The Jancis Robinson Story | Mission Blind Tasting | Wine writing competition

Fizz collection late 2021

champagne and fireworks by Myriam Zilles on Unsplash

There's everything here from the cheapest and quite cheerful fizz (in the Other group below) to the most sumptuous of current cuvées of champagne.

There is little to unite this massive collection of tasting notes except that they were all written by us about blends of (usually) twice-fermented grape juice and carbon dioxide. We've given UK prices and stockists as often as possible.

You can jump to each group of wines using the links below:

Within these groups the 158 wines are listed in descending score order but you can change this.

Champagne

...

Full bottle 1,697 g. From vineyards including the historic plots...

From grand cru vineyards in Avize, Chouilly, Cramant, Le Mesnil...

Very pale pink. Wonderfully pure Pinot Noir character on the...

Really quite evolved on the nose. Very piercing and dense...

54% Chardonnay and 46% Pinot Noir. Six premiers and grands crus...

The 25th iteration of Laurent-Perrier's de luxe cuvée, always a...

Twenty-year-old vines – 70% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay – from a...

Full bottle 1,599 g. Certified HVE. 100% Pinot Noir. Picked and...

This wine, the top of the line for the Paillards, has been made...

Quite wild on the nose – almost like biodynamic fruit character...

Richly oaky/appley nose. This producer really goes his own way!...

Pinot Noir-dominated blend. Disgorged April 2021.
Deep gold...

A decidedly mature nose. Quite soft and interesting. A good...

Contains 21 different vintages from 1961 and younger.
Doesn’t...

Full bottle 1,608 g. Certified HVE. Ambonnay grand cru. 40%...

Full bottle 1,597 g. Certified HVE. Ambonnay grand cru vineyards...

Full bottle 1,592 g. Certified AB organic. The ‘Arpège’ in this...

Really quite a heady, fruity nose. Already quite evolved on both...

Both intense and discreet. Extremely tightly woven. Not as dry...

Really lacy and complex with lots of development and reassurance...

Very pale pink! Pure Pinot on the nose. Lightly beery/yeasty in...

More density and depth on the nose than the Brut Nature Mag 16...

Fairly light but confident nose. Then quite a wide panoply of...

Full bottle 1,623 g. 100% Meunier from Vallée de la Marne (Passy...

Full bottle 1,603 g. 70% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay from 22...

100% 33-year-old Pinot Noir from Verzenay. First fermentation in...

Full bottle 1,635 g. 72% Pinot Noir, 26% Chardonnay, 2% Meunier...

Dosage 10 g/l. Aged 36 months on lees.
Cooked apple, biscuit...

A completely new approach to NV Champagne. The blend is...

There’s a lot here on the nose – real intrigue and layers. This...

Pale (but not very pale) strawberry pink. Quite an opulent nose...

There’s an undertow here and many different elements which are...

Served from a magnum by an importer who says, ‘I don’t know why...

There’s a real green vegetal energy about the nose of this. And...

100% Chardonnay from 28-year-old Verzy vines, fermented in small...

Rather a luscious nose. Lots of froth but very pretty balance...

Brut Millésime is produced only in exceptional years. 45% Pinot...

Full bottle 1,576 g. Picked September 2016. Tirage April 2017...

A pioneer of hands-off winemaking, and the first carbon-neutral...

Quite a creamy nose and rewarding fruit on the palate. Mouth...

Equal parts of Chardonnay from Chigny-les-Roses, Pinot Noir from...

Full bottle 1,604 g. 100% Chardonnay. Dosage 9 g/l. 36 months...

Full bottle 1,605 g. 100% Meunier. Dosage 10 g/l. 30 months sur...

Full bottle 1,605 g. 100% Meunier. Dosage 36 g/l. 30 months sur...

100% 36-year-old Pinot Noir vines on a gentle slope at 110 m in...

50% Pinot Noir, 50% Chardonnay. To be released in 2022.
Nose is...

Quite a light nose. Very vibrant and lively but not as...

Quite a charming nose, but perhaps not for oak-phobes. Lively...

Smells very much more youthful than the Taittinger 2014. Not to...

50% Pinot Noir and 50% Chardonnay, originating exclusively from...

Impressive autolysis on the nose. A lot of lemony froth and then...

Full bottle 1,608 g. 100% Chardonnay, five years' ageing in...

The Bollinger family-owned Champagne Ayala produces 'Le Blanc de...

Tightly woven nose. This doesn’t taste especially old, and is...

100% Pinot Noir grown mainly around Les Riceys in the Aube. Full...

Champagne Cattier is a new and exclusive Majestic partnership...

60% Pinot Meunier, 20% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir. 30% of the...

Full bottle 1,589 g. Picked September 2013. Tirage June 2014...

Full bottle 1,641 g. Picked September 2010. Tirage June 2011...

The chap pouring is pretty certain this is all grand cru but it...

A blend from 15 different vintages of the Côte des Blancs and...

Labbé et Fils is a small, family-owned domain. It's run by...

Very light nose. Really quite frothy! Perhaps it’s deliberately...

Full bottle 1,607 g. 40% Meunier, 40% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay...

Full bottle 1,608 g. 100% Pinot Noir from Vallée de la Marne ...

Full bottle 1,601 g. 80% Meunier, 20% Chardonnay 
Lovely satsuma...

Full bottle 1,600 g. 100% Pinot Meunier from the premier cru...

Firm, no excess of fruit on the nose. Really quite meaty and...

Previously only available in top restaurants, the Brut Majeur...

Full bottle 1,591 g. 100% Pinot Meunier. Picked September 2018...

Full bottle 1,640 g. Picked September 2013. Tirage June 2014...

Blend of 40% Pinot Meunier, 40% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay...

40% Chardonnay, 40% Meunier, 20% Pinot Noir. Around five years...

Full bottle 1,570 g. 100% Pinot Meunier. Picked September 2017...

Full bottle 1,570 g. 100% Pinot Meunier. Picked September 2017...

Lots of information on the back label.
Some light autolysis on...

The neck label tells us that the wine was 'elaboré' by Philizot...

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