One of the finest of all French Champagne houses and in top form in recent years with their vintage releases. Vintage Pol combines elegance and finesse with depth and complexity of flavour.

The house of Besserat de Bellefon was founded in 1843 near Ay in Champagne, and is now based in Epernay. The hallmark of the house is the lower than normal pressure that the wine is kept at under cork. This lower than normal pressure does not reduce the effervescence, but softens it, allowing the wine to partner better with food. Aspect: Deep, intense yellow Bouquet: Citrus, confits, honey, sweet spice, panettone, praline Palate: Generous freshness, opulence, purity, natural, exceptional Assemblage : Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier.

Veuve Clicquot has been producing fine quality Champagne since it was founded in 1772. In 1810, Madame Clicquot broke new ground by creating the first vintage Champagne, made of grapes from one single harvest. Veuve's non vintage is consistently rated in the top handful of NV Champagnes and delivers a powerful bubbly with a rich mouthfeel. The Ponsardin vintage is elegant with generous freshness and the Pinot Noir lends body to a very lively wine. On the palate there's layers of floral and fruity complexity that flows into a remarkably long and powerful finish.

Fermented, aged and released in the same magnum bottle, only fruit from 7 Grand Cru vineyards is used to craft a blend of equal parts Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, which spends over 4 years ageing on lees plus 6 months post disgorgement. Further gentle ageing takes place until deemed ready for release by the Cellar Master. It displays a multitude of citrus, white and red fruits, linked by a common thread of minerality producing a mature complexity, elegance and length.

The Brut Vintage displays a bright yellow-gold colour enhanced by a continuous thread of lingering bubbles. The nose, instantly elegant, exudes delicate scents of citrus fruit (tangerine) announcing a beautiful freshness. Later it reveals an outstanding aromatic complexity with hints of peaches, apricots and almonds. The palate first reveals a very creamy and full-bodied texture. The immediate impression of freshness gives way to an unctuous and well-balanced structure offering aromas of fresh biscuits and ripe fruit (apricots). This is a rich champagne of strong character, with vinosity, keeping nevertheless all its elegance and delicacy, it is the very soul of Pol Roger.

A whiff of peat smoke lends mature expression to this mainly Pinot Noir bottling. Notes of toast and stone fruit conjure up impressions of woodland spice, framed by a more profound sense of vinosity. The palate shows wonderful depth: citrus on entry, with plenty of firmness on the mid palate and the wine’s vibrant fruit character showing through. The very low dosage contributes to the sense of invigorating harmony.

Pommery Blue Sky - another way to think Champagne! The fruit of a new Pommery experience with a traditional blend. A Champagne that opens up towards a happy moment. An intense savour which will surprise first of all through its richness before freeing an invigorating freshness. At first we perceive notes of dry figs and dried almonds. Then we find touches of almond paste, millefeuille, marshmallow and honey. All these flavours blend with simplicity and elegance with lemony and dried orange notes and several hints of spices.A Champagne designed to pour in a large glass and over ice (+/_ 5 ice cubes). To be enjoyed on its own or perfectly paired with dessert.

Bollinger B13 Champagne Bollinger has also released an iconoclast. B13. An extremely limited wine crafted across five indomitable Crus, half of which is equal parts Äy and Verzenay. The wine is a testimony to the frigid nature of the 2013 vintage and the late harvest that was necessitated through the eye of a needle marked by sleet, snow and frost. It was this slim window of opportunity that Bollinger perceived as one of marginality; extremes and the sort of challenges that demand courage. For it is these qualities that define the worlds very greatest wines. Aged for more than seven years on lees, bolstered by old reserve wines aged in magnums and the signature skilled oak handling, this is a one-off prestige cuvée in every sense of the term. Power, precision and immense potential, all signatures. Jangly stone fruits and a smoky, pungent mineral underbelly. Richard Juhlin, the worlds pre-eminent commentator on the region opines that it is precisely the symphonic harmony that impresses most, before suggesting that the wine needs time in the cellar. Essie Avellan MW calls it my favourite of Bollinger Limited Editions so far! The Champagne received 95 points from each.

LARMANDIER-BERNIER Terre de Vertus Premier Cru Blanc de Blancs, Champagne

PEHU SIMONET Face Nord Millesime Grand Cru, Champagne