25th anniversary Tokyo tasting | The Jancis Robinson Story

Fizz – autumn collection

Tuesday 19 November 2013
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See this guide to our autumn collections for how to get the most from our regional assortments of recent wine reviews.  

With a grand total of more than 170 tasting notes, this is one of biggest collections, from fizzes that cost under £7 a bottle to some of the most luxurious bottlings on the market.

Tasting notes are split into two groups: Champagne, and all the rest. Within that, we've divided them up by colour and then in descending score order. GV denotes wines which struck us as especially good value when we tasted them.

CHAMPAGNE
WHITE

Pale lemon colour. Tight bead, zesty and tangy and but with a...

Really fresh bakery aromas. Ripe apple fruit. Long, complex and...

33% Pinot Noir, 34% Chardonnay and 33% Pinot Meunier, The Brut...

Not much nose; slightly soapy if anything. Not much undertow...

This fully mature wine still has quite a bit to give (just like...
Both zesty and satisfying. Deep flavoured and serious but not at...
This cuvée in new bottle is presumably spearheading this...
Oak fermented Pinot Noir. Very pale copper colour. Floral nose...
Bouzy fruit with an intensely yeasty nose. Big, bold and brawny...
100% Chardonnay from grand cru vineyards in the Côtes des Blancs...
60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir from estate-grown grapes. Firm...
Magnum. Recently disgorged. No dosage. Very deep greenish gold...
Magnum. Recently disgorged. Strong greenish hue. Smells of...

Current vintage. 2002 expected next April. Greenish tinge. Dense...

Complex and round on the nose and very dry on the palate. Long...
Released today. From Le Mesnil, Oger, Avize and Cramant. Seven...
Grand Cru Chardonnay from le Mesnil, Oger, Avize. 48 months on...
Base of 2008. 55% Chardonnay, and all the Chardonnay and Pinot...
Disgorged February 2013. Fully fermented in oak. Mid gold. Very...
From magnums, disgorged 2004. 50% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay, 10...
Disgorged February 2013. 50% Pinot Noir, 45% Chardonnay, 5%...
Apple, bread, sweet spice – absolutely A1 spot on. Lovely...
80% Pinot Noir in oak. Exciting, tense, and very very nervy. A b...
Very gentle. Dry and solid with an edge of interest. (JR)
2005 vintage, but sold as NV. 50% Pinot Noir, 50% Chardonnay...
Blend of the 2005 and 2006 vintages. 54% Chardonnay, 46% Pinot...
Rich apple fruit – generous but retaining classic tension...
Apple crumble. Very light – the zéro dosage emphasises the...
Soft apples, basic and light. Good balance with classic...
Ripe fruit with some redcurrant notes – authentic Pinot Noir...
Soft bakery aromas. Pretty routine. There are far better fizzes...
60% Pinot Meunier, 40% Pinot Noir. Address is Champillon. Pale...
Imported by Bottle Green from this Dizy producer. Dizy prices...
Creamy, full and with a distinctly floral fragrance. There's a...
100% Chardonnay. Wow – creamy, mature and very vinous. Evokes...
60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay. Nicely balanced, very smooth...
100% Pinot Meunier. Dry, serious bitter but not unripe – very...
50% Chardonnay, 50% Pinot Noir. Based on two vintages. This has...
Not hugely Chardonnay-ish. Not hugely different from their Carte...
60% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Meunier, 10% Pinot Noir. Leafy, fresh...
Salty character. Light, pretty featureless palate. (RH)
Certainly more autolytic than their non vintage blends, but not...
Very similar flavour profile to their other cuvées, but the...
Creamy, mealy – good personality here. Pretty simple finish, but...
50% Pinot Noir, 50% Chardonnay. Simple, soft. Not much autolysis...
65% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay, 5% Pinot Meunier. Light, clean...
This Pinot Noir dominant champagne was created in the...
The Didier vineyards are located between the coast and the white...
The 60% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Blanc Vrai...
This champagne is made from 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay...

The Chardonnay grapes for this champagne were carefully selected...

This champagne was made from chardonnay grapes grown mainly in...
Water white. White grapefruit and a touch of spring blossom with...
Cool steely lemon nose. Quite sharp and brisk and lemony. No...
A British journalist, during a conversation in the mid eighties...
From two grand cru vineyards in the Côte des Blancs: Oger and Le...
Complete. Broad. A touch of flatness? Quite rich and dense. Well...
Current vintage. TA 10 g/l acid and 10 g/l dosage. My favourite...
Perfumed. Without the crispness of many Blanc de Blancs. Lemon...
Sweetish, round. Avize and Mesnil mainly. (JR)
Very classic indeed. Beautifully balanced. The current cuvée...
The wine that the house was created around. Back in 1985, Bruno...
Excellent appley development on the nose but a tad too frothy...
The blend is 100% Chardonnay from various years (20-25% of which...
40% Chardonnay, 57% Pinot Noir and 3% Pinot Meunier, 20-25% of...
35% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir, 30% Pinot Meunier. Classic first...
Creamy, developed and tertiary – has something saline about this...
Smoky, mineral, really convincing and classy. Not the longest...
From magnum. Definitely more flavour concentration than from the...
Simple but not featureless. Light, not much autolysis, but...
So much better than rosé! Proper, genuine yeasty aromatic...
Disgorged 2008. Stunning nose, and absolutely electric palate...
Tremendous biscuity yeastiness – they’ve done a great job with...
60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay from vignerons with excellent...
45% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay and 25% Pinot Meunier. Ayala was...
100% Chardonnay in a cuvée from Maison Burtin. Fruit comes from...
100% Pinot Noir from Alexandre Bonnet’s own vineyards around Les...
Based on the 2010 harvest, this is a blend of 60% Pinot Noir, 30...
NM. Putty nose and very fresh. A bit astringent and green. Dry...
From the seven villages where Agrapart owns vines, initially...
Troissy. Bright lemon yellow. Developed on the nose and even a...
Intriguing nose of putty; appetising. The dosage is a bit high...
Grower. 50% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, 25% Pinot Blanc. Nicely...
Delicate texture but some autolysis on the nose. Real savour and...

ROSÉ

The blend has 20% reserve wines that are younger than in the...
One of the most impressive non-vintage pink champagnes I have...
80% Pinot Noir with 20% Chardonnay – so a vin de saignée...
Disgorged June 2002. 65% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir. Pale colour...
15% red wine content. Not pink at all – tarnished orange...
Pale pretty pink with a tinge of apricot. Light red fruit aromas...
Yeasty, rich. Lovely red fruit. Great concentration. Good...
Very deep colour. Up to 72 hours maceration. Cherry fruit – not...
Pale pink. Quite a delicate frothy mousse. Very dry and lean...
Pale salmon. Light nose. Quite a full creamy palate with tangy...
Mostly Pinot Noir with a touch of Chardonnay. Three years on...
Blend constructed on a base of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, mostly...
Light, simple, seems to have less appeal than the Brut – and...
Nutty – actually very different to the Brut 2004, which is good...
Much fruitier and brighter than the Dom Pérignon style...
Soft, plump – fuller than the 04 Brut, unsurprisingly. Chewy...

THE REST
WHITE

Best Cava, Spanish Wine Awards 2013.
Serious, interesting nose...
Clean, clear and fresh though with very little interest. Fast...
More open than many a champagne but fresher than many too with a...

From a Hampshire vineyard planted in 2005. An equal blend of...

Smells pretty industrial. Not the freshest fruit. Not that crisp...
The Wine Society and Gratien & Meyer are in an extremely long...
Pungent nose. Still quite neutral and tight but clearly very...
Extremely neutral verging on dull. But at least  I suppose it is...
Gonzalez Byass's Catalan Cava bodega. All local varieties aged...
Tank method as opposed to secondary fermentation in the bottle...

West Sussex. 2011 was a very good vintage, 2012 was awful, 2013...

Green leafy aromas. Quite tart. Clean and fresh. (JR)
Lighter palate than the classic cuvée – less substance, more...
Charmingly rich and toasty – deliciously developed, excellent...
Fresh and appley. Slightly loose but very honest. Frothy but...
100% Chardonnay. RS 6.5 g/l, pH 3, acidity 7.98%. Clean and...

RS 7.19 g/l, pH 3.03, acidity 7.57%. Some real evolution on the...

Flagship new wine from the outfit that is leading the charge out...

Good, solid and ripe. Soft and amenable, but simple. (RH)
Some nice development on the nose with a certain creaminess...

Leafy, but not quite as underripe as their sparkling Chardonnay...

Vegetal – from underripeness perhaps? Not much charm. (RH)
Apple, bread, bakery. Great stuff – outstanding vibrance. Slow...

Auxerrois and Pinot Gris.
Fruity and aromatic. Does resemble...

70% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir with up to eight months more lees...
Equal parts Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Lovely...
Dosage 14 g/l. Made from Melon de Bourgogne in Muscadet, from...
50% Pinot Noir, 50% Pinot Meunier, dosage 8.8 g/l. Mature...

Dosage 10.5 g/l, 34 months on lees. Subtle, graceful nose...

Dosage 8.8 g/l. Creamy, sweet fruit – even a little vanilla...
65% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir, dosage 8 g/l, 3 years on lees....

36% Chardonnay, 37% Pinot Noir, 27% Pinot Meunier, dosage 9.8 g...

55% Chardonnay, 26% Pinot Noir, 19% Pinot Meunier, dosage 9 g/l...
65% Chardonnay, 25% Pinot Noir, 10% Pinot Meunier, dosage 11.3 g...

65% Chardonnay, equal parts Pinots Noir & Meunier. 8 g/l dosage...

55% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir and 5% Riesling. The growing...
Bubbly, appley nose. Certainly not trying to be champagne...
Lean and clean not very rewarding. (JR)
100% Piquepoul. Charmat method – the second fermentation took...
Nutty, yeasty – much more convincing than in recent years...

61% Chardonnay, 27% Pinot Noir and 12% Pinot Meunier from 19...

53% Chardonnay and 47% Pinot Noir. A family-owned business with...
Nice bit of development. Very fresh and really quite special for...
Quite deep bronze pale gold. Heady, well developed nose. Lightly...

Fermented in a single four-year-old burgundy barrel, aged for...

Chardonnay. Pretty retro label. Good tang – recognisably Jura –...
100% Chardonnay. Brilliant packaging and bottle shape for the...
Very light nose and still a bit tart. I think this needs a...
Pinot Blanc, Pinot Auxerrois. Fresh but with some softness of...
Grapes from Charente, Gers and Loire. Tartness masked by sugar...
Best Value Cava, Spanish Wine Awards 2013.
Lovely clarity and a...
Rare Spanish variety unrelated to the dark-skinned Sumoll. Two...
Possibly the first sparkling wine from Etna. Nerello Mascalese...

ROSÉ

Reclaimed Pais. Very pale pink indeed. A bit of green acidity...

Based on Shiraz. Open, easy and without too much added sugar....

Pretty nose and very lively, attractive fizz but not that much...
No sulphites and short lees contact. Bronze colour. Made from...
All Pinot Noir. Pale copper colour. Very assertive, fairly...
Based on 2011, saved by a very hot September. Pretty nose but...
Sweet strawberry fruit. Light and just a bit dilute. Refreshing...
Ripe, characterful with a certain herbal tint that suggests...
Pretty light. Some sweet red fruit, but it's dilute overall. (RH...

Made at Hattingley. Wow – very fruity! Incredible strawberry and...

70% Pinot Noir, 30% Pinot Meunier. Earlier release than the...
45% Chardonnay, 53% Pinot Noir, 2% Pinot Meunier, dosage 11 g/l...
65% Pinot Noir, 35% Pinot Meunier, dosage 9 g/l. Hardly rosé at...

70% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay, dosage 11.8 g/l. Pretty light...

80% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay, dosage 10 g/l. Red Pinot Noir is...

50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir. The Graham Beck vineyards are...
Very pale strawberry colour. Simpler than the Brut NV on the...
Tank method, 100% Pinot Noir. RS 8.5 g/l. Very pretty salmon...

Ttitska, Chinebuli, Goruli Mtsvane, Saperavi. Charmat. Semi dry...

Palest of salmon. Soft, flowery strawberry fruit nose and not a...

RED

Sparkling. Sweet black fruit, juicy yet sophisticated and...
Tsitska, Chinebuli, Goruli Mtsvane, Saperavi. Charmat method...
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