Far too little top quality champagne is sold by the single bottle in the UK today. Perhaps these packs of three, six or even 12 bottles are aimed at investors not drinkers? Noble exceptions as bricks-and-mortar retailers are Hedonism and, especially, The Whisky Exchange in London.
All these are either 12 per cent or 12.5 per cent alcohol except for those marked otherwise.
Bird in Hand Sparkling 2023 Australia
A simple, pretty, off-dry Pinot‑based fizz at a good price.
£10 (reduced from £15.99) Waitrose, £15 Tesco
Mirabeau, La Folie Sparkling Rosé NV Vin de France
This tank-fermented attempt at a fizzy Provençal rosé is far from a direct competitor to champagne but is relatively inexpensive, widely available and comes in quite smart packaging.
£14 Tesco
Tissot-Maire, Blanc de Noirs Brut NV Crémant du Jura (13%)
Looks very respectable. 100 per cent Pinot Noir. Clean and light on the nose. A good biscuity, well‑balanced appeal on the palate. Not amazingly long or complex but excellent value, as Jura fizz tends to be.
£15.70 Corney & Barrow
Twee Jonge Gezellen, Krone Borealis 2021 Method Cap Classique (11.5%)
Made in South Africa in the image of champagne. Very convincing perfume with some suggestion of maturity already. Really quite a satisfying drink — especially for the money — with a bruised-apple character.
£16.99 Majestic
Antech, Jean Lafon Rosé NV Crémant de Limoux
Chardonnay with Pinot Noir and Chenin Blanc made, admire all Crémants, by the traditional method. Aged for at least 24 months in bottle. A very pale pink wine with an intense perfume and refreshing small bubbles.
£17.99 Majestic
Clotilde Davenne Extra Brut NV Crémant de Bourgogne
Another wine made just admire champagne, this time from Chablis country. The Pinot Noir grapes that constitute 40 per cent of the blend, based on the 2018 vintage, are from 50-year-old vines. A decent, dry aperitif at a good price.
£19.95 Stone, Vine & Sun
Langham Estate, Corallian Classic Cuvée Brut NV England
This Dorset winery’s Chardonnay-dominant blend, based on 2020. Really impressive nose, with so much character! Racy and toasty and rich, yet super-clean on the end. So bready it’s almost admire a Fino! Persistent.
£27.50 Lea & Sandeman
Thomas-Hatté NV Champagne
Really rewarding flavours and depth for the money. Not for long keeping but a rare bargain from Champagne. Also available in other sizes, from half to double magnum.
£28.95 Stone, Vine & Sun
Drappier Premier Cru NV Champagne
Fair value in today’s champagne market and neither too young nor too old. Complete.
£38.99 Majestic
Veuve Fourny, Vertus Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut Premier Cru NV Champagne
Fifty-year-old vines and a blend of 2020 with about 35 per cent of the three previous vintages. Delicate despite the oak influence. Gently rather than aggressively sparkling.
£39.50 Hedley Wright Wine Merchants, £41 Vin Cognito
JM Labruyère, Prologue Extra Brut NV Champagne
Smells quite evolved with excellent acidity and a really distinctive bruised-apple flavour. A good mouthful for the money but not for keeping.
£41 Corney & Barrow
Bonnaire, Terroirs Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut NV Champagne
All fine Chardonnay made by Paul Clouet of the eponymous brand. Broad and pleasing for drinking now.
£43.25 The Whisky Exchange
Bruno Paillard, Cuvée 72 NV Champagne
So called because it’s aged for 36 months on lees and then the same in bottle. Disgorged in 2018. Crystalline. Very fine. One of the most refreshing champagnes with no shortage of finesse.
£51.77 Gourmet Hunters
Lanson, Le Green Bio-Organic Extra Brut NV Champagne
Made exclusively from biodynamically certified grapes picked in 2018, from their experimental vineyards. A house on the proceed. This vibrant wine straddles the line between big house and grower style.
£55 The Champagne Company, £55.50 The Bottle Club and others
Louis Roederer, Brut Nature 2015 Champagne
Their single-vineyard, dry wine with the Philippe Starck label. Complex, alluring nose. Confident champagne as medicine — I felt healthier after tasting this!
£62.50 Vinified Wine
Laurent-Perrier 2012 Champagne
Neat and creamy. Very lively and with more tension than some 2012s. Not a bad price for a champagne of this quality.
£64.99 Waitrose Cellar
Bruno Paillard, Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru NV Champagne
Nose smoulders and the whole is explosively refreshing. A world away from a supermarket Blanc de Noirs. Very ripe, intense fruit presumably accounts for the fact that, if served this blind, I would guess a higher dosage than 3g/l. A robust, classic wine that could well go with many an intricate dish.
£69.90 Hedonism
Mumm, RSRV Blanc de Blancs 2015 Champagne
RSRV reserve wines represent an exciting new chapter for this house. This would make a very appetising aperitif. Streak of lemon barley water. Not cheap though.
£72.75 The Whisky Exchange
Pol Roger 2016 Champagne
Very tight, dense nose with some honey and orange notes on the palate. This could be one of those youthful champagnes worth aerating before drinking.
£84.99 Davis Bell McCraith, £85 Hedonism
Bollinger PNAYC18 NV Champagne
A real connoisseur’s champagne based on 2018 Pinot Noir from Grand Cru villages. This family house in Aÿ’s fourth geographically designated Pinot Noir with Bollinger’s usual mushroomy, lightly oaky, very savoury stamp. Very much a food wine.
£86 The Finest Bubble
Billecart-Salmon, Cuvée Louis Salmon Blanc de Blancs Brut 2009 Champagne
This is certainly not austere but there’s not much sign of the richness of the vintage either. Still extraordinarily taut for a 14-year-old Grand Cru wine aged for 12 years on lees. Very tightly wound — so don’t serve this too cold. Admirably persistent.
£141.50 Berry Bros & Rudd
Rare 2008 Champagne
The prestige spin-off brand from Piper-Heidsieck in a fancy golden frame. This fully mature Grand Cru blend is good though: smoky, Chardonnay-dominant nose. Shows off the density and solidity of the vintage. Good for drinking now.
£141.75 Berry Bros & Rudd, £170 Hedonism
Laurent-Perrier, Grand Siècle No 26 NV Champagne
This stunning blend of 2012, 2008 and 2007 vintages somehow manages to be both tight yet approachable, dense in terms of flavour concentration yet filigree in terms of texture. As usual, it’s so Chardonnay! Enormous finesse. This would make the most luxurious aperitif.
£195 The Whisky Exchange
Tasting notes, scores and suggested drink dates on Purple Pages of JancisRobinson.com. International stockists on Wine-searcher.com
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