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    Moët's Luxury Cuvée MCIII and the Enigmatic Non-Appearance of its Successor
    • May 11

    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 me an update on the release of MCIII 002. Here's the reply: "There isn’t any update to MCIII yet." When Moët launched its sumptuous and pioneering MCIII in 2015, the first release was described as “the ultimate expression” of Champagne and was named 001.14. It sounds slightly James Bond, but the numbers simply refer to the chronology: cuvée
    The Essence of Cristal Through the Prism of the 2014 Vintage
    • Feb 2

    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 don't think of the cellar master of Champagne Louis Roederer as one who makes mistakes, least of all with Cristal, which is what he was talking about, as he hosted (virtually) the launch of the 2014 vintage. To be clear, he didn't catalogue actual mistakes or cite any particular vintage of Cristal. The comment came in the context of the percenta
    The Festive Champagne Guide 2021
    • 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 season. This year the bottles start at an undiscounted £13.99 and end with an indulgent magnum at £260 and the styles range from from Blanc de Blancs to Blanc de Noirs to rosé and from vintage to non-vintage to multi-vintage (the new buzzword). If you're looking for ultimate bottles, you should also consider three that I reviewed here during t
    Why the 2008 Rosé Marks A Mini Revolution at Champagne Charles Heidsieck
    • 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 de caves Cyril Brun calls a mini revolution, it's the dosage of the Rosé Millésimé 2008. At 7g/l, it's the lowest ever at Charles Heidsieck, lower even than for the 2008 white. Is the Champagne house that has never been afraid of dosage finally bowing to the fashion for low-dosage? Apparently not. Explaining how he made the choice, Cyril Bru
    Cristal 2013: the Vintage that Outdoes the Cristal of Cristals
    • 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 launch of the first two Vinothèque vintages in 2018, what does that make the 2013 he is now introducing? "2008-plus". A little later he describes it as "the Cristal of Cristalsss" and "50 per cent chalk, 50 per cent sunshine", whereas 2012, he says, was a little more on the sunshine side and 2008 was more on the soil [chalk] side. The 2013 is cer
    Tales of the Unexpected: Bollinger R.D. 2007
    • 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 guests for a fictional dinner party, Lily Bollinger would be one of them – not just because I hope she would bring some Bollinger to drink but because she sounds as if she was fun. Formidable, too, perhaps, judging by her business acumen, but fun all the same. It's not just the too often quoted (and here we go again): "I drink Champagne when I'm
    The Festive Champagne Guide 2020
    • 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 need a celebration to drink Champagne (do you?). If I did, there are the first covid-19 vaccinations (my mother was one of the first to get one). And there's Christmas. And New Year. Here then are my Champagne picks: not as many as usual, and fewer at the bottom end thanks to the absence of tastings and travel, but there are some crackers and
    More than Skin-Deep: Never Mind the Look, Feel the Eco Credentials
    • 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 Champagne Forget whether you like the look of it for a moment. Instead, consider the planet. Ruinart's 'second-skin eco case' is nine times lighter than the current gift box, its carbon footprint is 60% less than its predecessor's, it's 100% recyclable and uses no plastic. It also gives complete protection against the damaging effects of light on Ch
    Prime Time for Pink: Summer Rosé Round-up
    • 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 Champagne that I wasn't familiar with and which hugely impressed me recently. There are lots of different styles, shades, flavours and grape varieties, but it has turned out to be an almost all-European selection this year, reflecting the limitations the pandemic has imposed on tastings, travel and trade. The one exception (perhaps ironically) is f
    Heavenly Champagne from a Hellish Year: Charles Heidsieck Brut Millésimé 2012
    • 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 frost, torrential downpours, a poor flowering, hail and cool, cloudy summer days. Inevitably, growers battled against mildew and the threat of botrytis. Then in mid-August the skies cleared, the sun came out, temperatures rose and it stayed like that with scarcely a break until the harvest in mid-September – late by today's standards. By th
    Dom Pérignon Rosé 2006 and Moët Grand Vintage Collection 2002
    • 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 myself and not all at once, but these were not samples I tasted and then passed on to neighbours/friends/family. You wouldn't have done either. They were sent for Moët Hennessy's inspired 'Hidden Gems' Zoom tasting of five Champagnes: Veuve Clicquot Grande Dame 2008, Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 2007, Krug Rosé 24ème édition and the two above. The
    Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 2006 vs 2007
    • 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 of Fine Wine issue 63 It was Caroline Fiot, one of Champagne’s brightest young winemakers, who was dispatched to London recently to introduce the latest release of Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs alongside its predecessor: thus 2007, the 25th vintage since the debut 1959, and 2006. Neither year is regarded as anywhere near a five-star vintage f
    The Festive Champagne Guide 2019
    • 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. As always it has been difficult to whittle down the numbers, but one way is to exclude most of the Champagnes recommended in last year's guide (however painful some exclusions are) and those featured in my blogs on Drappier and Bruno Paillard. Even whittled down, there's a spectrum of styles, ages, producers and retailers, presented in asce
    Down in a deep, dark sea... Drappier Champagnes
    • 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 Champagne in the sea? It became clear when Michel Drappier held the first tasting to compare three of his Champagnes aged off the coast of Brittany with the same three cuvées aged in Drappier's cellars in Champagne. Looking over Champagne Drappier’s record of innovation since it re-introduced Pinot Noir to the Aube in the 1930s and in particu
    WINE OF THE WEEK: Joseph Perrier Cuvée Royale Brut Champagne, France
    • 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 tempting offer price of £27 when you buy two or more ends in 10 days' time on 28 October. I hadn't tasted Cuvée Royale for a while and was hugely impressed. It's vivacious and elegant yet generous, too, and beautifully balanced, with a floral note on the nose and lemon curd and toast on the palate. It's a more or less equal blend of the three
    Bruno Paillard's zero-dosage Champagne comes of age
    • 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 isn't an obvious choice for a house that has built its reputation on elegance in an uncompromisingly dry style. Making a non-dosage Champagne, i.e. without sugar added after disgorgement, is never easy. In fact, decades ago Bruno Paillard – the only man, incidentally, who has a Champagne house in his own name because he created it – experimente
    The Festive Champagne Guide 2018
    • Dec 19, 2018

    The Festive Champagne Guide 2018

    We're there: my Champagne picks for Christmas, New Year and every other kind of festivity, whittled down with difficulty to what I hope is a manageable number, but I'm posting this before The Wine Gang's annual Ultimate Champagne Evening, so I may well add one or more top-end bottles next week. I've largely steered away from Champagnes featured in the last two years' round-ups, which means missing out some with particular regret, but it spans the spectrum of styles, producers
    Cristal Vinothèque: the quest for eternal youth
    • Nov 21, 2018

    Cristal Vinothèque: the quest for eternal youth

    The tasting of the first two vintages, 1995 and 1996, of Roederer's ultrarare Cristal Vinothèque When Louis Roederer released the first vintage of Cristal Vinothèque in September last year, the 1995, there was a launch for the press in France, but no tasting in the UK. When you know that the entire UK allocation is 48 bottles of the white (out of a grand total of 400) and 18 bottles of the rosé, you can see why. On Tuesday, for the launch of the 1996 (500 bottles of white pro
    How to become a winemaker at a top Champagne house at the age of 27
    • Jul 6, 2018

    How to become a winemaker at a top Champagne house at the age of 27

    Caroline Fiot in the garden of Champagne Ruinart, where she is a winemaker Oddly, until last week I had never visited Ruinart in Reims. It’s not as well known as its three main stablemates in the Moët Hennessy group (Moët et Chandon, Veuve Clicquot and Krug), nor one of the best known of the big names generally, but it is the oldest Champagne house (founded by Nicolas Ruinart in 1729) and I’ve always had a soft-spot for the impeccable fruit and purity of its Chardonnay-led st
    Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires 2004: a long-awaited new vintage
    • Feb 6, 2018

    Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires 2004: a long-awaited new vintage

    No one could accuse Champagne Charles Heidsieck of rushing things or releasing vintages too frequently, not so far anyway. The new vintage of its top cuvée, Blanc des Millénaires, was unveiled in London three weeks ago: the 2004 is only the fifth in the 35 years since the debut 1983 Blanc des Millénaires ousted the previous cuvée, Champagne Charlie, in 1993 and it follows the magnificent 1995 which has been on the market for a decade. There's been no vintage of Millénaires re
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    Website © 2019 Joanna Simon

    Header photo © Waitrose & Partners Drinks / Cat Garcia