I recently fossicked out a bottle of the obscure and no longer extant Heidt et Fils Carte Blanche Champagne lurking in an ill-lit corner of the cellar. Being hopeless at cellar records, I had no recollection of how long it had been there, nor whence it had come. It soon became clear from the shrunken shaft of the cork that it was a fizz probably somewhere between 15 and 20 years old. The golden colour, gentle mousse but above all the deliciously evolved nutty flavours and an ever so slightly sherryish whiff, confirmed that it was a wine of venerable age. Polished off rapidly with some past-its-sell-by-date vacuum-sealed Hungarian foie gras I’d managed to prise open after years of resistance, it was a union made all the closer to heaven for its unexpectedness.

Your champagne, sir? © Ellen von Unwerth

While I wouldn’t advocate keeping your non-vintage champagne for 20 years, the point is that anyone who has ever managed to squirrel away a few bottles of champagne knows that even a humble non-vintage champagne evolves and improves with two to three years or more in the bottle. The word improves is a moot point, mind, because the French laugh in our faces at the necrophiliac English habit of enjoying our wines with a bit of age to them. Given half a chance, they will open their bottles as soon as they emerge blinking from their subterranean cellars. Even the Americans find it hard to resist applying a corkscrew to any wine barely out of short pants.

I have recently come across some excellent non-vintage champagnes which will reward anyone able to resist temptation and prepared to stash a few bottles for mature consumption. At this year’s annual champagne tasting, the quality of the non-vintage cuvées was mixed, but I would confidently lay down for ageing the excellent non-vintage Henriot Brut Souverain, £23 - £25, The Vine Shop, Ware (01920 485522), Lay & Wheeler (layand wheelercom), the superb Jacquesson Cuvée 733, D.Byrne, Clitheroe (01200 423152), as well as Bollinger Special Cuvée, down from £35.98 to £29.98, Tesco, to 8 September, and Piper-Heidsieck Brut NV, £29.99, buy 2 = £19.99, Majestic.

Oops! © Ellen von Unwerth

Vine Trail (0117 921 1770 ) is a Bristol-based company with a brilliant website (vinetrail.co.uk) and a highly recommended list of growers’ champagnes that’s second to none. Punching above its weight, the Chartogne-Taillet Cuvée Fiacre Brut, £36.50, is a fizz of remarkable flavour and texture with lovely baked apple and brioche notes, while the basic Chartogne-Taillet Cuvée St.Anne NV Brut, £23.95, is excellent value. In the blanc de blancs pure chardonnay style, the Champagne Ulysse Collin Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs, £31.95, is an intense, complex appley fizz, the Champagne Bertrand Gautherot, Vouette et Sorbée Fidèle, Extra Brut, £32.95, creamy-rich, biscuity-flavoured, full of character.

If you’re looking for especially good value champagne, there’s a handful to be found on supermarket and independent wine merchant shelves that will benefit from the ageing treatment. Among them, Janisson Premier Cru, £17.98, reduced from £22.98, Asda, is refreshingly crisp and appley, Waitrose’s Blanc de Blancs NV Champagne, £21.99, a model of creamy chardonnay with its mouthfilling textured mousse, Berry’s United Kingdom Cuvée, Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru, E Mesnil, £21.45, Berry Bros & Rudd (0800 280 2440), a riot of textured yeasty, honeycomb flavours. Berry’s also have the best price on the superbly toasty-rich, classic Pol Roger Brut Réserve NV, £29.30, or £26.35 bottle/case, the crème de la grande marque crème.

Comment

Yes, I'm talking UK here, but Guy Boursot comments: "Er, excuse me.... At just 27,40€ (under £25), methinks we’re cheaper!"
Guy Boursot, Wine Consultants SARL, Boursot's Wine Collection, 9 Rue de l'Arsenal, 62610 ARDRES. +33 3 21 36 81 46. www.boursot.co.uk.
Over to Ardres everyone then!

Something For the Weekend 22 August 2009

Under a Fiver

Tigress Sparkling Rosé Pinot Noir Chardonnay, Bay of Fires NV.

Fizz buy of the year? Must be close this salmon pink Tasmanian Majestic ‘deal’, its lively berry fruit showing some of the soft texture of bottle age, its raspberryish aftertaste still fresh, fruity and dry. £4.99, Majestic.

Under a Tenner

2006 Spier Vintage Selection Shiraz Mourvèdre Viognier.

Rich, powerful and spicy, this Western Cape blend of three major Rhône varieties from Spier is succulently full-flavoured with mulberry and damson fruitiness, undertones of vanilla from cask-ageing and a savoury nip of fresh acidity. £9.81, Asda

Splash Out

2008 Mullineux White, Swartland

Skilfully blending chenin blanc with clairette and viognier, the lees stirring in cask of this rich Cape dry white brings extra complexity to an old vine, dried fruit richness cut by citrusy acidity. £13.95, Berry Bros. & Rudd (0800 280 2440).