10 top Champagne from the Taste Champagne extravaganza

The giant Taste Champagne trade and consumer event rolled through Sydney yesterday, with some 68 Champagne houses pouring 200 cuvées.

It was large.

It’s always large, really, with the thickest crowds of any industry tasting of the year, as Champagne from houses big and small brings out every random wine person in the city. It’s a good vibe, though, even if no one knew about moving away from a f*cking tasting table after getting a sample.

The quality and breadth of wines on offer made up for the increased volume of selfie-takers, however, and Tyson Stelzer’s organisation skills mean this is a seamlessly run Champagne extravaganza.

This year I managed a solid 3hrs of tastings, too, including a whole smorgasbord of Grand Marque benchmarks and vintage goodies from the likes of Moët, Veuve, Taittinger, Bollinger, Pol Roger, Billecart-Salmon etc.

Here was 10 of the best Champagne I tried yesterday (in alphabetical order):

• Bollinger PN AYC 18 2018. The latest Blanc de Noir from Bollinger which follows somewhat in the footsteps of the superb B13 that I had earlier in the year. Vinous, super intense and detailed, this is a dry, perfectly formed but maybe even a bit divisive thanks to its muscular Pinot Noir form. My wine of the day, and I bloody love this megastar style that is so different to the soft and rich mode of many super cuvées (like the Belle Epoque below). The 2014 Grand Année next to it looked more mouth-filling and seductive, but this is the wine to buy.
  
• Bruno Paillard ZD Zero Dosage MV. Nailing ZD styles is bloody hard, as so often they come across as ungenerous. But this didn’t. Half reserve wine and half Pinot Meunier with mostly barrel ferments, all of which add up to another vinous and encompassing style that threatens to be too serious but is saved by layers of still-wine-like complexity. Detail and purity. The ‘standard’ 1er Cuvée MV really isn’t far behind this, with more rounded edges and still with glorious vinosity.
  
• Charles Heidsieck Blanc de Blancs NV. Normally I’d be in the camp of the vintage or Brut Reserve for C. Heidsieck, but this BdB had the right amount of volume and reserve wine complexity to it. I don’t know if it’s me, but the dosage looked a little higher on the Charles Heidsieck wines this year, too (which I didn’t love).
  
• Louis Roederer Brut Nature Philippe Starck Blanc 2015. One of a handful of ZD wines that got it right, this breezy and ultra-pure style is delicious and very nicely balanced. It never feels too dry, either. I still don’t get the clamour for the Collection 243 NV – it’s just not persuasive.
  
• Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque 2014. Speaking of more dosage, I think they nailed it with this Belle Epoque. It’s a full-tilt, look-at-me wine that feels luxurious and cosseting in a very traditional grand cuvée mode. It works too, even if it threatens to look a bit broad. I didn’t warm to the traditional Perrier Jouet NV wines quite as much – a bit ho-hum.
  
• Pol Roger Brut Reserve NV. Worth a mention here as the best ‘standard’ big house NV I tasted (nudging Bollinger off the perch). Compared to all the NV wines around it, this had more intensity and just more interest. The palate hits like a thump, which was especially noticeable as I had it directly after the shapeless Veuve NV.
  
• Pol Roger Vintage Brut 2015. Pol Roger would win my award for most consistent big house, with every wine in the lineup showcasing an extra level of profundity and depth. Pol Roger gets the MVP. It was a tight tussle between the three 2015s – Vintage Brut, Blanc de Blancs and Rosé – for the points, with all of them following the powerful house style. In fact, the only Pol Roger that didn’t quite move me was the Pure NV which was just a bit too lean.
  
• Ruinart Rose Brut NV. You can keep the light-struck BdB and drink this pink wine instead. The vintage Pol rosé above is a better wine, but this Ruinart sure has some sex appeal. It’s creamy-edged, pretty and balanced.
  
• Taittinger Prélude Grand Crus NV. All grand cru fruit and five years on lees, this 50/50 Chardonnay Pinot blend was on another tier to anything else Taittinger and could have been a vintage wine, given the weight and richness. I thought it was barrel-fermented, judging by the width here. Quality, even if it’s something of a blunt object.
  
• Veuve Clicquot La Grand Dame 2012. Hot damn, now this is a proper grand cuvée. 90% Pinot Noir and such a grand wine. Real Pinot power too, but in a different way to the Bollinger above – more classical Champagne than super detailed, table-wine-inspired style. Grand, compelling in its presence. My second favourite wine after the Bollinger too. There was a Veuve Clicquot Extra Brut Extra Old NV in the bucket too, which was enjoyable, although the standard NV straight afterwards was pretty bland.