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Champagne: The 2024 Spring Preview
featured, France: Champagne
, Mar 2024
Our annual Champagne Spring Preview takes a look at the year’s first releases ahead of my more comprehensive coverage later in the year. Readers will find a bevy of gorgeous wines in this report that span the full stylistic breadth of what Champagne has to offer.
Cellar Favorite: 1982 Pol Roger Brut Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill
Cellar Favorites, France: Champagne, cellar favorite
, Feb 2024
Our greatest Prime Minister, after Liz Truss, had impeccable taste in Champagne. Though I must drink far less bubbly than Sir Winston Churchill, which is probably why, like most people, I have always enjoyed the cuvée created in his honor. As the story goes, the PM met Odette Pol Roger in 1944 at the British Embassy in Paris, and their families struck up a close friendship.
Ulysse Collin Rosé de Saignée Les Maillons Vertical
featured, France: Champagne, Verticals & Retrospectives
, Jan 2024
My most recent visit to Champagne Ulysse Collin was not especially well-timed. Then again, maybe it was. Olivier Collin had just finished disgorging his next set of releases, so I could not taste those wines. Instead, Collin surprised me with a vertical of his Rosé de Saignée Les Maillons, long one of my favorites here and a wine I have followed since its debut. Rosé de Saignée is also a style of Champagne I personally enjoy quite a bit, as it is so well suited to the dinner table.
Roederer Cristal Full Circle: 1993-2015
featured, France: Champagne, Verticals & Retrospectives
, Dec 2023
My visit to Roederer a few months ago, the first post-COVID-19, was memorable. After a survey of the 2022 vins clairs, longtime Chef de Caves Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon presented a vertical of every Cristal he has made and released since assuming his current role in 1999. It was an incredibly instructive tasting that encompassed several themes over what has arguably been the most significant period in Roederer’s long history.
Champagne: 2023 New Releases
featured, France: Champagne
, Nov 2023
Champagne is one of the most dynamic regions in the world. Change and innovation continue at an increasingly fast pace. Many of the most coveted wines now command Burgundy-like premiums, a relatively recent phenomenon here. There’s a lot more going on beyond the obvious, though, and plenty to explore.
Champagne Jacques Selosse Retrospective Tasting & Dinner
featured, France: Champagne
, Jun 2023
I was thrilled to host this intimate Selosse tasting and dinner as part of the special events we are doing around our ten-year anniversary. Over the last few years, the Selosse Champagnes have become so coveted that the opportunity to taste a number of them side by side is quite rare. It was a real pleasure to share the wines with a small group of Vinous subscribers who traveled from all over the world to be part of this magical evening.
Cellar Favorite: 1982 Dom Pérignon Rosé
Cellar Favorites, France: Champagne, cellar favorite
, Jun 2023
It has been quite a few years since I last tasted the 1982 Dom Pérignon Rosé, especially the original release. This bottle, one of the best I have ever had, proves that provenance and storage are everything.
Cellar Favorite: 2002 Vilmart & Cie Brut Coeur de Cuvée
Cellar Favorites, France: Champagne, cellar favorite
, May 2023
The 2002 Brut Coeur de Cuvée is a totally hedonistic Champagne.
Cellar Favorite: 2002 & 2004 Dom Pérignon
Cellar Favorites, France: Champagne, cellar favorite
, Dec 2022
A recent family gathering provided a great opportunity to check in on two of my favorite Dom Pérignons.
Cellar Favorite: Raiding the Cellar at Inspire Napa Valley
Cellar Favorites, France: Burgundy, France: Alsace, France: Champagne, cellar favorite
, Aug 2022
I was thrilled to open this eclectic collection of wines from my cellar during this year’s Inspire Napa Valley dinner at Staglin. It’s a rare treat to take a break from the hectic pace of tasting wines for review and actually drink a few things for pleasure.