Top 100 festive wines: fine fizzes

Sparkling wine is presenting champagne with more and more of a challenge. If price is no object, Selfridges has a very good champagne range but for value plus quality, Lea & Sandeman (020 7244 0522) is difficult to beat. It can offer even better prices than those below for orders of six bottles or more. Vine Trail (0117 921 1770) specialises in the glory of champagnes from small growers rather than big houses.

Valli Unite, Brut & The Beast 2011 Piemonte

Pale honey colour for this unusual, very lightly sparkling northwest Italian. Appley and then so powerfully umami that I was transported to Japan. Very light and refreshing, this is a wine you could drink any time. Fades fast but such fun! 13%

£11 Aubert & Mascoli, www.aubertandmascoli.com, 020 7252 3460

Berry’s NV Crémant de Limoux

Blend of Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Mauzac and Pinot Noir from Antech in the Pyrenean foothills. Low-key, lightly appley nose. Nice texture. Some real satisfaction and interest. Good balance. Not too tart. Gentle. 12%

£11.95 Berry Bros, www.bbr.com, 0800 280 2440

Louis Roederer 2006 Champagne

Poulet NV Clairette de Die

Seventy-five per cent Muscat with Clairette Blanche. Grapey nose and light, medium-sweet palate with lower acidity than, for example, a typical Moscato d’Asti. An entertaining mouthful of lively grape juice and nicely refined mousse. An afternoon wine? 8%

£12 The Sampler, www.thesampler.co.uk, 020 7226 9500/020 7225 5091

Vitteaut-Alberti, Blanc de Blancs

NV Crémant de Bourgogne

Light, fresh, very delicate. Not bad at all for the money. Simple with a fairly fast fade but not aggressively anything. 12%

£13.50 Stone, Vine & Sun, www.stonevine.co.uk, 01962 712351

J Laurens, Les Graimenous 2010

Crémant de Limoux

Attractive typographical label. Very pure, clean, direct. Quite simple – as one would expect for such a young wine – but it seems great value to me. Mountain stream stuff. 12.5%

£13.95 Roberson, www.robersonwine.com, 020 7381 7870

Ch Rives-Blanques 2010

Blanquette de Limoux

Mainly local Mauzac grapes that taste of cooking apples. Quite explosive and a tad frothy but an excellent example of this characterful grape. Slight chew on the end. 12.5%

About £14 Cambridge Wine Merchants (www.cambridgewine.com, 01223 214548), Great Western Wine (www.greatwesternwine.co.uk, 01225 322810), James Nicholson (www.jnwine.com, 028 4483 0091)

Ch Rives-Blanques 2010

Domaine de la Taille aux Loups,

Triple Zéro 2009 Montlouis

Essence of Loire Chenin Blanc, hints of honey and toast but no added sugar at any stage. Lovely texture and gentle mousse. 12.5%

£14.95 Slurp, www.slurp.co.uk, 020 8993 7722

Benoit Badoz Rosé NV

Crémant du Jura

Fresh, lightly perfumed Pinot Noir nose. Very fine bead, like all good Jura fizzes. A gentle caress. Dry but not demanding in terms of high acidity. Surely one of the best-value pink fizzes around. For drinking not keeping though. 12%

£16.50 The Sampler, www.thesampler.co.uk, 020 7226 9500/020 7225 5091

Sainsbury’s Blanc de Blancs

NV Champagne

Who could resist a winemaker called Sandrine Logette-Jardin? This all-Chardonnay wine from Duval-Leroy is not the driest but has lots of green-apple freshness. Delicate and piercing without excess sugar, astringency or froth. 12%

£22.49 Sainsbury’s, www.sainsburys.co.uk, 07695 6000 (switchboard)

Ridgeview, Merret

Bloomsbury 2010 England

From the most garlanded Sussex fizz producer and a particularly good year. Much subtler and fresher on the nose than the Graham Beck Cape fizz tasted alongside it. Good acidity (never an English failing). Not complex but the wine is beautifully balanced. 12.5%. (See also Ridgeview, South Ridge Blanc de Noirs 2009: lovely development on the nose – good enough to serve a visiting Frenchman; £24.99 Laithwaites.)

£22.99 Waitrose, www.waitrose.com, 0800 188 881

Veuve Fourny, Blanc de Blancs, Premier Cru, NV Champagne

Full and round with some complexity thanks to generous bottle age. The fruit comes from Vertus at the southern end of the Côte des Blancs. This wine from a négociant shows some attractive bottle age. Very tight texture. Bone dry. Not luscious by any means but a real appetite stimulant. 12%

£23 The Wine Society, www.thewinesociety.com, 01438 741 177

Barnaut Grande Réserve Grand

Bollinger, Special Cuvée

Cru Bouzy NV Champagne

As soon as I poured this I could smell a most agreeable light biscuity perfume. Certainly not bone dry, nor especially tart, but elegantly balanced. Absolutely nothing to object to. Just £22.95 if a mixed dozen bottles are bought. 12.5%

£24.95 Lea & Sandeman, www.leaandsandeman.co.uk, 020 7244 0533

Chartogne-Taillet, Sainte Anne

NV Champagne

Archetypal “small grower” based in Merfy. A good, informative back label tells us this blend is mainly 2008 and Pinot Noir predominates. This tastes open, somehow sensitive, almost fragile, but a champagne you want to nurture. Very clean and brisk. But also has some palate weight. Some length too. Great value. 12%

£25 The Wine Society, www.thewinesociety.com, 01438 741 177

Larmandier-Bernier, Tradition Extra Brut Premier

Cru NV Champagne

Restrained nose that suggests great delicacy. Real race and structure. Very grown-up champagne. Some Extra Brut champagnes are aggressively dry, but not this one.

A very fair price (£29.95). See also from the same producer Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut Premier Cru NV Champagne (£31.95, very obvious filigree Chardonnay flavours and lots of acidity) and Terre de Vertus Non Dosé Premier Cru NV Champagne (£36.95, really dense and intellectual).

All at Lea & Sandeman, www.leaandsandeman.co.uk, 020 7244 0533

Nyetimber Classic Cuvée

Nyetimber Classic Cuvée 2008 England

First vintage to have Canadian winemaker Cherie Spriggs in charge and first since 1998 to be treated to 100 per cent softening malolactic fermentation, which is A Good Thing. Lighter nose than the Nyetimber Merret 2010 but very refreshing. Tastes like a Blanc de Blancs, although there is less than 80 per cent Chardonnay in the blend. 12%

£29.99 Waitrose, www.waitrose.com, 0800 188 881

Herbert Beaufort

NV Champagne

Heavily Pinot Noir-dominated and from a grower in Bouzy. Split equally between 2007 and 2008 vintages and disgorged a year ago. Perfumed, seductive nose. Quite aggressive fizz but there’s lots of explosive personality here. Still quite youthful. Persistent. 12%

£32 M&S (142 stores), www.marksandspencer.com, 0845 609 0200

Bollinger, Special Cuvée

NV Champagne

Lots of character here. Bone dry with great structure and confidence. Not that light! Lots of maturity. The gentle fizz feels as though it has had to battle its way through great intensity of flavour. Kick of acidity on the end. 12%

£34.95 Lea & Sandeman (www.leaandsandeman.co.uk, 020 7244 0533); and widely available elsewhere, usually at a higher price

Jacquesson, No 735

NV Champagne

Special cuvée aged in oak casks and with a particularly low dosage (sweetening added before final corking). Dry, very fine and long. This bottling has been put together with great care and is based on the 2007 vintage. Nicely balanced and grown-up. 12%

£35 The Wine Society, www.thewinesociety.com, 01438 741 177

Eric Rodez, Cuvée des Crayères Grand Cru

NV Champagne

From Ambonnay, equal proportions of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Based on 2007 with reserve wines back to 2002. Complex, well-developed nose with some honey and toast – though no obvious oak. Very firm, solid and savoury. Serious champagne. Rather Bollinger-style. This champagne almost smokes a cigar! 12.5%

£39.90 The Sampler, www.thesampler.co.uk, 020 7226 9500/020 7225 5091

Veuve Clicquot

Louis Roederer 2006 Champagne

Pale gold. Dry finish. Substance here though the wine is still quite youthful. Serious champagne from a family-owned company that now owns bordeaux second growth Ch Pichon Lalande. Very refreshing and dry on the finish.

About £45 Tanners (www.tanners-wines.co.uk, 01743 234 455), The Wine Society (www.thewinesociety.com, 01438 741 177) and others

Veuve Clicquot 2004 Champagne

Notes when tasted blind: very light nose with a hint of apple skins. Then a hit of dosage. Tight texture. Very good bead – a talented winemaker here. Refreshing finish. But it fades just slightly. 12%

About £45 Slurp (www.slurp.co.uk, 020 8993 7722) and others

Pol Roger 2002 Champagne

This wine showed beautifully in a comparative tasting of top wines from the superlative 2002 vintage last week.

£49 The Wine Society (www.thewinesociety.com, 01438 741 177); also Lea & Sandeman (www.leaandsandeman.co.uk, 020 7244 0533), Berry Bros (www.bbr.com, 0800 280 2440)

Egly-Ouriet Rosé Grand Cru Ambonnay

NV Champagne

Very pale strawberry with an intriguing hint of cheesiness on the nose (better than the usual sickly raspberry aromas). Very fine bead and admirably dry finish. Distinctly superior – but so is the price. 12.5%

£63.25 Lea & Sandeman, www.leaandsandeman.co.uk, 020 7244 0533

Krug, Grande Cuvée

NV Champagne

The current cuvée is still young, but potentially great – greater than many a vintage-dated Krug. Now with a code signifying date of disgorgement. The first three digits are the most important. If the number begins 311, it means that the wine was disgorged in the third quarter of 2011, for example. You can find out more at krug.com.

About £135, widely distributed

Billecart-Salmon, Cuvée

Billecart-Salmon, Cuvée

Elisabeth Salmon 2002

Champagne

The palest salmon-pink. Stream of tiny bubbles. Quite mature and resolved on the nose. Really appetising kick on the finish and admirable persistence, though a less complex finale than the Bollinger Rosé 2004 tasted alongside. Fine rather than emphatic. 12%

About £140 Hedonism Wines (www.hedonism.co.uk, 020 7290 7870) and others

More stockists at www.winesearcher.com.

Next week: Jancis’s top 25 reds

........................................................

Win a magnum of Grand Cru champagne

We are offering two readers a magnum of champagne each, kindly donated by Berry Bros. To enter the prize draw, you will need to collect four passwords, one will appear here each week until December 22. Password 1: tirage.

To enter, simply collect the four passwords printed in FT Weekend Magazine in Jancis Robinson’s column: one each will appear on 1 December 2012, 8 December 2012, 15 December 2012 and 22 December 2012. Entry period is from 22 December 2012 until 29 December 2012. Answers should be sent to ftweekendmagazine@ft.com with “Champagne prize draw” in the subject line. Only one entry per person is permitted. Multiple or incomplete entries will be deemed to be invalid. Start date December 1, close date December 29. Participants must be 18 years+ & UK residents to be able to win the prize.

Full terms and conditions: FT Weekend Magazine prize draw (“FT Prize Draw”)

1. By entering into the FT Prize Draw, Participants agree to these terms and conditions and acknowledge that failure to comply with them may result in disqualification. The FT Prize Draw shall be void where prohibited by local law. All national and local laws and regulations shall apply.

2. The FT Prize Draw is open to participants in the UK only. Participants must be over 18 years of age. Employees and immediate family members of employees of The Financial Times Limited (“FT”) and its associated companies, professional advisers, advertising and promotional agencies are not eligible to take part in the FT Prize Draw.

3. To enter the FT Prize Draw, simply collect the four passwords printed in FT Weekend Magazine in Jancis Robinson’s column: one each will appear on 1 December 2012, 8 December 2012, 15 December 2012 and 22 December 2012. Entry period is from 22 December 2012 until 29 December 2012. Answers should be sent to ftweekendmagazine@ft.com with “Champagne prize draw” in the subject line. Only one entry per person is permitted. Multiple or incomplete entries will be deemed to be invalid.

4. The winning prize (“Prize”) consists of one magnum of Berry Bros & Rudd champagne for the winner. There will be two winners.

5. The winner of the Prize will be the first eligible entry drawn at random who has correctly collected all 4 passwords. The winner will be drawn by FT on Wednesday 2 January 2013.

6. FT shall notify the selected winner by Wednesday 30 January and provide details of how to claim the Prize. If the Prize is declined or unclaimed by the winner, or if the winner cannot be contacted from the details supplied within 3 business days of notification, a replacement winner may be drawn at the FT’s discretion and will be notified by the FT. The original entry that was drawn will then be forfeited.

7. The result of the draw is final and no correspondence will be entered into. The Prize is non-transferable, non-refundable and has no cash value if not used.

8. The winner may be required to complete and return an eligibility form stating their age and residency details.

9. By entering the FT Prize Draw, the winner agrees to take part in any publicity relating to the FT Prize Draw by FT if the winner is invited to do so without further compensation.

10. FT reserves the right to cancel or amend these Terms and Conditions or change the Prize (to one of equivalent value) as required by the circumstances. There is no cash alternative.

11. FT cannot accept responsibility for or liability arising from Participants taking part in the FT Prize Draw or for taking up the Prize. FT gives no warranty or guarantee in relation to the Prize and accepts no responsibility or liability for the Prize being amended by FT. To the fullest extent permissible by law, FT excludes liability for all loss, damage or claim arising as a result of the Participant’s entry into the FT Prize Draw or use of the Prize.

12. These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law. Disputes arising in connection with this FT Competition shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

13. The Promoter is The Financial Times Ltd, Number One Southwark Bridge, London, SE1 9HL.