Champagne

  • Louis Pommery Brut Royal

    Louis Pommery Brut Royal

    Pommery was the first Champagne house to introduce a Brut style with low dosage back in 1874. ‘Brut Royal’ is the flagship non-vintage cuvée of the house, created to capture the essence of Pommery’s style, which is centred on liveliness, finesse and freshness. This non-vintage wine sits at 12.5% ABV and is composed of 34%…

  • Champagne Foil Debate Ends as Tradition Yields to Choice

    Champagne Foil Debate Ends as Tradition Yields to Choice

    The Drinks Business is reporting that the Comité Champagne has dropped its opposition to an EU ruling that makes neck foils on Champagne bottles optional, concluding after new research that removing them neither harms sales nor damages the region’s image. The decision follows years of debate across the sparkling-wine world. English producers have argued that…

  • Insights into the Champagne Market

    Insights into the Champagne Market

    The American Association of Wine Economists recently shared an enlightening table of the main champagne houses by turnover. The 2024 champagne market was worth roughly €3.92 billion. Moët Hennessy alone commands nearly 46.66% of the market, with the top three producers together holding about 61.59%, and the top five controlling over 72.1%. The median turnover…

  • Blondel Champagne Premier Cru

    Blondel Champagne Premier Cru

    I first discovered this Champagne at an Asda tasting, where it immediately stood out to me. I was keen to try it again, particularly as I’ve found that some Champagnes I’ve enjoyed at tastings have often not lived up to expectations when revisited later. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case this time. Produced by Blondel from…

  • Understanding Champagne

    Understanding Champagne

    Champagne, the world’s most celebrated sparkling wine, has captivated connoisseurs for centuries with its effervescence, complexity and prestige. This sparkling wine has evolved from humble beginnings to become a global symbol of celebration and luxury, with a rich history, distinctive production methods and diverse styles that continue to evolve to meet contemporary challenges and tastes….

  • The Definitive Champagne Tasting

    The Definitive Champagne Tasting

    On the first day of April 2025, I attended The Definitive Champagne Tasting, a two-floor event held at the Tate Modern in London. Organised by the UK’s Champagne Shippers’ Association, it marked the first generic Champagne trade tasting in London since 2018. With 51 producers represented, including Champagne houses, cooperatives, and growers, the event featured…

  • EU Sparkling Wine Production and Exports Down 8%

    EU Sparkling Wine Production and Exports Down 8%

    Eurostat, the EU’s official statistics body, is reporting an 8% decline in sparkling wine production and exports in 2023 (yes, 2023, see below). The EU produced 1.496 billion litres of sparkling wine, down from 1.624 billion litres in 2022. Italy led production with 638 million litres, followed by France with 312 million (224 million litres…

  • Co-op Les Pionniers NV

    Co-op Les Pionniers NV

    Co-op’s award-winning Champagne is on offer to Co-op Members for just £15.00 (was £21.50) between 18th and 24th December 2024. Read my review.

  • Champagne Bruno Paillard Première Cuvée

    Champagne Bruno Paillard Première Cuvée

    Maison Bruno Paillard is one of Champagne’s few remaining independent, family-owned Houses. They take pride in their ‘Perpetual Reserve’, an impressive collection of reserve wines dating back to 1985, blended with the latest vintage to produce their signature Multi Vintage Champagnes. This blend features 45% Pinot Noir, 33% Chardonnay, and 22% Pinot Meunier, all from…

  • Taittinger Prestige Rosé

    Taittinger Prestige Rosé

    This Champagne, primarily from the 2019 vintage, is a blend of 45% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay, and 25% Meunier, with an ABV of 12.5%. This wine has gained high praise, winning accolades from critics such as James Suckling, Wine Spectator, Decanter and Robert Parker. It has also earned a Gold Medal at the Concours des…

  • Sparkling Wine Purchase Factors

    Sparkling Wine Purchase Factors

    There’s new study-based research (PDF download) into recent sparkling wine consumers in Ontario, Canada, offering insights into the cues that drive their purchase decisions. Sparkling wine’s global market is experiencing significant growth. This uptrend is notable given the distinct nature of sparkling wine, often purchased for celebrations rather than regular consumption. Research has highlighted the…

  • Champagne Industry 2023 Retrospective

    Champagne Industry 2023 Retrospective

    Recent data has highlighted a notable shift in the Champagne market for the year 2023. Following three years of exceptional performance, Champagne shipments have reverted to pre-pandemic levels, with a total of 299 million bottles shipped, marking an 8.2% decrease from the previous year. The industry witnessed a significant slump in 2020 with an 18%…

  • Sparkling Wines From Three Continents

    Sparkling Wines From Three Continents

    The 2023 holiday season gave me the opportunity to try a few affordable Champagne and sparkling wines from three different continents: Les Pionniers Non Vintage Champagne Les Pionniers Non Vintage Champagne is a great example of how quality and affordability can come together. Despite the Co-op’s discretion about its origins, it’s an open secret that…

  • Champagne Masterclass with Nicolas Jaeger

    Champagne Masterclass with Nicolas Jaeger

    On 11th December 2023, from 7:00 to 8:00 pm, there’s an online Champagne masterclass for Wine Society Members. This session features Alfred Gratien’s chef de cave, Nicolas Jaeger, who will be joined by the Wine Society’s Champagne buyer Sarah Knowles MW and Ewan Murray from the Tastings Team. Together, they will discuss the various Champagne…

  • Sainsbury’s Brut Non Vintage Champagne

    Sainsbury’s Brut Non Vintage Champagne

    This champagne, crafted by Louis Kremer Champagne House, uses 20% reserve wines in its blend. “Salty, nutty notes are joined by intense green apple fruit on the nose. A green cooking apple character on the palate sits alongside roasted nuts and a lively acid backbone. It has a wonderful vibrancy that makes this a useful…

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Did You Know?

In 2024, the UK was the second-largest export market for Champagne globally, after the United States. More

Local UK bottling of wine which represents about 40% of imported wine. More

Around 1% of people, typically severe asthmatics, have a sulphite sensitivity. More

A large 80% of Australian wine arrives in the UK in bulk. More

Only about 0.02% of Australia’s landmass is dedicated to vineyards. More

In 2024, New Zealand produced only 1% of the World’s wine. More

In 2024, the US imported 37% of World production of Pinot Grigio and the UK was is in second place at 27%. More

In 2024, the UK was South Africa’s largest export market, with 40% of total exports. More

In 2024, the United Kingdom imported 22.3 million bottles of Champagne, a decline of 12.7% compared to the previous year. More

Larger Champagne producers source grapes from as many as 80 different vineyards throughout Champagne. More

Champagne houses and growers collectively produce around 300 million bottles annually. More

In 2025, the Champagne region was home to about 2,124 Champagne houses and approximately 19,000 growers. More

Provence is one of the leaders in the conversion to organic viticulture, with 61% of vineyards certified. More

8% of the South Africa’s grape production is Fairtrade-certified. More

Up to 80% of wine aroma compounds come from grape skins. More

Glycerol is the third-largest component of most dry wines after water and alcohol which is why they so often feel ‘smooth’ or ‘silky’ in the mouth. More

Humans are more than 400 times more sensitive to bitter than sweet. More

Humans can detect the earthy molecule geosmin at about 100 parts per trillion and camels are so sensitive to it they can locate damp ground from roughly 50 miles away. More

During the phylloxera crisis of the nineteenth century, 90% of Europe’s vineyards were destroyed. More

In 2025, for La Vieille Ferme, also known as “The Chicken Wine”, sales surged by 49.4% to £110.8 million. More

In 2025, in the UK, Yellow Tail held the top position with sales, marking a 9.8% increase over the previous year. More

In 2024, the UK was the second-largest wine importer in volume and value. More

In 2024, the UK was the fifth-largest wine-consuming country globally. More

In 2025, global wine consumption continued its downward trend, estimated at 214.2 million hectolitres, the lowest since 1961. More

In 2025, online alcohol sales had a 20% increase in value over five years. More

In 2025, the number of UK vineyards rose to 1,104 and wineries to 238, with land under vine expanding to 4,841 hectares, a 510% increase since 2005. More

Moët Hennessy alone commands nearly 46.66% of the Champagne market, with the top three producers together holding about 61%, and the top five controlling over 72%. More

In 2024, the Champagne market was worth roughly €3.92 billion. More

In the marketing year 2023/24, white wine accounted for roughly 55% of Spain’s output, whereas red and rosé together made up about 45%. More

In the UK, 92% of wine is consumed within 48hrs of purchase. More

The majority of wines, 95%, use commercial rather than wild yeast. More

Between 0.5 and 10 litres of water, per litre of wine, are needed for cleaning during winemaking. More

Machine harvesting can achieve up to 100 tons of fruit per day vs 1 ton for a human. More

In Germany, 2025 was the smallest wine vintage since 2010. More

The majority of vineyards, 90% in 2019, are farmed with heavy chemical interventions. Only 6% are organic. More

90% of low and coastal areas in south Europe and California will no longer be able to produce good wine by the end of the century. More