THE VERDICT

Champagne houses face unprecedented challenges, agreed our panel, from sales in decline due to Covid and from climate change, but an impressive set of wines were fielded. Amy Wislocki reports

Avery positive showing, from a region in turmoil, concluded our tasters. Only 14 of the 68 wines tasted scored lower than 90 points – a significant achievement for this entry-level, though hugely important category.

‘I was impressed by the general classic character of most of the wines we tasted,’ said Tim Hall. ‘There’s no question that Champagne is getting riper and fuller bodied, but this tasting showed that producers are making great efforts to preserve freshness and balance, and to combat the effects of climate change.

‘The practice of what goes on in the face of climate change will take years to come to fruition,’ he continued, ‘but I was encouraged by these early efforts.’

‘There are two key factors when it comes to the quality of brut sans année [non-vintage],’ said Simon Field MW: ‘how much reserve wine a producer adds, and the dosage regime employed. The corollary to this is the ripeness of the fruit, which is increasing as the climate gets warmer. Dosage is unquestionably coming down, because the fruit is getting riper. At the same time, the percentage of reserve wine used has generally been increasing.’

Most of the wines tasted here probably had frost-affected 2017 as their base year, said Field. ‘It was a horrendous year,’ added Hall, ‘and the producers of the best wines here would have compensated by upping the level of reserve wines from 2013, 2015 and 2016 – maybe even fractions of the wonderful 2012 vintage.

‘There’s a massive surplus of reserve wines in Champagne at the moment, and we’ll see the proportion used increase, which is not necessarily a bad thing for the basic non-vintage offering of every major house.’

Both Field and Anne Krebiehl MW commented on the stylistic diversity on show. ‘There really is something for everyone,’ enthused Krebiehl. ‘And most of these were a pleasure to drink. I relished the freshness, the autolysis – even if it wasn’t pronounced – and the roundness.’

Krebiehl felt the Pinot Noir-based wines performed best – the best Chardonnay is probably used in other cuvées, she speculated. Field was also full of praise for these wines: ‘The Pinot Noirs excelled,’ he agreed, ‘the ripe, forward, red-berry character suiting the autolytic development.’

Hall emphasised the need for the Champagne houses to send a clear and different message to wine lovers this Christmas – 50% of Champagne is sold between September and January, he pointed out. And a wine that is associated primarily with celebration has suffered more than any other category in this pandemic. ‘Covid is providing Champagne with its biggest

‘Dosage is unquestionably coming down, as the fruit is getting riper’

negative challenge in history,’ Hall said. ‘The region is sitting on five or six years of stock, when they’d like to be sitting on three. We’re about to see a period of dumping.’

While Hall advised consumers not to be seduced by discounts, Krebiehl was more upbeat. Why not take advantage of the deep discounting and buy non-vintage Champagnes to lay down for a couple of years, she suggested. ‘Maybe the message to consumers should be around using Champagne to make home and family socialising very special,’ said Hall.

Krebiehl was buoyed by the quality on display – ‘they tasted satisfyingly of Champagne’ – and remained positive about the future. ‘Champagne is the wine with the greatest resilience. No one can replace 200 years of solid marketing. In every city in the world, you’ll find Champagne on the wine list. What other region has this advantage?’

Entry criteria: Decanter invited producers in Champagne to submit their main white, brut nonvintage cuvée, with a particular focus on members of the Union des Maisons de Champagne