Veuve Fourny & Fils 'R' Extra-Brut. Champagne, France

90%Chardonnay, 10% Pinot Noir. The base wine is fermented in small oak barrels. Quite an intriguing richness on the nose at first with butter and creme fraiche turning to bitter almond, dried apple and even a touch of curry powder-like spice. There's a keen, pithy acidity that keeps it all together on the palate, with quite a powerful, continuous delivery of fragrant stone fruit flavour on the finish too. Not short on flavour for the price, this.

Vigneau-Chevreau Vouvray Sec 2007, Loire, France

This biodynamically-produced Vouvray has been in the cellar for about 3 years. I'm trying to drink more good Loire Chenin - I really love the depth and coiled-up intensity of the good ones, and only wish I had enough to be a bit more patient! This displays a clean, sweet-fruited nose of spiced baked apple, apricot, crystallised pineapple, lime cordial, brazil nut, and honey, all tinted with something like the coolness of rain on a pebbly beach.  Ripe citrus peel acidity centres the palate, which is almost pithy with the grip of stone-fruit skins, finishing with a mellow sense of honeyed development which confirms that this wine is not a baby anymore. On the other hand it would have had a while to go. Lovely.

Heidsieck & Co Monopole Gold Top 2004, Champagne, France

A cheapie but a goodie, bought about 2 years ago from Majestic. Lovely rich straw colour. Rich baked apple, vanilla, dried tropical fruits and apricot kernel on the nose.There’s a real vivacity on the palate to match the richness, with keen lemon peel acidity and a touch of pithiness and generous helping off juicy stone-fruit sweetness. Great, and a bargain! Everything you would want from a £25 Champagne - would definitely consider picking up some newer vintages and hoarding them away for a few years.

Lanson Gold Label 1999, Champagne, France

This has been in the cellar for about 3 years. . Some welcoming, broad richness on the nose here, with apricot kernel, sweet candied fruits, seville orange, icing sugar and vanilla. The mouse and mouthfeel don’t carry much effervescence - to be expected perhaps. Whether it’s just this bottle or the wine in general I’m not sure, but it seems to be fading a little, lacking the cut and thrust that I associate with Lanson (and indeed the 1998, which I tasted a couple of years back and really enjoyed). There’s a bitter citrus edge to the finish, which is touch hollow and suggestive of a touch of oxidation in this bottle perhaps? Still enjoyable though.
(picture shows the 1998)

Ruinart Brut NV, Champagne, France

This has had 2 years in the cellar. I tend to to try and cellar pretty much every traditional-method sparkling wine I buy for at least a short period of time, although looking back on my notes I was really knocked out by the other bottle of this that I had (bought at the same time) pretty much straight off the shelf. There’s a sweetness of juicy white nectarines here, with touches of dried apple, ginger, ratafia and vanilla. It’s a fine and charming nose, still quite youthful in its composition but starting to develop. On the palate the bottle age is just beginning to show in a deeper sense of savoury weight to accompany the stone fruit. Finishes with some icing sugar/vanilla lift as well as some very pert acidity and even a touch of nutty bitterness. It’s feeling a little pinched on the finish, whereas my impression of this wine 2 years ago was one of suaveness and generosity. Interesting.
I think this wine might counter my general opinion that NV champagne will always benefit from a bit of time in the cellar. Perhaps this bottle isn’t perfect - it’s missing the sense of balance and lushness that it did 2 years ago. I really loved that bottle!

Tarlant tasting at Bottle Apostle, Hackney

So we were down "the local" again last night to taste through the portfolio of this excellent medium-sized producer from Oeuilly in the Marne valley. I was pretty amazed that the little room wasn't filled up, as I really love doing single-producer tastings. It's another 'constant' that allows you to really focus on the differences in grape variety/production etc across a range of wines. It was also a first for me in being able to taste two base wines - the 2012, just weeks old, and the 2011, which has spent approximately 6 months in old oak and will become a reserve wine. Benoit Tarlant, the current winemaker, spoke of his philosophy of "no makeup" - his heart is in the zero-dosage or extra-brut style, and there wasn't a wine on show with more than 6 g/l residual sugar (by comparison Moet currently has 9 g/l and Nyetimber Blanc de Blancs 2003 has 12 g/l...but higher acidity...). I'm a convert, at least in the hands of this house, whose long lees-ageing certainly helps to keep the wines in balance without the flattery of sugar.

2012 Base wine - L'Enclume VineyardThis still has the pear-like sweetness of a brand-new wine, which will dissipate soon. Ripe red apple and clementine are lurking, with an attractive floral note. It's vinous and, as expected, bracingly acidic on the palate. Not giving away much, but a fascinating taste.

2011 Vin ReserveThe first thing that struck me in this was the wood influence - suddenly there's a layer of creamy vanilla sweetness that took me by surprise a bit. There's a touch of apricot here as well as the same appley vinosity that was in the 2012. I can compare it to tasting a curry at the start of cooking - one spice is maybe dominating, but after time it will subside and become integrated with the other flavours.

Zero Brut NatureEqual blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. The house's most widely-available wine, this spends 3 years on lees on average. Bags of character, with the sweet smells of bakers yeast and malt drawing you in at first, before the freshness of juicy whitecurrants, candied lemon, whiffs of mint and vanilla take over. It's like a cold shower on the palate, with the natural acidity cleansing out your mouth and filling it with a surprising depth of texture. The Brut Reserve is the same wine but with 6 g/l residual sugar made as an 'alternative' - Benoit made it clear which was closer to his heart.

Rose Zero Brut NatureThis caused a bit of a stir, with the room fighting over who got to take home the one bottle that was available! Benoit spoke of his many different trials with rose wines, and how, for his non-vintage, he settled on a blend of 85% Chardonnay with 15% still Pinot. This one is based on the 2007 vintage, so has a bit less time on lees and in the bottle than the standard champagnes to retain the freshness of the fruit. I picked up cranberries, rosehip and chalk on the nose here, with lovely red apple on the palate, which is fiercly dry and elegant. Not one to swill with your Quality Street on Valentines day, this - a steely, invigorating wine and one of the real hits of the evening.

Brut TraditionThis is almost a blanc de noirs, with just 6% Chardonnay making an appearance alongside a dosage of 6 g/l. Whitecurrant, peach skin and freshly baked patisserie here, though I can still recognise some of that deep, vinous apple fruit from the other wines. As expected, acidity dominates on the palate, with none of the fatness that can pop up in heavily pinot-dominated wines. Only made when the pinot are of excellent quality. A Tarlant take on this style of champagne.

Extra Brut Prestige 2000Benoit discussed his approach to making vintage wines, which is a very open-minded one - all winemaking decisions come as a result of the grapes that he gets. In 2000 Chardonnay managed to beat the storms and hails the most effectively, so this wine is 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Noir. 9 years on the lees here, being disgorged in 2011. There's a fineness and subtlety to this wine that reveals itself quite slowly - beyond the baked apple fruit and lemon peel there are touches of fennel seed and turmeric, and a real sense of savoury presence on the palate, which finishes long with delicate vanilla. Tasting this makes me realise how much some of the flavours and aromas I associate with 'aged' champagne are really bottle-age aromas - the 9 years on lees here are all about depth of texture and gentle aromatic complexity. I'd love this even more after a few more years in bottle.

La Vigne d'Or, Blanc de Meuniers 2003A first for me - 100% Pinot Meunier from the very warm 2003 vintage. This is quite a special wine for Tarlant, from 62 year old vines from a single site in Oeuilly. 3 g/l residual sugar. The consice fruit definition of the other wines doesn't make an appearance here - there's a kind of ethereal richness of nougat and dried pineapple beyond the toasty weight of the nose, with a particularly sparky mousse characterising the palate. It's very attractive and individual, though it feels a little stubborn and two-dimensional compared to some of the other wines.

Cuvee Loius Extra Brut50% Chardonnay, 50% Pinot Noir. Blend of 96/97/98 vintages. This is also a single vineyard wine - the proximity of the Marne river regulates the growth of the vines here, insulating them against weather extremes and promoting the sort of slow, even growth that produces the finest flavours. The sweet fresh yeast aromas reach you from your glass 2 feet away, becoming finer as you dive in with icing sugar, juicy whitecurrants, candied peel, apricot and caramelised brioche, just going towards touches of wild mushroom savouriness. There's a real presence of quince and tropical fruit on the palate, which is nevertheless driving and fresh (as you would expect), finishing with a floral touch and real length. 12yrs on lees and 3g/l dosage make this the most opulent wine in the portfolio, but it's very keenly priced for a wine of this age and quality. Worth keeping for a few years too - it certainly has another decade in it.

Laurent -Perrier 2002 Champagne, France

This is always one of the most readily available of the Grande Marque vintage wines, and is quite often found 'discounted' at between £30-35, which is a fair price for it really. Quite expressive nose here, with red.currant, baked apple and lemon macaroon. It's savoury and citrus-led on the palate, with slight bitterness building towards the finish in this bottle - to me this bitter/pithy elements dominate, and the palate feels a little inelegant. I must confess that I'm not 100% convinced about this bottle, as I was expecting something much more complete. Your experiences of this wine?

Some recent grower champagnes from Waris-Larmandier and Paul Lebrun

We went for a quick booze cruise à velo around the villages of the Côtes des Blancs early last summer, dropping in on small growers Waris-Larmandier in Avize (above) and Paul Lebrun in Cramant (where we toured the cellars with a motorbike club on a slightly more high-octane trip). Waris-Larmandier are imported by a company called French Bubbles, and you can buy them at The Sampler in London. I'm not sure about Lebrun - it doesn't look like you can find them in the UK at the moment. I particularly liked the 2002.



Waris-Larmandier Cuvée Tradition Grand Cru
100% Chardonnay from Grand Cru vineyards in Avize. The wines we tried from this house were all about elegance and lightness of touch. There is fresh apple fruit here, with classic young blanc de blancs macaroon and honeysuckle aromas, and a good cut and thrust of citrussy acidity on the palate. It's going for bright and breezy style rather than complex/developed flavours, though these might come with some bottle age.

Paul Lebrun 2002

100% Chardonnay in a slightly riper style, with almost pineappley fruit, icing sugar and bitter almond on the nose. It has quite a generous, forward personality this wine, with lots of lovely stone fruit and a rush of fine acidity on the finish. I really like this, although it is a little unusual.

Paul Lebrun Grande Réserve
100% Chardonnay, here in a more classic blanc de blancs style than the 2002 vintage. Harmonious on the nose with peaches and cream, honeysuckle and caramel biscuits. It has a really attractive flinty coolness too (just a hint of reduction here perhaps). On the palate I find the dosage a little high - there isn't really the concentration of vinous flavour to hold it, so it becomes pithy grapefruit acidity and a lingering floral sweetness. Some may like this more than me though.

Gallimard Cuvee de Reserve

Gallimard is a grower in Ricey, in the Aube to the south of the champagne region, with 10ha of vines and an output of 150000 bottles per year. It's Pinot Noir country down there, and this is certainly largely Pinot - I can't find any detailed information but I wouldn't be surprised if there was just a touch of chardonnay in this too.
This is rich with classic baked apples, roasted nuts and vanilla on the nose, but also the delicacy of honeysuckle and citrus. There's a lovely fine texture on the palate, with textbook pinot richness, waxy fruit and umami flavours. It's fairly simple and primary but very delicious - at around £25 it is excellent value.

Lanson Gold Lable 1998, Champagne, France

I like Lanson champagnes, although the Black label is often nowhere near its best straight off the shelf. With no malolactic (the process of converting part of the acid component in the new wine to a softer, creamier kind) the wine can take a while to come around. This is starting to happen here, after 14 years! It's quite autumnal with lightly spiced apple sauce and honey roasted almonds under fresh, sweet icing sugar and lemon zest. The effervescence is subdued, and palate is quite vinous with that fresh malic acidity keeping it lively as it delivers those developing flavours wrapped up in the lingering sweetness of dosage. You could keep this very happily for another 10 years I think, though it's lovely at this stage.