Champagne excellence: 48 best-buys in vintage and deluxe cuvée blends Yohan Castaing
In an extensive review of recent releases from houses and growers, Yohan Castaing tasted more than 100 different Champagnes for Decanter Premium. Here, we showcase 48 excellent buys from his selection of vintage and deluxe cuvée blends, including whites,
Champagne is so well known as a symbol of celebration that we can forget it is, above all, a wine produced under special conditions, rich in diversity and singularity. And it’s never been better. For years, Champagne viticulture was oriented more towards high production quantities than haute-couture viticulture with lower volumes. With global warming (see box) and the emergence of cult wine-growers (Selosse, EglyOuriet and others), winemaking and viticultural techniques are evolving, and sitespecific wines are gaining attention. A sense of place is now highlighted by many winegrowers, as well as by an increasing number of Champagne houses, making Champagne one of France’s most dynamic regions.
That said, it is the ‘house style’ philosophy – the interpretation of the wine-growers or chefs de cave (cellar managers) – that is the soul of Champagne. All Champagnes have their own identities, based on the decisions made about the blend of grapes, the addition of reserve wines, whether to vinify in oak, the level of dosage, the length of ageing... The list goes on.
Champagne houses tend to promote their personal styles as interpreted by their chef de cave using a set framework depending on the year, while the smaller wine-grower will prefer to produce distinct cuvées from a single terroir or a single grape variety. The fascination of Champagne comes from these multiple philosophies, resulting in varied and sometimes completely original wines.
Vintage highlights
Non-vintage Champagnes are, by definition, the expression of a house style. Produced by blending several vintages together, they are unlike vintage Champagnes, in which styles are more dependent on the year’s weather.
The 2013 vintage (rated 4/5 by Decanter), a challenging year in the vineyard, produced beautiful Chardonnay and Pinot Noir thanks to sunny weather during harvest. The 2013 vintage Champagnes are delicious to drink now, and are very different from those of 2012 (5/5), which produced ample, dense and fleshy wines due to low yields. The 2012 vintage Champagnes have good ageing potential.
The 2011 vintage (1/5), which suffered from diseases such as mildew, is evolving well, thanks to the quality of the Chardonnay. The wine-growers who worked hard in the vineyards were the big winners. It is advisable to favour cuvées with a predominance of Chardonnay or blanc de blancs styles.
Compared to the rest of France, 2010 (2/5) wasn’t a great vintage. Flowering was capricious and there were mildew outbreaks, leading to inconsistent levels of ripeness. Still, attentive wine-growers produced simple but elegant, balanced and fresh wines.
2009 (4/5) was a rich vintage, but it’s best to favour Pinot Noir over Chardonnay, as the Chardonnay-dominant Champagnes can be a bit heavy. Finally, 2008 (5/5) was a cold, rainy vintage, yet it was successful thanks to a late season. The wines are balanced, fresh and generous, with good ageing potential.