also the source of fine still red wines.

A Note on Sustainability

Led by Giovanni Doglio since 1974, the team at Castel del Lupo is very keen to honour the long heritage of its estate which existed even before its inclusion on a map of the region in 1301. All of Castel del Lupos grapes are estate grown and the 100-hectare property is now fully certified organic to maintain the integrity of the environment, the ecosystem and soil fertility without resorting to artificial substances at any stage of the production processes.

Specifications

Approachable yet very proper vintage Champagne - perfectly expressing the very particular character of Pinot Noir from the Aube.

Tasting Notes

Fine persistent 'bulles', lovely nose - a mix of ripe Pinot fruit and classic baked biscuit, the palate has Gremillet's characteristic gentle, ripe fruit, some nice complexity balanced with a long fresh finish. 

Production

Vines are mainly planted in the Côte des Bars on limestone-clay soil on steep, sun-drenched hillsides. The first-press juice is fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats (16° for the alcoholic and 18° for the malolactic) followed by secondary fermentation in bottle. The wine is then matured on lees for a minimum of 5 years, and disgorged with a 9g/l 'liquer de dosage' made from their own finished wine.

Producer

The Gremillet estate was founded by Jean-Michel Gremillet in 1979 when he inherited a plot of vines from his mother, Lulu. Today, the house possesses over 40 hectares of vineyards and is situated in a small village 45 kilometres from Troyes - the historic capital of Champagne - and 180 kilometres south of Reims. The vines lie on steep, sun-drenched hillsides in Kimmeridgian clay-limestone soils. Pinot Noir is king here, and constitutes around 94% of Gremillet’s plantings, with the remainder dedicated to Chardonnay, ideal for creating a classic, baked biscuit, rich, fruit-flavoured Champagne.

A Note on Sustainability

This family-owned and run Champagne house is HVE 3 certified, and as much as possible it restricts its use of chemicals in the vineyards. One of its cuvées is certified organic by ECOCERT and hopefully, this is the start of a bigger process.

Specifications

Tasting Notes

This has a characteristic straw colour. Its intense bouquet is aromatic and shows golden apple, pineapple and honey aromas. To the palate it is fresh and fragrant, as sweetness and acidity are properly balanced. The fine mousse makes it slightly creamy, with an elegant and persistent finish.

The Production

After being left with skins for a few hours at low temperature, the must is separated. After clarification and a first filtering, the must is left to macerate at low temperature in small stainless steel autoclaves. During fermentation the foam is removed. To stop fermentation, the must is cooled and before bottling it undergoes micro filtering again. Bottling is carried out in November, two months after harvest.

Producer 

Piedmont is almost as famous for truffles as it is wine, those elusive delectable delights that need to be rooted out from the depths of the forest, so scarce but so worth it. Much the same can be said for.....

Olim Bauda, secluded and out of the way, down a long drive off the busy Via Prata, the path gently meanders continuously rising to finally reveal the family home through a grove of trees, or if you arrive in truffle season, more likely through a rolling mist. The estate is run by three siblings, Dino, Diana and Gianni who have devoted themselves to creating fresh, expressive Barbera d’Asti and clean, pure scintillating Gavi in the most delicate low interventionist way and without doubt they are worth all the trouble you might encounter to enjoy them.

Sustainability

Working organically in the vineyards since 2019 with the aim of certified organic wines for the 2022 vintage. Sustainable agricultural practices, following the rules for integrated farming which prohibit the use of herbicides. Rigorous green harvesting and bunch selection in the vineyards ensure that only perfectly ripe fruit is harvested.

Specifications

Bright & Gourmet

Tasting Notes

Colour

Attractive pale gold and extremely bright, in perfect harmony with the effervescence. A lively stream of exquisitely delicate bubbles in the glass.

Nose

Exquisite primary pastry aromas of brioche and custard. As the wine begins to breathe, new, floral, spicy aromas come to the fore, reminiscent of magnolia and star of anise.

Palate

Initially generous, fresh and thirst-quenching, underpinned by citrus notes of kumquat, accompanied by wisps of hazelnut and even liquorice. Elegant on the finish, with stunning, delicately tangy length recalling Granny Smith apples and pink grapefruit.

The 2017 Vintage

To describe the weather conditions for the 2017 vintage as chaotic would be an understatement. The season began amid icy conditions with the vines covered in frost, recording 24 days of frost 10cm above the ground in January alone.

After a relatively mild start to spring, bone-chilling Polar air hit France mid-April, causing significant, frost across the greater part of its vineyards, in places to devastating effect, particularly in Aube, Aisne and Haute Marne.

By mid-May the situation in the region completely turned around, with heatwave conditions setting in for two months, and temperatures in places nudging 35°C in the shade!

The weather took another dramatic turn in mid-July, with the arrival of rain and frequent storms, sometimes accompanied by hail, prompting the first signs of Botrytis. In August, the Champagne region faced subtropical conditions.

The harvest was early, and shrouded in wet weather, forcing growers to ruthlessly sort the grapes on the vine, and remain constantly on guard. The Chardonnays were less affected given their greater resistance to excess rainfall, and are a total stand-out.

Elaboration

Vinified in temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks.

Aged at least 5 years in the cellars. The Chief Winemaker adapts dosage levels to each champagne in order to enhance flavours and aromas. The selection process while selecting the blend is paramount and takes a whole range of factors into consideration, including the proportion of cru wines, harvest year, grape varieties and vinification and ageing methods, in order to preserve the intrinsic style of each cuvée.

Blend

100% Chardonnay

Collection Vintage 2017 Blanc de Blancs, is 100% pure chardonnay, the white grape variety of the Champagne Appellation, and more than lives up to its name. It reflects the remarkable character of the vintage, having more than proved its resistance and resilience faced with the many uncertainties experienced in the Champagne vineyards in 2017.

Chardonnay grapes are sourced from the prestigious premier and grand cru vineyards in the Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims, and more generous Chardonnay from the Vallée de la Marne, not forgetting the crus from Sézannais and Vitryat. It is a fresh, exquisite wine.

Specifications

Nuanced and Graceful

Tasting Notes

Réserve Exclusive Rosé is a delicately nuanced Champagne literally bursting with red summer fruit flavours. A delicious cavalcade of redcurrant, blueberry and raspberry notes, combined with a hint of Gariguette strawberries.

From within its refined and vibrant structure, its clean flavours are extremely delicate and nuanced.

The Réserve Exclusive Rosé is a refreshing and exuberant Champagne offering fresh, light fragrances, and just perfect for summer drinking.

Elaboration

Aged for 2 - 3 years in the cellars.

The freshness and structure of this Champagne blend combine to perfection with the expressive fruit of the red wine making up 16% of the blend.

The Chief Winemaker adapts dosage levels to each Champagne in order to enhance its flavours and aromas. The choice of reserve wine is crucial and takes into consideration a whole range of factors, including the proportion of cru wines, year of harvest, grape varieties, and vinification and ageing methods, in order to guarantee the intrinsic style of each Champagne.

Blend

A harmonious blend of 10% Chardonnay imparting elegance and finesse, 45% Pinot Noir for roundness and structure and 45% Meunier for fruitiness and soft, supple character.

Medals & Accolades

• Gold Medal - Mundus Vini Spring Tasting 2022

• Silver Medal - Rosé Masters 2022, Champagne Masters 2022, Decanter World Wine Awards 2022
• 92/100- Wine Spectator November 2022, James Suckling Tasting June 2022
• 15.5/20 - Gault & Millau - Guide des Champagnes 2023

Specifications

1988 Vintage

Specifications

On opening, our Bullicante brut presents a gentle bouquet of citrus, orange blossom and minerality. It’s crisp on the palate with a well-balanced mouthfeel and low acidity. The finish is gentle and with a lingering aftertaste of cream, marzipan and white pear.

Vinification

The Pinot Grigio grapes are grown within 15km of the ocean and handpicked at optimal ripeness in the early hours of the morning. Slow cool fermentation follows twelve hours of skin contact and after two months on the lees, the wine is bottled.

Specifications