Next month is wedding month in the northern hemisphere and the peak of what is known in Britain as ‘the season’ (Ascot, Henley and all that), all of which generally entails the serving and consumption of large quantities of champagne being served in the name of some occasion or sport.
Those who have to foot the bill for champagne bought by the case may be wondering how on earth to minimise the financial impact of investment in such a relatively expensive drink. No British wine merchant will thank me for saying this but British hosts can save a fortune by taking the trouble to buy their champagne in France. There is the obvious immediate saving of £1.65 UK excise duty on every bottle of sparkling wine (as opposed to £1.26 on still wine), but there is also the fact that quite apart from this, basic champagne prices are lower in France than on the other side of the Channel, as a visit to any French supermarket in Calais will demonstrate.
Patriotic British hosts could cross the Channel and buy their champagne from a British-owned retailer in one of the Channel ports. Tesco and Sainsbury’s are the obvious choices but there is also Majestic (who offer a free ferry crossing for those who pre-order £300 worth of goods) and Oddbins. The (members-only) Wine Society has recently opened a showroom and collection point in the pretty village of Montreuil just south of Boulogne, perfect for a trip to Le Touquet and a night or two in the Michelin-starred Château de Montreuil – so much more fun (and more expensive of course) than a supermarket sweep through Calais. The cheapest champagne on offer from the Wine Society, Jules Camuset non vintage of which I have never heard but note the Wine Society tasting note ‘Effortless, light, with a touch of finesse’, costs £64 per six-bottle case in the UK and 84 euros in France, which works out at 14 euros or about £9.60 a bottle – hardly an enormous saving on the £10.67 it would cost in the UK.
Those seeking seriously interesting champagne, as opposed to an ‘effortless’ bargain, should go to the Champagne region itself and buy direct. I noted cellar door prices during my visit to various highly regarded family champagne houses last November. They may have risen slightly since then but, for example, the Agrapart Grand Cru NV Blanc de Blancs (find this wine) from Avize in the Côte des Blancs, prime Chardonnay country, was 14.40 euros, and certainly not light. There is also the satisfaction of buying from family premises, making your way past dogs and tricycles to the tasting room. In Champagne you can virtually always taste before you buy. Try asking for a taste at Tesco.
The single best value cuvée I found on my travels last November was Cuvée Pierre Moncuit-Delos Grand Cru NV Blanc de Blancs find this wine from the Moncuits’ handsome manor house in the middle of Le Mesnil sur Oger, also in the Côte des Blancs. This was the blend based on the 2000 vintage, then just 15 euros a bottle, and was the one I raved about in my recent survey of non vintage champagnes. Nicole Moncuit, who makes the wines, is a little scary and appointments should always be made in advance but she is well worth the trouble for her perceptive and imaginative running commentary on the wines during a tasting.
I think all-Chardonnay blends, those labelled Blanc de Blancs, are particularly suitable for summer receptions when we need maximum refreshment with lots of zesty acidity rather than the fuller-bodied style of a blend dominated by Pinot Noir.
Another good address is that of Pierre Gimonnet in Cuis whose Gimmonet Premier Cru NV Blanc de Blancs (find this wine) is 15.50 euros from the cellar door (as opposed to £19.99 at Oddbins).
Two books will make all the difference to a visit to Champagne. Le Classement des Meilleurs Vins de France 2005 by France’s most admired tasting team Michel Bettane and Thierry Desseauve is an extremely useful and reliable guide not just to the best wines and best producers all over France, including about 100 in Champagne. It also gives the current price of each wine and when and how to visit each producer. There are addresses, telephone and fax numbers and exact hours when they are open. Some producers, such as the delightful and talented Vilmart family for example, do not usually open at weekends. You could buy this book, from www.amazon.fr for example, make your shortlist of suitable champagnes, and, always advisable, arrange appointments with each producer that interests you.
Once you are there, a brand new travel book, Destination Champagne written and published by my fellow wine writer Philippe Boucheron, could make your stay much more enjoyable. Usefully noting where English is spoken, it is full of practical detail on where to stay, eat, buy champagne and what to do once the champagne is bought.
Boucheron also notes which growers are most welcoming to visitors. About Jacques Selosse of Avize, for example, he observes ‘Visits strictly by appointment and please only by those with a serious interest in biodynamic and organic wines’ and he is right to warn all but the most serious wine geeks off a man as intense as his champagnes (from 33 euros a bottle). He points out that Benoit Tarlant ‘(excellent English)’ of Oeilly in the Vallée de la Marne, one of the easiest champagne growers to reach from Paris, offers both accommodation and full-day educational visits every Saturday from March to December, although they have to be booked in advance.
But there will be many hosts who need to buy large quantities of champagne and just cannot justify the time involved in making a special trip to Champagne. They should take a look at Majestic’s current offer of 33 per cent off all champagnes and sparkling wines so long as at least three bottles are bought. This runs until the end of August on selected lines but until 06 jun it applies to any wine in the store that fizzes, thereby bringing the price of such respectable non vintage blends as Perrier Jouet and Laurent Perrier down to £16.66 a bottle and Pol Roger to £17.32. It’s also worth keeping an eye on the special Champagne Special Offers section at www.tesco.com/winestore/ although I see nothing particularly tempting at the time of writing.
Waitrose are reducing their own-label Waitrose Blanc de Noirs NV from £15.99 to £13.99 until 05 jun. It may not be the ideal champagne style for a summer reception and I found the current blend a little astringent when I tasted it recently but, never mind the quality, enjoy the price. It comes from the Aube supplier of The Wine Society’s Alexandre Bonnet Grande Reserve at £14.95 (or £12.34 if at least six bottles are bought). Marks & Spencer are reducing their serviceable if slightly stodgy Oudinot NV, not obviously a supermarket label, to £13.99 until 29 jun.
The savoury Côte des Blancs grower’s champagne, F Vauversin Grand Cru NV Blanc de Blancs is just £15.95 from Wine Discoveries on www.winediscoveries.co.uk or 01435 883728. Like many champagnes, it was a pound cheaper when I recommended it in March but even at this price it is a pretty good buy for those who can’t cross the Channel themselves. Gallimard NV (find this wine) from Uncorked of London EC2 is also good value at £84.60 for six, which works out at just £14.10 a bottle. But Thresher’s new ‘three for two’ offer on all their wines brings the price of the perfectly respectable, if unexciting, Dubois-Caron NV from producers Chanoine down to £13.33 – and £9.99 this weekend until 01 jun.
Tasting notes on 80 NV champagnes appear on purple pages.