The List - Last Minute Champagne and Sparkling Wine Buys in the UK right now

Last chance to stock up on fuel for the festive period.

Adrien Dhondt, Flavigny

A simple one this week for all my UK readers. The test of the following is simple: would I buy it?

Despite appearances on social media, I’m pretty cautious with purchases for my own cellar. I have some cheap wines, and some expensive wines, but I’m a little obsessive about value. So here’s the list, with UK prices and retailers, of the sparkling wines that really do it for me right now.

Champagne

Around £30

A. Margaine ‘Le Brut’ at £150 per six, a wine I really don’t think you can outdo for the price. Pure, beautifully made and approachable Chardonnay elegance from the Eastern Montagne de Reims. I awarded the 2019 base the best value champagne in this year’s Tim Atkin Champagne Report, released last week. Not just for parties, this one (and the wines higher up the portfolio are good buys too)

Another Blanc de Blancs worth looking at this price comes from the Paul Goerg Co-operative brand in Vertus, also comes in at £150 per six at Goedhuis. These are all well-made wines in a straight-up, slightly creamy style at affordable prices.

On the high street, Piper-Heidsieck Brut is in good form and on promotion quite frequently. Henriot Brut Souverain £156 for six at the Wine Society is another good quality, approachable blend - I’m always happy to drink Henriot.

Sub £40 Champagnes

Clean and fresh

Pierre Gimonnet Cuis Premier Cru £222 for six, The Finest Bubble. Crisp, clean and pure. Not quite the bargain it used to be but still worth the money.

Lilbert Blanc de Blancs at £210 for six at the Wine Society A classical, thirst-quenching style from an underrated name.

Palmer Brut at £36 per bottle mix six, The Finest Bubble Quality fruit here from the Montagne de Reims.

Rounder, fuller styles

Philipponnat Royale Reserve £34.99 House of Malt (highly recommended, one of the top Pinot-Noir dominant NVs around and one of my Brut NVs of the year in the Tim Atkin Champagne report). This is a great price for this flavoursome and satisfying NV.

Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve for £219 for six at Goedhuis A good price for one of the houses hitting new heights with their NV at the moment. Roasted stone fruits, warmth and detail.

Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve )2016 base) £236 per six at Goedhuis A bargain if this is really still 2016 base! Tonnes of silky, creamy depth.

Paul Bara Brut Reserve, £193 per six at Uncorked Underrated Pinot-dominant Champagnes, recommended throughout the range (Seckford Wines have these in Bond at attractive prices too, including the excellent 2014 vintage and various magnums)

Pierre Paillard Les Parcelles XVIII, £38, the Whisky Exchange A youthful, sunny and openly-styled favourite from a top grower in Bouzy. Would be good with some light food.

Bollinger Special Cuvée £39.99 House of Townend The only Bolly under £40 I can find. Fullsome and in good form.

£40-60

Indie favourites

Etienne Calsac Les Rocheforts at £48.43 at AB Vintners Beautifully chalky, intense Chardonnay focus to lift any grey December day

Dhondt-Grellet Dans un Premier Temps NV £47 at Bubbleshop (who also carry the other brilliant wines). Juicy, spicy, ripe yet refined - a delight

Pierre Peters Extra Brut, £54.95 The Whisky Exchange. The wine I’d like to jolt my senses into action at 11.59 on Christmas Day, please.

Nicolas Maillart Les Jolivettes 2016, £68 mix 12 The Finest Bubble intense, saturated Pinot Noir with a beguiling peachy clarity of flavour

Didier Herbert Grand Cru Pinot Noir, £55 Sip Champagnes Fine Northern Montagne de Reims Pinot Noir here (also worth a splash on the slightly bonkers but quite remarkable DH1 and DH2 cuvées if you want a showstopper - no prisoners!)

Classics

You’re into top Grande Marque NV territory here (and it’s usually where you’ll find the Philipponnat, Bollinger, Billecart-Salmon and Charles Heidseick). Who’s in form? Undoubtedly Louis Roederer’s Collection 243 is £45 at Waitrose cellar, a beautiful wine. There are also a few ‘Super-Bruts’ here - slightly elevated version of Brut wines - such as Piper Heidsieck’s fresh, detailed Essentiel Brut and Lanson’s Le Black Reserve, both of which worth the trade up from the standard NVs in my book. Taittinger’s Les Folies de La Marquetterie is also on top form.

Rosé-wise, it comes down to style. Charles Heidsieck Rosé Brut has been hard to beat in recent years - such as here for a very competitite £53.67 at Roberson Wine, although I’m not sure what the base year is here. On the more intense end of the spectrum, Laurent-Perrier’s Rosé has been in top form. Here at Averys for £49.99. If you’re grabbing something from the supermarket, you’ll probably find the L-P, but Piper-Heidsieck’s Rosé Sauvage , usually nearer £40, is more subtle and focused than it has ever been. Otherwise, Bollinger Rosé, nearer £60, is full of quality Pinot Noir impact with a little more seriousness and savour.

£60-100

There are too many to mention here, so here are a few special releases and vintages worth looking at from small and large producers

Charles Heidsieck Millésime 2012, £99 The Champagne Company A plush, enveloping stunner already hitting a rewarding window.

Palmer & Co. Vintage 2012 £58.95 The Whisky Exchange a great buy. Detailed, complex and pristine.

Delamotte Blanc de Blancs Vintage 2014 £64 the Finest Bubble. Seriously refined and energetic - you should probably buy a case and age the rest.

Lanson Le Vintage 2009 £63.50 Master of Malt if you’re looking for some age for your bucks, you can’t do better than this. Easy-going style, but a great price for a well-put together, sunny vintage with some serious ageing time.

Bruno Paillard Cuvée 72 £64.80 Hedonism Wines I like a glass of Champagne by the fire at the end of the evening, not just the beginning. With its extra time on cork before release, this warm-natured wine is a good one for that.

Pertois-Lebrun L’Égoïste, £67 Sip Champagnes On the other hand, if you’re into invigorating, detailed yet slightly openly-styled Blanc de Blancs to lift the senses this is a producer based in Cramant well worth looking at.

Larmander-Bernier Terre de Vertus 2014, £74 Roberson Any wine from this producer is worth buying at the moment (not least the gorgeous Rosé de Saignée and stunning Vielles Vignes du Levant 2012). This mid-range bottle showcases beautiful Vertus Chardonnay in impeccable fidelity.

Pol Roger Vintage 2015 £75, Laithwaites. 2015 can be a little charmless, but Pol hit the right notes here. Bristling and layered with some true vintage intensity.

Laurent-Perrier Vintage 2012, £59.75 The Whisky Exchange an ultra-clean, svelte take on 2012’s ripe intensity. Another fine vintage buy from L-P.

La Borderie La Confluente Blanc de Blancs 2017, £67 The Finest Bubble A Chardonnay, but a different one - a rather beautiful, fleshy and inviting one from the Côte des Bar in the South.

Philipponnat 1522 Rosé, £94.95 the Whisky Exchange The latest vintage of this deeply impressive, layered and complex vintage rosé (look out for magnums!). It needs a bit of time in the glass so don’t rush.

Palmer Grands Terroirs 2012 Magnum £178 The Finest Bubble Some wow factor here. No crime to drink this now, although there is a lot more to come yet.

Prestige + Pushing the Boat Out

There are a great many serious Prestige and high-end wines worth buying. If you’re buying to drink this Christmas, though, here is my pick of wines you don’t absolutely have to cellar:

Dom Ruinart 2010 £220 widely £220 Master of Malt. An explosive Chardonnay masterpiece. Remarkable.

Dom Pérignon 2012 £174.99 Drinks Supermarket. People sometimes think Dom P is all mouth and no trousers - until they try it. There’s no better time than with the immediately gratifying, energetic 2012.

Bollinger La Grande Année Rosé 2014 £125 The Whisky Exchange A wonderfully complex, gastronomic rosé. There aren’t many others like it. I reckon this would make a turkey sandwich quite an event.

Pierre Gimonnet Vielles Vignes de Chardonnay 2008 Magnum £220 The Finest Bubble. Electric Blanc de Blancs, just coming into its own. Stunning.

Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires 2004 £220 The Finest Bubble The 2007 impresses, yet there’s something so effortless and beautifully smooth about this 2004 Blanc de Blancs right now. As ever The Finest Bubble are the place to look for back vintages.

Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2007 £212, The Finest Bubble. There are perhaps slightly better vintages of Comtes around, but part of the joy of Comtes is a few years of cork age. I’ve always liked the 2007 and it is in a delicious place right now.

Egly-Ouriet V.P. Extra Brut £120 Lea & Sandeman Not the bargain it once was, but this is still a rather unique and irreplaceable wine. Bold, deep, and complex yet with a beautifully clear texture. Check the disgorgement date - you really need at least six months and some have been released a little early.

Piper-Heidsieck Hors-Série 1982 £520 The Finest Bubble. OK, it’s a bit of a one-off. Almost 40 years on the lees. But it is terrifically complex, beguilingly fresh in ways whilst carrying all the detail of age. Magnetic.

Elsewhere

Henry Laithwaite, Harrow & Hope

I’ll be popping some corks from all over the globe this Christmas. From England , check out Nyetimber’s website for the 2010 Classic Cuvée magnum at £85, one of the best buys in English Sparkling Wine. Elsewhere, Gusbourne is on imperious form across their whole range. The beautiful Blanc de Blancs 2018 (£59) and richer Blanc de Noirs 2018 (also £59) are benchmarks. Harrow and Hope Brut Reserve no. 6 at £29.99 (Grape Britannia) is the best value English brut by some distance, whereas the Wyfold wines from the same family are just as beautifully-made, in a tauter, narrower frame. Look out, too, for Black Chalk’s 2018s from Hampshire (especially the Rosé). Dermot Sugrue’s The Trouble With Dreams 2017 at £44 is my favourite yet of this bold, taut and layered wine - one for those that like a slightly more open profile, as it the Domaine Hugo at £54 from Hawkins Bros. I also enjoyed the new Flint VMV from Norfolk at £49.

The UK’s selection of top traditional method wines from the wider world is always a little slim. Both the Blanc de Blancs and Rosé from Pieter Ferriera Cap Classique are welcome recent editions at £41. Ca Del Bosco’s top Franciacorta Annamaria Clementi at £141 is quite a stunning, ripe yet impeccably dry and food-friendly (all the wines from this producer are highly recommended). Ferrari’s Perlé, too, is a real delight, super-bright and detailed with fleshy, ripe Chardonnay. Good value.

Drinking more top Spanish sparklers is always a good idea. Raventos i Blanc Blanc de Blancs is always a good buy at £22, star-bright and invigorating. A proper wine (look out for everything from this producer, including the charming De Nit Rosé and the more involved De La Finca). We don’t see enough producers here, but fortunately we do get Gramona - the classy Imperial at £29 is a better buy than most sparkling around the £30 mark- and the more developed, savoury Recaredo at a similar price (although I can’t find the seriously interesting top-end Recaredo wines in the UK right now). Finally, I am a big fan of Tasmania’s Arras. The Grand Vintage at £49 is a hugely expressive wine that tends to surprise people, but the cheaper Brut Elite is also fine quality.

Anything else you’re enjoying? Let me know: