Champagne

Delicious complex champagne with great depth and super fresh flavours; amazing value for money. Andr? Clouet Grand Reserve is aged on lees for four years before disgorgement. It's made from 100% Pinot Noir, which is where all its rich, deliciously toasty aromas come from and the style is a complex blend of wine from the 2015 vintage with depth of flavour coming from the 50% proportion of older reserve wines from 2014, 2013, 2012, 2008, 2005, 2004 and 2002. 

The dosage is 8 grams per litre, which makes it dry in taste and in style. 

This wine offers substantially more flavour than most champagnes at this price on the market today - and kicks many more expensive bubbles to touch too.

Champagne Andr? Clouet dates back to 1741. Today the family owns eight hectares of estate vines in the best middle slopes of Bouzy and Ambonnay in the Champagne region from which it makes (along with purchased grapes) great wines of richness and depth. Andr?  Clouet Grand Reserve is one of our staff faves here at Regional and is made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes, all grown on grand cru vineyards and aged on lees for four years before disgorgement. That is significantly longer than the legal minimum of 18 months aging on lees, pre release, in the Champagne region. 

This long aging time provides great depth and complex flavours to this deliciously flavoursome non vintage champagne. It offers incredible taste and richness.

* The Andr? Clouet Grande Reserve is also available in half bottles.

If you?re after a complex champagne made from the great Pinot Noir grape, try this.

Mo?t Imp?rial is one of the biggest volume champagnes in the world from the vast house of LVMH (Louis Vuitton Mo?t Hennessey) and is typically a blend of 30 to 40% Pinot Noir, 30 to 40% Pinot Meunier with 20 to 30% Chardonnay for balancing crispness and freshness. It's made from Mo?t & Chandon's vineyards in all of the five main grapegrowing areas in the Champagne region.

Veuve Clicquot is one of the world's biggest selling champagnes and is produced by Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey in a range of styles and packaging. 

Veuve is named after the late, great Widow Clicquot, who was left not only a widow aged 27 but also in charge of running a champagne house. Her legacy is to have left both the brand and the region in better condition than she found them, mostly famously by inventing riddling; the turning of the bottle to remove the yeast sediment into its neck, prior to disgorgement. This resulted in higher quality, cleaner, fresher bubbles in both look and taste. Her quest was quality and she is widely credited with having raised it significantly in the Champagne region and in the bottles it produces.

The yellow label non vintage (NV) blend is typically made up of 55% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier.

Great flavours of bold and powerful yeasty freshness come from Champagne Bollinger's blend of over 85% Grand and Premier crus (top ranked vineyards in the Champagne region). Bolly is made from the three main Champagne varieties: 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay and 15% Meunier. It is cellar aged for twice as long as required by appellation regulations and modestly dosed at between 7 and 8 grams per litre, which beautifully balances the already intense depths of flavour and  structural support from the blend, the fresh acidity from being made with grapes grown in a cool climate and a portion of oak fermentation (larger format and older oak) to encourage gentle, slow oxidative fermentation. 

The taste of Bollinger is dry, toasty, savoury and rich in flavour with elegance from its fresh acidity, depth of flavour and long finish.

Bollinger was founded in 1829.

Bollinger is one of the great champagnes, not only in perception, due to its to its high profile affiliation with Ab Fab and James Bond. 

Pierre Emmanuel Taittinger runs this famous champagne house with his son Clovis and daughter, Vitalie, who both work beside him in the day to day running of Champagne Taittinger. It is one of the grand marques champagnes. This means it is one of the top tier, best known and most highly respected producers in the Champagne region and it has built its reputation on Chardonnay dominant bubblies, with the Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blanc being the pinnacle of its production.

This non vintage (NV) champagne is also Chardonnay dominant, which is where its bright, clean, fresh and refreshing acidity and creamy notes come from. 

It is a beautiful and classic champagne. One of our favourites.

Laurent-Perrier Brut NV is enjoyed for its creamy softness which comes from Chardonnay, the dominant grape in this elegant sparkling wine.

The Laurent-Perrier Champagne house was founded in 1812 and is the main company of the Laurent-Perrier Group, whose other flagship brands include the houses of Salon, De Castellane and Delamotte. Laurent-Perrier Group also acquired Chateau Malakoff in 2004.

Complex creamy champagne with Chardonnay in the lead, giving its citrusy purity and freshness in this lovely Champagne, which is relatively new to our shelves. Champagne Bergere is an exciting modern Champagne based in Ferebrianges, and with a building on the famous Avenue de Champagne in Epernay. The Bergere family has grown grapes since 1848 and the winery was founded in 1949 to release champagnes under the family name. 

Today the family owns 65 hectares of vineyards split between the prestigious Cote des Blancs, Vallée du Petit Morin and the Côte de Sezanne, which themselves are the southern sector of the greater Cotes des Blancs region.  

Current generation Adrien Bergere heads up the estate with a primary focus on Chardonnay, low dosage across the range, extended lees ageing and judicious use of oak barrels to tease out the full potential of the wines.

Value doesn't get better than this fabulous toasty, dry as a bone half bottle of champagne deliciousness from Andr? Clouet. 

The Clouet family owns eight hectares of estate vines in the best middle slopes of Bouzy and Ambonnay in the Champagne region from which it makes (along with purchased grapes) great wines of richness and depth. Andr?  Clouet Grand Reserve is one of our staff faves hereat Regional and is made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes, all grown on grand cru vineyards and aged on lees for four years before disgorgement. That is significantly longer than the legal minimum of 18 months aging on lees, pre release, in the Champagne region. This grande reserve bubbly is made from 50% base wine which was made from the 2015 vintage, and it also contains reserve wines from 2014, 2013, 2012, 2008, 2005, 2004 and 2002. The dosage is 8 grams per litre.

Veuve Clicquot is one of the world's biggest selling champagnes and is produced by Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey in a range of styles and packaging. 

Veuve is named after the late, great Widow Clicquot, who was left not only a widow aged 27 but also in charge of running a champagne house. Her legacy is to have left both the brand and the region in better condition than she found them, mostly famously by inventing riddling; the turning of the bottle to remove the yeast sediment into its neck, prior to disgorgement. This resulted in higher quality, cleaner, fresher bubbles in both look and taste. Her quest was quality and she is widely credited with having raised it significantly in the Champagne region and in the bottles it produces.

This magnum of yellow label non vintage (NV) champagne is typically made up of 55% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier.

Veuve Clicquot is one of the world's biggest selling champagnes and is produced by Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey in a range of styles and packaging. 

Veuve is named after the late, great Widow Clicquot, who was left not only a widow aged 27 but also in charge of running a champagne house. Her legacy is to have left both the brand and the region in better condition than she found them, mostly famously by inventing riddling; the turning of the bottle to remove the yeast sediment into its neck, prior to disgorgement. This resulted in higher quality, cleaner, fresher bubbles in both look and taste. Her quest was quality and she is widely credited with having raised it significantly in the Champagne region and in the bottles it produces.
This rose is typically a blend of base wines with 12% of still red Pinot Noir.

Pol Roger Champagne was established in 1849 by a young Frenchman called Pol Roger, who was just 19 years old at the time. The company is now run by the fifth generation and remains in family hands, one of the few big champagne houses to stake such a claim to fame. 

This wine, the Brut R?serve, is the flagship of the house and is a threeway blend of the three primary champagne grape varieties, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay, grown on 30 different vineyard sites. It includes 25% reserve wines in the non vintage (NV) blend, which is a relatively high proportion and provides richness and savoury flavours to the bubbly, which retains freshness from the crisp acidity from early harvested grapes in the balancing 75% of the bubbly.

Pinot Noir brings structure, body and power while Pinot Meunier adds body and roundness with the Chardonnay adding aromatic complexity, finesse and freshness. Each of the different grape varieties comes from a different area in the Champagne region. The wine is aged for four years following its secondary fermentation and it is one of the best known and best quality champagnes, thanks to high quality grapes and a long legacy of qualitative production methods. 

Veuve Clicquot is one of the world's biggest selling champagnes and is produced by Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey in a range of styles and packaging. 

Veuve is named after the late, great Widow Clicquot, who was left not only a widow aged 27 but also in charge of running a champagne house. Her legacy is to have left both the brand and the region in better condition than she found them, mostly famously by inventing riddling; the turning of the bottle to remove the yeast sediment into its neck, prior to disgorgement. This resulted in higher quality, cleaner, fresher bubbles in both look and taste. Her quest was quality and she is widely credited with having raised it significantly in the Champagne region and in the bottles it produces.

The yellow label non vintage (NV) blend is typically made up of 55% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier.

Fifty Years On: 1975 Champagne, Bordeaux, New World

reds, and Sauternes:

The idea for the tasting is to try and present something with a bit of a buzz / a bit different … for an anniversary. Naturally enough, I don’t have any wines from my birth year, but MB reassures me that even the best 1940s were tending modest some 45 years ago.

So the theme of the Tasting is: 50 years on. 1975 was one of those quite rich but tannic years in Bordeaux … in the: ‘will they ever come round’ category. Very different tannins from the supple wines of today. The centre-point of the tasting (cork-willing) Is 1975 La Mission Haut-Brion … from magnum. RP (ss) considered it the wine of the vintage, 100. It will have the usual hand-maidens, Montrose (naturally), Barton etc.

But to make the tasting a bit different, there will be two Napa Valley cabernet sauvignons, neither 1975 exactly, neither prestige labels. So their role is to illuminate / counterpoint maybe,

Similarly there will be two Australian cabernets, both 1975s, one South Australian, one Victorian.

To further make the tasting a bit intriguing, and because so few have tasted 50-year-old examples, there will be a 1975 champagne (still commanding a very high price on Wine-Searcher) to start, and a 1975 Sauternes to conclude.

The wine list will be along the following lines … but at this age I may have to further substitute. Today’s Wine-Searcher value is included, both to tantalise, and act as a proxy for up-to-date reviews:

1975 Champagne Taittinger Chardonnay Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne

1975 Ch Leoville Barton

1975 Ch Leoville Las-Cases 

1975 Ch Malescot-St-Exupery 

1975 Ch La Mission Haut-Brion (magnum)

1975 Ch Montrose 

1975 Ch Prieure-Lichine

1977 Heitz Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon NB Not Martha’s Vineyard

1974 Charles Krug Cabernet Sauvignon (no W-S for commercial label)

1975 Stanley-Leasingham Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 49 (no W-S though a top wine)

1975 Ch Tahbilk Cabernet (no W-S)

1975 Ch Coutet 

Reserve wines (plus others, if needed)

1975 Ch Haut-Batailley

1974 Sonoma Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (no W-S)

1974 Wynns Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon

At Regional Wines, Beers and Spirits - 15 Ellice Street, Wellington 6011.

Cancellations must be made no later than 48hrs in advance.

If sold out - please email John at online@regionalwines.co.nz to be placed on the waitlist.

Perrier Jouet Champagne is a smooth and creamy, full bodied champagne made from grapes grown in over 70 villages in the Cotes du Blancs in the Champagne region; a Chardonnay dominant part of the region, which comes through in the creamy rich taste. 

This Champagne house was established in 1811 by Pierre-Nicolas-Marie Perrier, who added the maiden name of his wife, Ad?le Jou?t, to the name. They settled in the town of ?pernay, where the company owns vineyards A?, Avize, Cramant and Mailly. Many of the holdings are planted with Chardonnay, which brings delicacy and freshness to this lovely sparkling style.