The Champagne Sessions

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The Champagne Sessions

My top wine tips and reviews! WSET Diploma, Cava Educator & Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne Chevalier!

About me: I fell in love with wine after living and working in France and then in Australia! I have now worked in the UK wine industry for over 15 years hosting many wine tasting events, wine dinners and wine training courses. Plus I have achieved the prestigious WSET Diploma in wine qualification! Join me as I share my knowledge and passion of the best wines from across the globe �

16/06/2025

When in doubt, pour the pink! 💕

⭐️The Chateau Piguodet Premiere Rose comes from Coteaux d’Aix en Provence that’s the western side of the region around Aix and was only approved as an appellation in 1985! But vines have been grown here in the estate since at least 1820 and further back to Roman times!

⭐️Provence rose always generally a blend and this one is made with Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah and Cabernet. What do each grapes bring to the blend? Grenache adds body, berry and spicy notes to the blend. Cinsault adds freshness and delicate fruity notes. Syrah adds colour, berry notes and vanilla. Whilst Cabernet brings blackcurrant, to***co notes and tannin that can help the rose wines age!

⭐️A beautifully fresh and expressive rose with delicate florals, white peach, lychee, melon and juicy apricot aromas, ripe red berry fruits and with a zesty citrus finish! Perfect!

Cheers! 🥂

10/06/2025

The art of Chardonnay, bottled in bubbles! 🫧

With the Champagne Henriot Blanc de Blancs 🍾

⭐️Champagne Henriot was formed by Apolline Henriot in 1808 and luckily for her the family already owned Pinot Noir vineyards in Verzey, Verzenay and Mailly-Champagne in the Montagne de Reims. The house acquired more vineyards via a marriage in the Cote des Blancs that were planted with Chardonnay at the end of the century, thus expanding operations. In the 20th century they were quite forward thinking with soil analysis projects in the 1920s and expanding the collection of reserve wines in the 1970s! Today they have a female cellar master whom is committed to making the vineyards more sustainable and they already hold HVE and VDC certifications and have been organic since this year!!!

⭐️The Henriot Blanc de Blancs is a signature Cuvee from the range. Made from 100% Chardonnay from 12 crus (suspect most of these are from the Cote des Blancs!) and it’s described a multi vintage as the blend can change yearly, so roughly 50-70% from base vintage with 30-50% reserve wines including wine from a perpetual reserve! With 3 years on lees and less than 7g/l dosage.

⭐️A very fresh and lemony champagne with a mineral and chalky texture. Green apple peel, peach, lemon brioche and custard notes. A very fresh with a mouth watering salinity style of champagne! Beautiful!

Cheers! 🥂

30/05/2025

Park it and pop it! 🍾
With Champagne Mandois Brut Origine NV 🥂

⭐️Champagne Mandois are family owned and are based in the premier cru village of Pierry southwest of Epernay and cellars that run under the nave of the village church! They have 37ha of vineyards across the Vallee de La Marne and Cote des Blancs including the grand cru of Chouilly! A big focus on Chardonnay 70% of total plantings, and 20% Meunier and 10% Pinot Noir. The vineyards are mostly organic with some biodynamics, which provides 70% of supply with the rest coming from other growers.

⭐️The Brut Orgine pays homage to the 1st Champagne the house produced - a fresh and full bodied cuvee. Comprising of 40% Chardonnay, 30% Meunier and 30% Pinot Noir from a 2020 base vintage with reserves from 17, 18 and 19. 90% is fermented in stainless steel and 10% in oak. 3 years lees ageing with 7g/l dosage.

⭐️A lovely fine bubbled Champagne with fragrant florals, baked apple, candied citrus fruits, peach jam and blackcurrant notes. Aromas of frangipani, sweet pastry and vanilla. Dry with a lovely balanced freshness, rounded, smooth and full of flavour with a zingy finish! Delicious!

Cheers! 🥂

04/05/2025

International Wine Challenge 🏆

⭐️Last week I was super honoured to be asked to go and judge at the International Wine Challenge at the Oval in London! As it was my first time I was asked to go as an associate judge and tasted a lot of wine blind in a panel with more senior judges!

⭐️We tasted over 60 wines including different flights of wines including:
English Sparkling Rose
Cabernet Franc
A mixed bag of Eastern European whites from Romania, Turkey, Ukraine and a wine from Egypt!!!
Spanish reds with some Spanish Petit Verdots!!
Sicilian Whites
Turkish Reds
Australian Rose
White Burgundy
Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignons
Chardonnay from Trentino and Croatia
Georgian Whites
Madeiras

⭐️Wines in the competition are scored based on quality and balance with top wines receiving either a gold, silver or bronze medals. Only a handful of wines were awarded a gold medal that we tasted as a panel throughout the day!

⭐️It was great to taste all these wines blind as it keeps my tasting skills on point! It’s was also fab to taste wines with people who have more experience in judging than me and when you come up with similar scores and notes to a MW student then you know you’re a good wine judge!!! Special thanks to Angela Mount my panel lead for letting me have input on the tasting notes we wrote on the day for any medal awarded wines! I can’t wait to see the results when they are out in a couple of weeks! And I’ll get to find out what wines I judged on the day!!
Looking forward to going back next year!!

Cheers! 🥂

02/05/2025

Sauv it up — it’s your day to shine! ✨

Happy Sauvignon Blanc Day! 🥂

⭐️Drinking Sauvignon Blanc from its Loire origins tonight from the Menetou-Salon appellation that is right next to Sancerre!

⭐️Menetou-Salon whites are 100% Sauvignon Blanc, that makes up 73% of total vineyards! They are planted on gentler slopes compared to Sancerre, giving a similar style of wine, a mineral, citrus, smoky and rounded style of Sauvignon Blanc.

⭐️I’ve got the Maison Lispaul Menetou-Salon, whom are a family estate based in neighbouring Pouilly-fume, but make wines across a couple of appellations. It’s a really fresh and dry style of wine with, elderflower, ripe peach, lemon peel and green apple notes with a slight smoky and pepper aroma. A mouthwatering acidity and a textured, medium body. A fantastic Sauvignon Blanc and a great alternative to the other more famous appellations of the Loire Valley!

Cheers! 🥂

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20/04/2025

Bottles poppin’ and eggs are droppin’

Happy Easter! 🐣🍾🥂

⭐️It’s the final part of my Champagne and Easter foods series, and today it’s the turn of Easter Eggs!

⭐️Chocolate is notorious for being difficult to match to wine, it’s sweet and mouth coating and you’ll need something to stand up to this. Enter Ratafia Champenois a sweet still wine from Champagne!!! It’s made only in the Champagne appellation from unfermented grape juice from the 3rd / 4th press and is fortified with either a Marc de Champagne or Fine de Champagne distillate, making Ratafia around 18% and residual sugar levels starting from 110g/l making it sweet enough for desserts and chocolate!!!

⭐️A bit like Port, you can find Ratafia made in a range of styles from fruiter and syrupy styles to more nuttier and complex styles! The Le Mesnil Ratafia de Chardonnay is is more of a fruiter style, made from 100% Chardonnay and aged for 6 months in oak barrels and a massive 160g/l residual sugar!! So it’s sweet, full bodied, syrupy, notes of mango, canned peaches, honey, raisins and sweet spice. It’s got enough body and sweetness to stand up to milk and white chocolate! A totally brilliant match!

Cheers! 🥂

18/04/2025

Some bunny said there’d be bubbles this Easter!!! 🫧

⭐️Welcome back to my Easter Champagbe series, pairing up the best styles of Champagne to go with Easter foods and today it’s the turn of lamb matched up to Rose Champagne!

⭐️Rose champagne is a surprisingly good pairing to lamb as the acidity cuts through the fattiness and richness of the meat. The red fruity notes compliment the savoury and light gamey notes of the meat and the bubbles cleanse your palate! I’ve got a butterflied roasted leg of lamb served with chimichurri and to match up to this best we need a rose champagne with a fuller body, structure and richness, so ideally made with Pinot Noir only!

⭐️Enter the Domaine Rousseaux Batteux Les Champs Brules Rose de Saignee 2019 extra brut! It’s a grower producer rose and the producer is based in Verzenay in the Montagne de Reims. This particular champagne is made from a specific vineyard are - Les Champs Brules within the Grand Cru of Verzy! 100% Pinot Noir that has been aged for 6 months in oak and made in the saignee method, whereby the grapes are left in contact with the juice for 24 hrs to extra colour and flavour! Most champagnes are blended, this way is much harder to maintain colour consistency across vintages! All this gives me a much more powerful and structured rose champagne which is what I want when matching up to food!

⭐️A very fruity, full bodied, rich and intense champagne with notes of sour cherry, wild strawberry, bramble fruits, cranberry, cardamom and a slightly smoky finish. A good sharp acidity that cuts through the lamb fat, and with the food the fruity notes of the champagne are enhanced! A brilliant champagne and amazing food pairing!!

Cheers! 🥂

17/04/2025

Happy Malbec Day!!!! 🍇🍇

⭐️Busting out the good stuff for with the Catena Zapata Argentino 2010 Malbec. Catena make some outstanding Malbec in Argentina and this bottle is certainly one of those!

⭐️I’ve had this bottle for quite a few years, sleeping quietly in my wine collection! It’s a blend of Malbec from their historic and high altitude vineyards of Adrianna and Nicasia. Old and low yielding vines from Catena cuttings planted in the deepest and coolest soils in the Uco Valley. Adrianna vineyard is at 1450m in the Tupungato region and Nicasia is planted at 1095m in the San Carlos region - just to put things in perspective that’s as high as some ski resorts in the Alps!

⭐️100% barrel fermented in new French oak and aged for 24 months unfined and unfiltered - this definitely needed decanting! It’s a very rich, intense style of Malbec, concentrated deep red fruits, blueberry jam, notes of violet, sweet spice, mocha and graphite. An incredible wine, still so fresh and yet with a complex fruit structure! A Malbec to age as it definitely stands up to the test of time!

Cheers! 🍷🍷

16/04/2025

Hey Champagne Friends!! 🥂

⭐️If you like Champagne, have you considered attending a Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne event?

⭐️We are having our spring gala dinner on Friday 16th May at the Midland Hotel in Manchester.

⭐️Featuring a drinks reception and 4 course dinner with Champagnes to match by the following houses:

⭐️A perfect way to spend an evening with lots of amazing champagne and good food!

Prices are £170pp
DM me for more info!

Cheers! 🥂

17/02/2025

Pour the Champagne and let the magic happen! 🍾

⭐️Welcome to my supermarket champagne series, showcasing the best supermarket champagnes! This time it’s all about vintage champagne!

⭐️When you see vintage dated champagne it just means that all the grapes have come from that years harvest. Which differs from non-vintage, in that NV will use reserve wines in the blend from previous years. Vintage champagnes also have to undergo a longer minimum ageing period of 3 years compared to NV champagne that only needs a minimum of 15 months ageing.

⭐️As the weather can be variable in champagne, some years produce better grapes than others, so a vintage champagne isn’t generally produced by a house each year. 2018 the year this champagne is from was a rather good year! It was an unusually warm summer, that lead to high sugar levels, but still with good acidity levels. Meaning it was an excellent harvest with high quality grapes!!

⭐️The Waitrose Number 1 Vintage 2018 Brut Champagne is made for Waitrose by Champagne Castelnau and it’s a predominately Chardonnay based blend. A fine bubbled champagne with lemon meringue pie, peach melba, pomegranate and blackberry jam aromas. A touch of spice with walnut whip and digestive biscuit notes. Full bodied and a well structured champagne - Amazing!!! So I have a slight confession, this supermarket champagne series has all been about bottles under £30! This one is actually £38.99, but you can regularly buy it discounted at £28.99!! Making it an exceptional champagne for the price!!!

Cheers! 🥂

09/02/2025

You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy Rose Champagne, and that’s close enough!!! 💗

⭐️Welcome to my supermarket Champagne series, featuring Champagnes all under £30! This week it’s all about Rose, with the Co-op Les Pionniers Rose NV Champagne, just in time for Valentines Day!!

⭐️Rose Champagne can be made in 2 methods, by blending or by maceration, also known as the saignee method. If it’s a blended Rose, still red wine will be added before the 2nd fermentation anything from 8-20% dependent on the producer. If it’s a Rose made by the saignee method, red grapes are macerated to release colour. It’s a much harder way to make Rose champagne and most Roses are made in the blended way! They also typically high a slightly higher dosage to balance the bitterness from the tannins of the red Pinot Noir and Meunier grapes!

⭐️The Les Pionniers Rose Champagne is a blend of 40% Chardonnay and 60% Pinot Noir and it’s made for the Co-op by Piper-Heidsieck! It’s a light and fruity style of Rose champagne. With delicate floral notes, aromas of strawberry puree, rhubarb, redcurrant, candied red fruits, orange and a red grapefruit tangy acidity. Brut in style, but at the higher end of the scale in dosage. A well balanced, ripe and fruity rose champagne for only £25.50 from the Co-op! Amazingly good!!!

Cheers! 🥂

28/01/2025

Keep it cool, keep it bubbly! 😎🥂

With Champagne Pierre Paillard Les Parcelles Bouzy Grand Cru Extra Brut XVIII !🍾

⭐️Pierre Paillard are a 8th generation producer based in the Grand Cru village of Bouzy in the Montagne de Reims since and they have been making champagnes here for over 200 years!

⭐️There is a big focus on champagnes from Bouzy (fully south facing slopes). That are Pinot Noir dominated, oak aged and low dosage champagnes including some single vineyard and old vines champagnes, from across their 11 ha estate. But in recent years the they have expanded their vineyards into other crus in the Montage de Reims and converted the vineyards to organic.

⭐️The XVIII is from a 2018 base vintage, 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay barrel fermented with 20% reserve wines and 36 months ageing and 1g/L dosage, so extra brut.

⭐️A fantastic deep golden coloured champagne, with intense aromas of honeysuckle, fresh croissant, spiced apple pie, black cherry and peach jam. Very dry and fuller bodied with a soft balanced acidity and textured red apple skin feel. A powerful and bold Champagne, an excellent bottle!

Cheers! 🥂

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