
WineGB Awards 2023
August 29, 2023
WineGB have announced the winners of the WineGB Awards 2023. Meet the Trophy winners here.
WineGB have announced the winners of the WineGB Awards 2023. Meet the Trophy winners here.
Everyone deserves a perfect partner, as a nice bottle of wine deserves the right glass
Union des Maisons de Champagne (UMC) president, Jean-Marie Barillère, has said that champagne shipments could be close to 320 million bottles for 2021.
Nearly two decades ago, Champagne Jacquesson redefined non-vintage champagne. Instead of creating a consistent style year upon year, they now produce the best champagne possible and value each creation for their distinctive personalities – a concept that the wider region is just now starting to wake up to.
Champagne Krug have announced that Julie Cavil will take over as winemaking director in the new year. Incumbent winemaking director Eric Lebel will become deputy director of Krug and will lead projects involving all of the brands within the Moët Hennessy portfolio.
Eighteen months on from the release of Cristal 2008, the next instalments in the collection have arrived: Cristal 2012 and Cristal Rosé 2012. Described by cellar master Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon as “the next chapter”, 2012 is the first vintage of 100% biodynamically farmed Cristal.
Earlier this week, Jancis Robinson MW presented our standout champagne tasting of the year to a packed St James’s Room at 67 Pall Mall. The theme was champagne’s ageing potential and guests sampled ten pairs (an old and current vintage) from ten major brands.
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!
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.
Combining all the vibrancy of the 2002 vintage with the complexity and youthful vigour afforded by extended lees ageing, the recently released Dom Pérignon P2 2002 is one of the best champagnes of the decade and has already received a coveted 20/20 score from Jancis Robinson MW.
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.
The long-awaited Louis Roederer Cristal 2008 was officially launched in London on Monday evening. Jean-Baptiste Lécailon described it as “the most Cristal of all Cristals”. Having already been awarded 100/100 from many critics, is this the best ever vintage?
Our Champagne Range Tasting on Wednesday 13th June at Frederick’s, Islington was once again a roaring success. The sun shone as fifty guests tasted nearly forty champagnes, including many new releases and even a few magnums. Browse the photographs here.
If you are selling champagne that was bought on release from a UK agent and stored in a bonded warehouse, we may be interested in purchasing it. Here we outline the most important factors for sale and highlight sought after products.
We try to make the top Champagne brands and cuvées as affordable as possible by offering tiered levels of pricing that can be mixed. Find out how our ‘Mix 6’ and ‘Mix 12’ pricing works.
New Pol Roger Brut Vintage 2009 is a wonderfully fresh, fruit-forward champagne from a generous and warm vintage. We tasted it alongside the previous release – Pol Roger 2008 – for comparison.
The latest release of Krug Grande Cuvée, Edition 165 NV, is the smallest and rarest batch of Grande Cuvée ever. Just released in the UK, this is a classically world-class Krug: a stunning champagne based on a unique vintage.
We kicked off 2018 with the launch event of the long-awaited Blanc des Millénaires 2004. Director of Charles Heidsieck, Stephen Leroux, presented this stunning champagne and we also had a taste of the new rosé vintage: Rosé Millésime 2005.
This Valentine’s Day, swap the red roses for a carefully selected bottle of rosé champagne: the real secret to winning the heart of the one you love. Check out our Valentine’s Day offers here.
Read Jancis Robinson’s report of our outstanding Krug vintage vertical tasting last November. “This would have been a dream tasting anyway, but I particularly love tasting a group of wines blind.”
Establishing provenance, or a ‘record of ownership’, is absolutely essential in the champagne business. The conditions under which each bottle has been sourced and stored can significantly impact the eventual enjoyment it provides.
After impressing us at several tasting events in the past, we added a range of Palmer & Co champagnes to our website last year. One of the newest houses in the region, what is their history and what do their champagnes taste like? The Finest Bubble reveal all.
In 2009, Champagne Henri Giraud invested in 10 terracotta egg-shaped tanks to assess their effect on the maturation of wine. The house now has more than 50 clay containers and are producing more. Have they gone crazy or are they one step ahead of the field?
The difficult 2016 vintage appears to have been kind to Champagne Bollinger. We tasted the Vins Clairs at the winery in Aÿ last month and the house are optimsitic – even drawing likeness to the magnificent 1988 vintage! We judged for ourselves…
Bruno Paillard founded this eponymously named Champagne house in 1981: the first in nearly a century. A remarkable success story that is still being written… we met with daughter, Alice and tasted (sniffed) the 2016 Vins Clairs and current Champagne range.
This year TFB went along to the annual Louis Jadot 2015 En Primeur Tasting with one aim, to taste every single wine and then to select those they deemed to be the best in the line up. Read the reviews here.
This week sees the release of the fourth edition of The Oxford Companion To Wine. With 300 new entries, covering nearly a decade’s worth of new developments; this is even more in-depth than ever.
Some good news, some mild news and some irrelevant news – the chancellor announces the 2015 Budget, with alcohol duty a focus.