Tag: harvest

  3. 2018 Vins Clairs: A Vintage Summary

    June 14, 2019

    Earlier this year, we tasted a range of 2018 vins clairs with winemakers at fifteen different houses in Champagne. Thanks to exceptional weather throughout the year, some have been calling it ‘the vintage of the century’ and expectations are already sky-high. But just how much potential does 2018 have?

  4. Lanson: 2018 Vins Clairs Tasting and Clos Lanson Vertical 2014-2006

    June 13, 2019

    Lanson Chef de Cave Hervé Dantan is a huge fan of vintage 2018, telling us: “It was a dream, this harvest.” We visited the house in Reims earlier this year to sample the vins clairs and conduct a vertical tasting of all the Clos Lanson vintages from 2006-2014.

  5. Champagne Boizel: 2018 Vins Clairs and Champagne Range Tasting

    June 12, 2019

    Based in Épernay, Champagne Boizel have a long and illustrious history with a tradition of trendsetting. We met with Florent Boizel, who has taken over the reins from his recently retired father, to sample some 2018 vins clairs and taste the range of finished champagnes.

  6. Philipponnat: 2018 Vins Clairs Tasting

    May 6, 2019

    “The biggest challenge was not making too much!” With an abundance of ripe and healthy grapes, Philipponnat had a successful harvest in 2018, a vintage which sixteenth generation family member Charles Philipponnat likens to 1995, 2009 and 2012.

  8. Billecart-Salmon: 2018 Vins Clairs Tasting

    April 22, 2019

    Billecart-Salmon were one of the first houses to pick grapes last year, kicking off their harvest on 22nd August. We tasted the vins clairs with new Chef de Cave Florent Nys, and also shared a comprehensive range of finished champagnes.

  9. Bollinger: 2018 Vins Clairs Tasting

    April 19, 2019

    Shortly after the 2018 harvest, Bollinger Chef de Cave Gilles Descôtes declared that “2017 was the worst harvest of my life and 2018 is the best”. We visited the house in Aÿ to taste the base wines and also tasted some of the rarer grape varieties, such as Arbane, Petit Meslier and Pinot Gris.

  10. Laurent-Perrier: 2018 Vins Clairs Tasting

    April 15, 2019

    “Everything is good, my work now is to find which ones are very good.” Laurent-Perrier had a successful harvest in 2018, a year which Chef de Cave Michel Fauconnet believes will most certainly produce a stunning vintage champagne and hopefully a strong Alexandra Rosé as well.

  11. New Release: Pol Roger Brut Vintage 2012 & Blanc de Blancs 2012

    April 10, 2019

    Today, Pol Roger launch their eagerly anticipated Brut Vintage 2012, following the release of Blanc de Blancs 2012 last month. From a vintage whose reputation rivals that of both 2002 and 2008, these champagnes are highly anticipated by critics and consumers alike.

  12. Veuve Clicquot: 2018 Vins Clairs Tasting

    April 9, 2019

    An insightful vins clairs tasting with Dominique Demarville, Veuve Clicquot’s eminent Chef de Cave, painted a clear picture of the 2018 vintage. Fresh, ripe and mature, with plenty of ageing potential, the base wines at Clicquot were either exceptional or good… none of them were bad.

  13. Taittinger: 2018 Vins Clairs Tasting

    April 7, 2019

    The unusual weather patterns in 2018 produced the “perfect conditions for the vineyard”, according to new Taittinger Chef de Cave Alexandre Ponnavoy. We met last month to taste the vins clairs, which displayed incredible specificity: each wine showcasing the distinctive characteristics of its individual origins.

  14. Piper-Heidsieck and Rare Champagne: 2018 Vins Clairs Tasting

    April 4, 2019

    Émilien Boutillat chose a good vintage to start his new role as Piper-Heidsieck cellar master. “The quality of the grapes was perfect all over the region,” he told us. We tasted the base wines and shared a magnificent lunch paired with Rare Champagne.

  15. Louis Roederer: 2018 Vins Clairs Tasting

    March 29, 2019

    Not many are as excited as Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon about 2018s potential, a year he describes as having “the density of 2002 and the precision of 2008.” During our visit, we also tasted the latest Cristal Vinothèque’s and a mind-blowing pair of Cristal magnums.

  16. Ruinart: 2018 Vins Clairs Tasting

    March 26, 2019

    As a winemaker, Ruinart Chef de Cave Frédéric Panaïotis is excited by vintage 2018, “a year of extremes.” However, as a human, he’s worried about what it signifies for our changing climate. We tasted the vins clairs from this exceptional year at the house in Reims.

  17. ‘Week of Effervescence’

    December 14, 2018

    At JancisRobinson.com, this is the ‘Week of Effervescence’. All this week, new articles have been published on all things sparkling. Here we share links to the articles not already featured in our News & Reviews section, including a Cristal vertical and an English sparkling wine tasting.

  18. 2018: The Vintage of the Century?

    November 5, 2018

    With record-breaking rainfall in the winter, unprecedented sunshine hours in the spring and summer and the earliest harvest on record, 2018 has been a truly exceptional year in Champagne. With harvest now over, we share some feedback from the top winemakers in the region on what is set to be a standout vintage.

  19. The Next Outstanding Vintage: 2012

    September 19, 2018

    Vintage 2008 has been stealing all the headlines lately but what about the future? Despite low yields due to frost and hail in the early season, a perfect August produced exceptionally mature and healthy grapes in 2012. Is this the next outstanding vintage?

  20. Palmer & Co Video: “Exceptional” Champagne Harvest 2018

    September 6, 2018

    Champagne Palmer & Co have produced some stunning behind the scenes footage of the record-breaking 2018 Champagne harvest, which takes viewers on a journey through the vineyard and pressing centres. Check out the full video here.

  21. Update: Champagne Harvest 2018

    September 4, 2018

    The 2018 Champagne harvest has now officially been underway for 2 weeks. With warm conditions continuing to prevail, most houses have been picking as fast as possible and the first juices are already fermenting. We bring you all the latest updates from Champagne.

  22. Champagne Harvest 2018 Begins

    August 21, 2018

    The 2018 Champagne harvest officially began on August 20th – the earliest harvest since records began in 1822 – with the southern villages of the Côte des Bars being picked first. What does the picking schedule tell us about the maturity of the different grape varieties?

  23. Record-Breaking Year: A Look Forward to the 2018 Harvest

    August 6, 2018

    Record-breaking weather in 2018 is likely to produce one of the largest champagne harvests in living memory that will once again begin early, in late-August. What can we expect from this climatically exceptional vintage?

  24. New Release: Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2007

    May 21, 2018

    Last week saw the official launch of Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2007. New Chef de Cave Alexandre Ponnavoy was in London to discuss the latest vintage, which will be a very limited and rare release.

  25. Champagne Corbon: 2017 Vins Clairs and Vintage 1984

    May 20, 2018

    Located in the Grand Cru village of Avize, grower producer Champagne Corbon are a well-known name in the region. Fourth generation family member Agnès showed us some still wines and champagnes, including the “worst of her lifetime” – vintage 1984.

  26. Philipponnat: 2017 Vins Clairs and new Clos des Goisses 2009

    May 9, 2018

    Charles Philipponnat describes 2017 as a “funny vintage”. We visited the house of Philipponnat to taste the vins clairs and find out just what he means. Whilst there, we also sampled an incredible range of champagnes, including new Clos des Goisses 2009.

  27. Taittinger: 2017 Vins Clairs and Comtes de Champagne 2008

    April 27, 2018

    Despite the complicated growing season, Taittinger produced some delicious Chardonnay base wines in 2017. We tasted a range of vins clairs with winemaker Loïc Dupont, who has produced a small amount of Comtes de Champagne 2017.

  29. Krug: A Visit to Clos du Mesnil & The New Krug Maison

    September 4, 2017

    We visited Krug over August bank holiday weekend with Jancis Robinson MW. With an unexpected visit to Clos du Mesnil, a tour of the new Maison, a mini-vertical tasting and dinner at the house, it was well-worth the long drive!

  30. 2016: No Celebration for Champagne

    February 17, 2017

    “Everything that could go wrong, did.” The most difficult growing season in Champagne for 60 years was saved by late sunshine. A miraculous vintage? Definitely. A future great? Probably not.

  31. Slim Pickings for Champagne in 2015

    August 24, 2015

    Maximum allowable yields for the 2015 Champagne harvest are the lowest in a decade – but how is the vintage shaping up and what goes into deciding when to start picking?

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