Taste Champagne 2025

 The production of Champagne is relatively complex, but I find its evaluation quite simple. The things that matter are

1) The grape composition. A 100% Chardonnay Champagne tends to show citrus taste, and is often quite acidic. I prefer Champagne where the majority is Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier based, as these have greater complexity, including toasty flavours.

2) The percentage of 1er cru fruit. This is self explanatory.

3) The mousse and fineness of the bubbles. Fine bubbles is good, but there can be too much mousse.

4) Age. More complexity with age.

The sugar content. This tends to be low in all good and mainstream Champagne. 

Mr. Champagne, Tyson Stelzer, obviously happy with the crowd

Based on what I said before, it is no surprise that Bollinger is a favourite of mine, as all Champagnes are Pinot Noir dominant, and the fruit is 100% 1er cru. La Grande Année 2015, is based on 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay. This Champagne has great depth and length, is very fine, with a brioche influenced taste (97 points). The 100% Pinot Noir PN VZ19 is equally impressive, but of younger fruit (96 points). And the Special Cuvée NV is still the benchmark for entry level Champagne (94 points).

I am also a fan of Pol Roger. The Brut Vintage 2018 is the same blend as the Grande Année. It has a lot of mousse and is quite fresh (93 points).  

Two very special Champagnes were the Louis Roederer Vintage Brut 2016, a 100% Pinot Noir Champagne with good complexity and a long finish (96 points). It also represents reasonable value for this quality. Much higher priced is the Rare Champagne 2013, the special Piper-Heidsieck project. This is 70% based on Chardonnay and has an interesting yellow peach flavour, showing the age (95 points).

The Charles Heidsieck Champagnes, the Brut Reserve and the Brut Millésime 2013, both Pinot Noir dominant, were good, quite acidic, with fine bubbles (93 points).  

I found Veuve Fourny & Fils and the Deutz Champagnes less appealing.