Hello #ChampagneDay with 16 charismatic Champagne cuvées

Today is #ChampagneDay, which means nothing to anyone but wine marketers, yet it is a great excuse to talk about Champagne. And earlier in the week, John Noble, the head of the Australian Champagne Bureau, laid on a spread of fizz that was a little different.

Importantly, John poured a range of Champagne that went beyond the usual names and brands. There are plenty of wines in this lineup I’ve never tried, including many brand-new releases and labels with a limited presence here in Oz.

Wines that a Champagne insider would want to open (and it was excellent).

This tasting was a bit rushed, so apologies about the somewhat attenuated notes. Prices are local RRP approximates. Extra notes in italics.

Let’s dive in.

Bracket 1: Blanc de Blancs

Collet Blanc de Blancs NV

100% Chardonnay – 7g/L dosage. Five years on lees. A newish release from Collet to land in Australia and all Premier/Grand Cru fruit. Circa $A145.

A proudly Chardonnay dominant style and you can really see the long leesy ageing – Fresh, but with all sorts of waxed white flower notes, then a clean and lightly waxy palate that gets a little chubby through the middle, but in a good way, with plenty of autolysis driving the complexity. A delicious balance between layers of winemaking and then a clean and correct palate. There’s just a little fat in the middle, but hey, that’s part of the appeal – it has weight, it has presence. Nice wine. 18/20, 93/100.

Drappier Blanc de Blancs NV

95% Chardonnay and 5% Pinot Blanc. 7g/L dosage. It’s a brand-new, first release for Drappier too. I think this suffered a bit in this lineup – it looked very tight. $130.

Slightly bony, greenish aperitif style. It’s pleasant, but it tends a little citrus spritzer and passes through pretty quickly. It’s super refreshing and delicate, but it’s just a little too much of a simple aperitif style with somewhat limited complexity. 17.5/20, 91/100.

Charles Heidsieck Blanc de Blancs NV

All Chardonnay – 10g/L. Includes quite a bit more reserve wine than the Champagne norm, and it shows – definitely a richer mode. $125.

Chubby and mouthfilling – I can really see the sweetness through the middle. It’s juicy and mouthfilling but obvious, too – I get the ,style but it’s just a bit overt. I can see this isn’t my sort of delineated style, but I bet it would be wildly popular. 17.5/20, 91/100.

Ayala Collection No. 16 Blanc de Blancs 2016

A tiny bottling (7,000 bottles in total) and all Grand & Premier Cru frut. 50% Chardonnay, and the rest across Petit Meslier, Arbanne & Pinot Blanc. Billed as a celebration of traditional grapes and vineyards. 5.4g/L. $230.

There’s a totally different flavour profile here – toasty richness, vanilla, a sort of lemon/lime pie to it as well. Citrussy and yet golden all at once. Less of the waxy golden Chardonnay feel and then an almost Loire like tang. Complexity plus. Really interesting. 18/20, 93/100.

Bracket 2: Blanc de Noir

Bollinger PN AYC18

100% Pinot Noir mainly from the Aÿ cru. 6g/L.$220.

I love this Blanc de Noir, but damn it’s going to be divisive. So vinous – it’s more table wine with bubbles than some delicate Champagne. Super detailed, arguably too firm and tannic (tannic Champagne is quite an experience), there is a stalky note to it and the dosage feels like its even lower than 6g/L. Ridiculosly long. You have to love the Bollinger house style and (Pinot Noir). 18.5/20, 94/100.

Mailly Grand Cru Blanc de Pinot Noir NV

100% Pinot Noir. Mailly Grand Cru is the name of the brand, but also the village which is 100% Grand Cru vineyards. This is a small coop of the 80 growers in Mailly. 7.6g/L. $150.

Open and appley, lots of red appley ripe, easy fruit. Breezy has an aftershave vibe to it, if just a little diffuse, it’s rather full and powerful. Entirely drinkable. 17.7/20, 92/100.

Gamet Blanc de Noirs Rive Droite NV

85/15 Pinot Meunier/15% Pinot Noir. 4g/L. From a tiny coop in Gamet. Barrel fermented. $100.

Coppery coloured. Pretty and aromatic first, but doesn’t quite have the follow-through – pretty pink fruited wine, lifted creamed berry and really delicious creamy fruit. It’s not profound but has a really juicy and approachable persona. Affordable in this lineup too. 17.7/20, 92/100.

Laherte Frẽres Blanc de Noirs NV

50/50 Pinot Meunier/Pinot Noir. 0g/L dosage. Half of it is barrel fermented. $150.

Wonderful. A little oxidative barrel note, then a red fruited fresh cut red apple palate, with a gentle and layered, leesy palate. Complexity is rhe winner here. I don’t see the low dosage as a negative – it’s too complex. Maybe could do with a little more intensity to finish, but not much in it. 18/20, 93/100.

Bracket 3: Unique Cuvées

Duval Leroy Femme de Champagne NV

87% Chardonnay. 13% Pinot Noir. 5g/L. The top echelon cuvée that Duval can make and it feels robust. $250.

Rich and golden yeasty style, very full and mouthfilling. This feels like a grand cuvée – it has chunky flavour, a bold style. Great power and weight, lots of leesy power. There’s a feel here of stepping up to a grandiose Champagne. 18.7/20, 94/100.

Henriot L’inattendue Champagne 2018

100% Chardonnay. 2g/L. Theoretically the best single parcel of Champagne that Henriot produces. Only just landed in Australia. $250.

Very clean. Tight, a bit herbal, bony, very tight. It could be good, but it doesn’t give much. High class, give it time but maybe bottle shocked? I feel like greatness could be below the surface here. 17.7/20, 92/100+

Philipponnat Cuvée 1522 2015

70% Pinot Noir 30% Chardonnay. 4.25g/L. Chardonnay comes from the Léon vineyard in Ay, and the Chardonnay from the Verzenay vineyard. Barrel fermented. A tribute to the year that Philipponnat was founded. $240.

Super tight and finessed and yet extravagant. Has a very long palate, reserved, detailed. A delicate and frisky wine with excellent intensity. More aperitif delicacy but with super-powered palate length. Top class. 18.7/20, 95/100.

Le Brun de Neuville Noirs & Blanc Autolyse 2008

86% Pinot Noir, 14% Chardonnay. 8g/L Autolyse was banned in France at one stage! Spends over 14 years on lees, hence the name. $250.

Super creamy autolytic wine. It’s too much autolysis for me, and starting to get too much of the decaying dustiness. A good Champagne but a bit one-toned. 17.7/20, 92/100.

Bracket 4: Vintage

Champagne Deutz Millésimé 2016

67% Pinot Noir, 29% Chardonnay, 4% Pinot Meunier. 8g/L. $150.

Appley and a bit singular, fresh and lovely with these lovely waxy nuances, but just a little overshadowed here. 17.5/20, 91/100.

Palmer Grand Terroirs 2015

50% Chardonnay, 38% Pinot Noir, 12% Meuner. 7g/L. $180.

Golden, nutty and leesy style with the full kitchen sink of flavour of lees and oak. Maybe not the complete package – it’s just a little lean through the middle, but it really picks up speed as it goes along. Lovely wine. 18/20, 93/100.

Apollonis Inspiration de Saison 2012

50% Pinot Meunier, 30% Chardonnay, 20% Pinot Noir. 5g/L. Produced with music played to the vines and in the cellar. $130.

Very interesting but not cohesive, with a proper red apple Meunier flourish. It’s a bit lumpy – red fruit prettiness but not expansive. Maybe not a perfect bottle as there’s this honeyed flatness here – not tired but not vivacious. Good, but I was expecting something more. 17.7/20, 92/100.

Bruno Paillard Assemblage 2012

60% Pinot Noir 40% Chardonnay. 4.5g/L. Eight years on lees. $230.

Fully mature, although not tiring. This really feels like fancy Champagne – very precise, just the right amount of lees and fruit, layers and swish flavour. Swish is the right way to describe it – everything in the right place. I kinda want another degree of intensity, perhaps, but the precision of flavours here is all just right. 18.7/20, 95/100