Last year, Rare Champagne separated from parent brand Piper-Heidsieck, becoming the third champagne house of the burgeoning EPI group. We met veteran chef de cave Régis Camus at the vast premises in Reims earlier this summer to taste some treasures, both old and new.
This summer, we stopped off at Charles Heidsieck’s majestic garden and reception facility, Pavilion des Crayères, for a quick-fire visit and tasting with managing director Stephen Leroux. We sampled the new Coteaux Champenois and Collection Crayères releases.
We were truly spoilt during our recent tasting at Taittinger, which included not one, but two(!), of the notoriously rare Comtes magnums. Discussion centred around the newly released 2013 vintage, the future for Comtes, and the recently renovated vinification of Comtes Rosé.
Scheduling appointments at twenty champagne houses in one week is never an easy task, but perhaps our greatest feat of organisation was pinning down Olivier Krug. We managed to catch up with the globetrotting face of the company amidst his ever-busy international schedule for a whopper of a tasting this June.
Raphaël Bérëche is quite possibly the most cheerful and energetic winemaker in Champagne. Alongside brother Vincent, his passion for terroir focused champagne is transforming the family business from a top grower into an iconic domaine. We visited in June to find out more.
Having been Mayor of Ambonnay and cellar master of Champagne Rodez – considered one of the best grower champagne producers in the region – for over 30 years, Eric Rodez is one of Champagne’s most eminent figures. We met in June to find out more about the man behind the distinctive blue glasses.
A memorable evening at Louis Roederer earlier this year saw us taste the new vintage releases from 2013, preview Cristal 2012 and Cristal Rosé 2012, and sample the upcoming magnum launches from the Cristal Vinothèque programme. This one’s not to be missed!
Our last visit to Palmer & Co’s new winery in Reims included a comparison of the current range from bottle and magnum and a selection of older vintages from the late release Blanc de Blancs and Vintage Collections.
We recently visited Leclerc Briant with Jancis Robinson MW. General manager Frédéric Zeimett and winemaker Hervé Jestin discussed the winemaking innovations happening at Leclerc Briant and we tasted a range of champagnes, including Hervé’s personal project.
Charles Heidsieck have released a new limited edition Coteaux Champenois blancs range, which includes four different bottles produced from the grapes of four stunning Chardonnay crus: Villers-Marmery, Vertus, Oger and Montgueux.
