QRW | Winter 2008/09 | Best of The Best Champagne

Best of The Best Champagne

These gems are guaranteed to enliven any moment.

QRW Tasting Panel

We love Champagne. We consume it liberally and unabashedly. And by “Champagne,” of course, we mean wine from the French region of the same name. There are many fine bubblies produced elsewhere, but they pale in comparison. Champagne has a verve, a bearing, a majesty all its own. It is the ultimate sparkling wine. As proof, we offer the following:

5-Star “Vintage” Champagne

Wines of extraordinary character and quality —
in a class by themselves.

C O - B E S T O F S H O W

2003 Moët et Chandon Grand Vintage, $60
Big, rich, long and utterly riveting, with plush bread dough, toasted nut and mineral flavors.

1999 Pol Roger Extra Cuvee de Reserve Brut Vintage

1999 Pol Roger Extra Cuvée de Réserve Brut Vintage, $105
Elegantly knit, with deep, rich, well-focused, pear and toasted nut flavors. (Aged seven years on the yeast.)

2000 Nicholas Feuillatte Cuvée Spéciale, $60
Big, deep, bold and long, with zesty bread dough and steel flavors. (Aged four years on the yeast.)

5-Star “Prestige Cuvée” Champagne

Wines of extraordinary character and quality —
in a class by themselves.

C O - B E S T O F S H O W

1997 Nicholas Feuillatte Palmes d’Or, $150
Mouthfillingly rich, with big, deep, long, bread dough, fig and steel flavors. (Contains wine from eight different Grands Crus; spent eight years on the yeast.)

1998 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs, $270
The epitome of elegance, with plush, round, creamy — yet nonetheless penetrating — pear and toasted hazelnut flavors. (Contains only Grands Crus wines; aged five-plus years on the yeast.)

1995 Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millenaires, $110
Richly concentrated, with long, lush, pear, cream and toasted nut flavors. (A Blanc de Blancs: i.e., 100% Chardonnay.)

1996 Dom Ruinart, $170
Superbly balanced, with lush, round, elegant, toasted almond and cream flavors.

NV Krug Grande Cuvée, $175
Powerfully built, with big, deep, rich, penetrating, bread dough and mineral flavors. (A blend of up to 50 different wines from six to ten different vintages; spent six years on the yeast.)

1998 Pol Roger Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill

1998 Pol Roger Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill, $315
Deftly balanced, with long, lush, creamy, pear and toasted nut flavors.

5-Star Rosé Champagne

Wines of extraordinary character and quality —
in a class by themselves.

B E S T O F S H O W

2002 Veuve Clicquot Vintage Rosé, $80

A total class act: from its brilliant pink color; to its exuberant red berry nose; to its ripe, creamy, strawberry and toasted nut flavors. (60% Pinot Noir — 15% in red juice from the Grand Cru Bouzy — 7% Pinot Meunier and 33% Chardonnay.)

NV Bollinger Rosé, $110
A pale salmon-pink color belies the rich, opulent, red berry, fig and brioche flavors that follow. (62% Pinot Noir — 6% in red juice — 24% Chardonnay and 14% Pinot Meunier.)

NV Laurent Perrier Cuvee Rose Brut

NV Laurent Perrier Cuvée Rosé Brut, $95
A supremely elegant wine, with a pale salmon color, highly frothy bubbles, and soft, plump, red fruit flavors. (100% Pinot Noir from ten Grand Cru vineyards.)

NV Bruno Paillard Rosé Première Cuvée, $70
A model of finesse, with a faint pink hue, a fresh floral nose and deliciously subtle raspberry and almond flavors. (85% Pinot Noir and 15% Chardonnay.)

NV Piper-Heidsieck Brut Rosé Sauvage, $50
Truly “sauvage,” with a deep, almost-ruby color, a vigorous fruit basket nose, and big, bold, well-toasted, red fruit flavors. (Assembled from 50 different crus.)

NV Ruinart Brut Rosé, $60
Excels on all fronts: from its shimmering salmon-pink color; to its rich, toasty nose; to its deep, mouth-filling, red berry flavors. (55% Pinot Noir — 18% in red juice — and 45% Chardonnay.)

5-Star “Prestige /Cuvée” Rosé Champagne

Wines of extraordinary character and quality —
in a class by themselves.

B E S T O F S H O W

2000 Roederer Cristal Rose

2000 Roederer Cristal Rosé, $505

Wholly entrancing, with big, bold, smoky, red berry and toasted nut flavors that never quit.

2003 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Rosé, $370
Brilliantly pink, with rich, ripe, red berry and almond flavors leading to a crisp, elegant finish. (60% Grand Cru Pinot Noir and 40% Grand Cru Chardonnay blended with 12% red Pinot Noir wine from the Grand Cru village of Bouzy; aged five-plus years on the yeast.)

Prices may vary from region to region.