Review of numerous NV Champagnes

[Claudius2]

Folks,
The endless hot, balmy weather here in Singapore isn't that great for Bordeaux worse luck.
Yes I still drink it but nothing like the old frequency - meaning it is maturing in the storage unit (and here, everything needs air conditioning).
So I am sitting here sipping champagne, which is now probably the one area I drink wine most often from (maybe a draw with Burgundy as I love the stuff).

So I am becoming a self made critic of NV champagne which I drink twice a week now. And there are always good deals to be had.
So here goes:

Billecart-Salmon Brut NV.
My best champers for a long time.
Dry, intense, with brioche, apple and citrus, and nice aged, leesy, fennel characters.
It is long, dry and powerful. Seems like a vintage wine.
Delicious and moreish.
5 stars. Yum!

Louis Roederer Brut NV
Dry, long, quite intense.
Secondary flavours abound, less complex than the Billecart but lots of interest here.
Lovely on its own, with length and balance.
Quince, fennel and dry honey.
Excellent wine. 4.5 stars.

Martell Victroire Premier Cru Brut Prestige.
In a chunky bottle like Dom Perignon. It never fits n the wine fridge.
A powerful champagne, more like the Roederer, with aged, leesy flavours.
Quite dark, burnished gold colour, smoky, intense nose and flavours of fennel, honey and baked apple.
Finished long and dry.
Excellent. 4.5 stars.

Bollinger Brut NV
More powerful, leesy, aged style, with light gold colour, smoky, yeasty nose a little funky.
The palate is complex, with mid palate intensity and power.
Not everyone liked this (from magnum) but I like the style.
The wine sometimes seems a bit funky and leesy for the locals, but suits my palate.
Dry honey, fennel and brioche.
4.5 stars. But you DO need to like the style, as it is not for everyone.

Veuve Fourny 1er Cru Brut Exellence.
Another chunky bottle that falls out of the wine fridge. Oh well.
80% chardonnay, a quite different style.
Very cool, precise chardonnay fruit. Like a Puligny Montrachet with bubbles.
There is aged wood character and bread, adding to the citrus, honey and mineral characters. I thought it must be a blanc de blanc, but label says 80% chardy.
The minerality follows through on the palate, being fresh and dry.
I really like the style. There is a precision and tension to it. Could drink it all day long.
4.5 stars. A little more mid palate expression would give it 5 stars.

Martell Victroire Brut NV (Green Label)
Not as intense of powerful as the 1er Cru above, with lots of fresh apple and citrus flavours, quite dry and very drinkable as an aperitif.
Medium intensity, finished quite long.
Very good without setting the palate on fire.
3.5 to 4 stars.

Martell Victorie Brut Excellence NV Black Label (magnum)
Never seen this before, but bought at a close out sale, and for half price.
It is a very good, with some length, mid gold colour and lots of nutty, honey and apple flavours.
Could do with a bit more length but very good. A touch better than the green label, above.
4 stars.

Charles de Cazanove Brut Tradition
Dry, aged characters. Gold colour, with a touch of leesy, smoky aromas.
In the mouth, quite dry and long. Honey, brioche, apples and fennel.
Quite long and offers freshness with some aged characters. Seems to lack a little finesse and balance.
3.5 to 4 stars. Not a bad buy, much cheaper than Moet or Veuve.

Lanson Brut NV, black label.
A popular wine here.
Somewhat inoffensive in a nice way, with light to medium body, some smoky characters, fresh apples and bread.
A little simple compared to the more complex wines.
Nice as an aperitif, a bit light for more stars.
3 stars.

Lenoble Brut NV
Nice freshness on the nose, with lemon zest and bread.
On its own, the palate is a bit acidic, lacking balance.
The wine seems like it is a bit under-ripe, with chaptalisation to counter it.
Better with food, some aged character to balance the acid.
Not bad but seems slightly out of balance.
2.5 to 3 stars.


Louis Damont Brut
A supermarket wine, selling for about $US 20.
So expectations need adjusting.
Fresh, a bit simple, with citrus and apple flavours.
The acid is a little strong, with good freshness but needs a bit more complexity.
Good on a hot Singapore day.
2.5 stars.

Moet et Chandon Brut NV (Beige Label).
Hmmm. Not exactly my style, but pleasant in an inoffensive, commercial style.
Can buy it here quite cheaply so no real complaints.
Fresh, a touch sweet, light to medium body, apples, citrus, a touch of leesy complexity.
Nice aperitif style, but a long way off the Billecart or Roederer.
A crowd favourite as my Chinese friends find vintage wines too heavy and intense. Yeah, whatever.....
3 stars.

Mumm Red Stripe NV
Light colour, fresh fruity nose with grapefruit and honey.
A little sweet and simple on the palate, with enough acid and freshness to carry the sweetness.
But the wine in the mouth is a bit simple and bland.
I prefer champagne with more body and complexity, but it does have commercial appeal.
Sorry to say it, I have had Proseccos that tasted like this.
2.5 to 3 stars.

Comte Noiron Brut NV
Low priced supermarket champagne, and you get what you pay for....
Light, a little sweet, with a rather strange onion skin colour - this always suggests a press wine to me.
A little sweet, simple and bland, but enough freshness to carry the rather dull fruit.
Less than $US20 so can't complain.
2 stars.

Veuve Cliquot Yellow Label NV
A draw with the Comte Noiron as the most bland champagne this year.
It isn't a bad wine at all. The issue I have is that, even from a magnum, it is bland and soft.
There is a light, fresh, slightly floral character to it, with an off dry character than suggests a Prosecco or (...gush...) Asti Spumante.
Too sweet and bland, though my Chinese friends over here liked it with pizza and petit fours.
I have never been a fan of this label. I have had $10 Australian bubbly that offered more interest.
2 stars.

Bichat Brut NV
On sale at the local supermarket.
So don't expect greatness.
A light, off dry, inoffensive style that seemed like it was from fruit rejected by a big house and heavily chaptalised to make up for a lack of flavour.
Lacks flavour and interest. A generic sparking wine style. At about $US15, an okay buy. Better with food, as the simple flavours seem to develop in your mouth.
Would be fine at a party with a platter of petit fours or antipasti.
1.5 stars.

Phew. Time to refill the champagne flute.

[stefan]

I had no idea that Martell Victoire was so good. Unfortunately, the Premier Cru seems not to be available in the USA. I'll try the others if I come across them.

[DavidG]

Nice report!

Billecart-Salmon and Bollinger are among my favorites. I'm not as big a fan of the Roederer as you, but I do like it. Give the Pol Roger a try.

[Nicklasss]

Thanks Claudius for that nice review of NV. I think you're dead on the style of every house. I like BillecartNV (regular and rosé) for complexity and dryness, while Roederer is excellent too but a bit richer in mouth. Bollinger so stylish, i agree a like it or less style. Veuve Cliquot is too sweet in these days.

If you can, try the NV from Egly-Ouriet or Chartogne-Taillet. Main flavors of apples/cider, but with complexity too (ginger, chalk, yellow fruits, bread crust...) and dry.

I know NV Champagne are ready to drink when you buy them, but do you know if keeping them a few years (let say 5-7 years) is ok?

Nic

[stefan]

Nic, most NV Champagne improves with some time in the bottle. I like to hold new releases for a couple of years and some (e.g. Bollinger and Billecart-Salmon) gets better with further age.

[dstgolf]

Great review.Love champagne but don't drink it enough. I feel we need a crowd because a bottle is enough for the two of us and prefer red with meals. Never had or seen the Martell Victroire but will look for it. Thanks.

[AlohaArtakaHoundsong]

Thanks a lot for this. I don't drink a lot of Champagne but order a few of the smaller "grower" labels from K&L occasionally. So that leaves only some of the bigger names that I can pick up from Costco or wherever and although they should all be at a high and consistent standard I have found too often some are not only not worth the modest $35-$50 tab, they are not worth it at all except for mass toasts and Champagne showers--certainly not for drinking with food. This is especially true of the Veuve Cliquot (and for me has been for some years). More proof? My wife, who I would say is more sentimental than clinical in her drinking, brought one home from Costco last month. She's liked it before and she always loved how the AbFab gals had a whole fridge full of it (thus lending certain emotional cachet) but even she said the wine was just blah and definitely too sweet (which was my view completely).I guess it is aimed at the Coca-Cola crowd. If I understand/remember correctly Champagne is having a tough time marketing to the younger crowd especially here in the US. Maybe this is aimed at bucking that trend.

In general I also find that a good NV wine can over the course of a couple of years of cellaring acquire worthwhile characteristics even if it is ready to go off the shelf.

[Claudius2]

Aloha,
The grower champagnes can be outstanding, but you need to understand the style.
I have a few sitting in the storage unit that I haven't bothered to pull out yet, but I have had mainly good experiences with them.
Depending on my wife's time availability, we'll visit Champagne in the next Spring.

dstgolf
The Martel Victroire Premier Cru is a more expensive wine than the regular green label, but a more aged, complex, leesy, toasty style.
I also bought it a few years ago and left it in the storage unit before pulling it out to drink, and it's pretty good.
The Green label is relatively cheap (about $S35, which is about $US24) and a nice wine at that price.

Nicklass,
I have bought the ugly Idiot (Egly Ouriet) a few times in Australia and it's very good I agree.
Not familiar with Chartogne Taillet and never seen it in SIngapore.
In relation to Veuve Cliquot, friends seem to like it (not sure why) and we end up drinking it for parties.
It has a reputation that surpasses its quality for my palate.
But lots of people here guzzle Prosecco and Asti Spumante by the pallet load. Oh well....