[free] A bubblehead bulletin
The timatkin.com Cataluña Sparkling report and 67 Pall Mall event, and a summary of recent news in Champagne
Welcome, bubbleheads. A quick roundup today:
The timatkin.com Cataluña Sparkling Wine Special Report 2025 is now live:
When Tim asked me to prepare the first edition of this report in 2024 I wasn’t quite sure what I’d find. It’s a maddening, brilliant, complex region, but my experiences of the sparkling wines were a little mixed.
It’s still a bit of a minefield - around half the wines tasted don’t make the 90 points mark (which, whether you like it or not, is today’s fundamental measure of quality). There are huge challenges in terms of climate and economics in making fine sparkling wines here, which makes the increasing band of truly excellent producers all the more impressive. There were some absolutely stellar wines here, though, that harness interesting sites, thoughtful viticulture and super-precise winemaking to make energetic, complex sparkling wines that are completely true to their place and local grape varieties, from across Cava, Corpinnat, Classic Penedès and more - and many of them are fairly priced, too. I’m a convert.
If you’re a 67 Pall Mall Member I have the extraordinary honour of hosting Pepe Raventós of Raventós i Blanc, Ton Mata of Recaredo and Mireia Pujol-Busquests of Alta Alella on the evening of the 4th March in London for an amazing tasting.
The wines, many of which are rarely seen in London, are incredible, from arguably the two greatest cuvées of the region in Recaredo’s Turó d’en Mota 2011 and Raventós’ Mas del Serral 2013 to the most beautiful ‘Paraje’ (qualified single vineyard) Cava I have yet tasted, from the wonderful Alta Alella. There are some hidden gems on the way, too.
Seen on SixAtmospheres lately
Getting a vineyard ‘in balance’ is something growers often talk about when we visit them, but what does this actually mean? As someone that wrestled with an insanely-vigourous vineyard for a decade, it’s a topic that’s close to my heart…
I also took a detailed look at Taittinger’s first English Sparkling Wine from Domaine Evremond:
And whether the way some of the new names in Champagne are being sold might be creating a problem for the future:
News in Champagne:
Mumm might be up for sale. This is a house that has been working hard to reach its potential, given its undoubtedly fine vineyard holdings (especially in the Montagne de Reims, but elsewhere, too). There’s still a lot of work to do but it has to be a tempting proposition….even if King Charles doesn’t fancy it (or Krug, or Lanson) any more
Champagne sales aren’t showing signs of recovery yet, although Sophie Claeys reports that January’s dip is only 2.1% versus last January - it could be worse given last year’s overall 9.2% drop in sales.
London is getting a generic trade Champagne tasting again - on the 1st April. It will be interesting to see how this differs from the winter ‘Champagne Show’ organised by Speciality Drinks
Finally, I became a Substack ‘Bestseller’ last week, for which I get a little badge. Many thanks to those of you to pay to support my work; if you’d like to join them, here’s how: