Essi Avellan on Club Oenologique: Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve

Champagne’s ‘Mis en Cave’ cuvée www.cluboenologique.com Club O Collection 20 January 2021 It has gained a reputation as the best value non-vintage Champagne, but Charles Heidsieck’s Brut Réserve has a complex backstory. As a special edition of the wines is released, Essi Avellan MW delves into its past and present, and reviews the latest bottlings […]
The World of Fine Wine tasting: 2012 and 2013 Champagne

2012 AND 2013 CHAMPAGNE: TWO SHADES OF COOL Essi Avellan MW compares and contrasts two underappreciated vintages that both have claims to greatness even as the wines remain stylistically different. Simon Field MW and Anthony Rose share a stimulating tasting. THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 70 | 2020 Read the full article: WFW70_Tasting_Laying […]
Review of Christie’s World Encyclopedia on Champagne and Sparkling Wine by Anthony Rose

Christie’s World Encyclopedia of Champagne & Sparkling Wine (4th Edition) Tom Stevenson and Essi Avellan MW REVIEWED BY ANTHONY ROSE The World of Fine Wine | ISSUE 70 | 2020 ‘An authoritative, comprehensive guide to the ever-growing world of fine fizz’ Read the full article here: WFW70_Preview_Book_Rose_Christie’s Encyclopedia
CSWWC Trophies announced!

Corks have been popping all over the world this week as the Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships hosted its Virtual Awards Week announcing a total of 37 trophies to the greatest sparkling wine producers from around the globe. The week kicked off announcing the Best in Class winners followed by the virtual audience being […]
CSWWC Best in Class winners announced!

  Congratulations to all our Best In Class Winners of 2020! “𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 ‘𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦’ 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵 […]
CSWWC 2020 Virtual Ceremony Week is on!

You are invited! Join us for the Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships Virtual Ceremony Week. Here is the link to the ceremonies on the Champagne and Sparkling Wine World Championships Youtube channel. See you there!
Updated vintage assessments by Essi

2020 – preliminary rating The 2020 growing season and harvest occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic. The weather was favourable, even if the world sanitary situation was not. A multitude of unique labour and logistical issues required solving to get the vineyard work and grape picking complete. After a wet winter, a warm latter half of […]
CSWWC 2020 announces Gold & Silver medal results

The world’s toughest and most prestigious sparkling wine competition, The Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships 2020 (CSWWC), is delighted to announce a “record breaking year” smashing the 1,000 entry mark! Every year the CSWWC receives entries from up to 30 different countries and in 2020 a total of 128 Gold & 237 Silver medals […]
Comparison of 2012 and 2013 Vintages

For this week’s The Finest Bubble Instagram Live tasting Nick proposed a vintage comparison. It was fascinating to compare the excellent harvests 2012 and 2013, which both have a classic, racy character to them and have been left somewhat in the shadow of the much-hyped 2008. First some vintage details: 2012 The next exceptional vintage […]
Tasted: Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 2012

Yayoi Kusama’s bubbly (or rather polka dotty) design contributes, but wow, what a wine the 2012 edition is! The ’new’ La Grande Dame was first created by chef de cave Dominique Demarville in 2008 as almost a blanc de noirs. But for the 2012 (an excellent harvest, a real contender to the 2008) La Grande […]
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