Christmas Champagne Tasting 2023

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 An eagerly anticipated Christmas tradition in our family is the annual champagne tasting.  Although this suggests a rather grand affair it honestly isn't, although it does get better and better every year.  If I remember rightly it began not long after Aldi launched their Veuve Monsigny champagne 10 years or so ago and reviewers were falling over themselves to spread the word about this half-decent champagne on the market that cost little more than most bog-standard sparkling wines.  Our first Christmas tasting was pretty much along the lines of "If this Aldi champagne is getting such rave reviews we had better see what all the fuss is about.  We wonder how it compares with other sparkling wines".  I can't now remember what alternatives Veuve Monsigny was pitched against in that first tasting but it was probably wines such as Aldi's popular Crémant de Jura, also highly rated at the time.  In these early days 'champagne tasting' was probably something of a misnomer as the assembled half-dozen bottles tended to include a single champagne and an increasingly random selection of sparkling wines, the biggest flop of the alternatives here being a sparkling Pignoletto from Emilia Romagna.  Given most of the opposition it wouldn't have been that difficult to spot the champagne!  Yet within a few years the tasting gained more focus and pretty soon the bottles sampled were either champagnes or at least wines made by the 'méthode champenoise'.  Over the years this has allowed styles such as Franciacorta from Lombardy, Cap Classique from South Africa, and a growing range of English sparkling wines to be pitched against well-known champagne brands and a few supermarket own-labels.  With two grown-up children joining us for Christmas along with their partners (now spouses) the expectation these days is that each household supplies two 'mystery' bottles, one of which must be a genuine champagne - i.e. 6 bottles between 6 people.

ORGANISATION

There can be various objectives for a wine tasting event but our family Christmas Champagne Tasting is essentially a bit of fun; a convivial drinking session spiced up by lively conversation as we compare and contrast the six glasses in front of us.  We deliberately frame it so we don't know the identity of each of the wines and personal preferences are the most important outcome.  Inevitably though a certain amount of consensus arises as to which wine is the best but whether this is desirable is questionable if we're all fighting over the one bottle when drinking up the half-empty bottles at the end!
Before we start each bottle is opened and anonymously placed in a numbered bag.  In front of each participant is a placement with 6 glasses and a simple scoresheet on which to write impressions and notes.  Hallowed silence is definitely not a requirement and ratings and comparisons get discussed as each wine is poured.  "What the hell is number 1? Are you sure the glasses are clean Dad?" "Number 3 is surely a top-notch champagne". "I think number 4 is English".  Once all six have been sampled we note a personal score out of 10 for each wine and this is the basis for each person's ranking of the wines from first to sixth.  It is only at this point that we reveal the identity of the six bottles.  This year (2023) they were as follows:

A blend of classic Cava grapes parellada, macabeo and xarel-lo 'plus some chardonnay to add finesse'
65% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, 10% Pinot Meunier
40% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir, 25% Pinot Meunier
60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Meunier 
'Produced exclusively for The Wine Society by Ridgeview in Sussex using three classic Champagne grapes of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay'.  Precise percentages not given but presumably we can take it that they are listed in order of importance within the blend?
Simply states 'a high percentage of Chardonnay'

RESULTS

My personal ranking was ...
  1. Wine 4 (10/10)
  2. Wine 6 (9/10)
  3. Wine 3 (8/10)
  4. Wine 2 (7/10) and Wine 5 (7/10) 
  5. Wine 1 (6/10)

 Others in the group were less generous or used the full range of marks! 

By adding up personal totals together the ranking from the group as a whole was ...

  1. Wine 4 - Bollinger (51.5)  
  2. Wine 2 - Langham Culver Classic Cuvée (46.5)
  3. Wine 6 - Champagne Castelnau (44.5)
  4. Wine 3 - Tattinger Brut Reserve (34)
  5. Wine 1 - The Society's Cava Reserva Brut (33.5)
  6. Wine 5 - The Society's Exhibition English Sparking Wine (29)

CONCLUSIONS

  • Comments during the tasting suggest we are pretty good at indentifying genuine champagne.
  • The Bollinger was unanimously judged the best bottle in the tasting.
  • As expected, the champagnes did well, but the English Langham Culver Classic Cuvée gave them a good run for their money.
  • The Wine Society's Exhibition English Sparking Wine was a disappointment but The Wine Society's Champagne Castelnau had real character and everyone appreciated the toasty brioche notes in a richer style of wine.
  • The Cava stood out a mile as the outlier.  This is hardly surprising since the grape varieties are well outside the classic méthode champenoise trio of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.
  • In general, you get what you pay for, but in our opinion The Wine Society's Champagne Caselnau had the best ratio of quality to value for money.
  • And finally, a great time was had by all.  Roll on December for Christmas Champagne Tasting 2024!


 

 

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