Best Champagnes tasted by our experts in 2022

This glows with a golden amber colour. A note of aromatic, lifted mandarin and orange marmalade richness is immediate, pure, bright and vivid. The more...

Krug 2008 is monumental champagne - too young to drink, but still a great pleasure. The wine has tightly wound aromas of lemon peel, marzipan,...

This Grande Cuvée, based on the epic 2008 vintage, surely foreshadows the potential of the vintage wine of the same year. This is superb,...

Created in 1876 to satisfy the demanding tastes of Tsar Alexander II, Louis Roederer’s Cristal has since become a symbol of luxury all around the...

Just hints of smoky lemon play on the nose before a touch of grilled cashew appears, seemingly propelled by lifting scents of smoky lemon zest....

A ripe and intense style, showing energy and vibrancy. Flinty, slightly earthy aromas that are more suggestive of long ageing in bottle. Sublime balance between...

The long post-disgorgement ageing since 1989 manifests itself in the golden amber colour. A distinct note of mandarin marmalade alongside a note of smoky, slightly...

This wine showed a lovely evolution when tasted at the winery, with a softening and deepening of the fruit to show aromas of candied lemon...

A new addition to the Place de Bordeaux this year from the 1ha-walled Chardonnay vineyard in the centre of Reims. A gorgeous toasted buttery nose...

Even more nuanced and detailed than the 1989, this is dark and brambly in tone, with a multifaceted presence and a vibrant, saline energy. It’s...

This was the inaugural vintage of Noble Cuvée, and even today it’s evident how this wine created an archetype for future releases, encasing a vivid...

A most subtle hint of toastiness is expressed as grilled hazelnut on the rather shy nose. Later on, a hint of crushed lemon balm adds...

After a cool, rainy spring and unsettled flowering, the weather in 2008 cleared in time to deliver a large crop of ripe, balanced grapes with...

Mature in flavour, this shows a rich, golden depth of flavour, its notes of dried fig, prune and dried apple accented by hints of almond...

The blend for the second edition of Charles Heidsieck's unusual prestige cuvée, reborn under previous cellar master Cyril Brun, contains 55% of the house's rich...

Medium gold. There’s a race and finesse of flinty reduction and a waft of smouldering wood smoke on the nose. This really pricks interest with...

This compellingly beautiful wine opens with aromas that include a piercing, lemony fruit, salty minerality, chalk, smoke and spice. On the palate, there is a...

This delicious, youthful wine opens with notes of ripe apple, hawthorn, and cream suffused with a bright minerality. The texture is hedonistically creamy and supple,...

A preview of a future release, this was disgorged à la volée for this tasting. Its sleek shape and elongated structure reflect the predominance of...

A recently-tasted bottle of this iteration was a superb wine, just beginning to show some developed, mature aromas. It is based on the 1999 vintage...

The merest touch of caramel pops up on the nose – or is it a tone of apple with a touch of maple syrup? Later...

A touch of Mirabelle plum is framed by strident lemon on the nose. Smoky echoes seem to appear with more air, alongside freshly picked chestnut...

Golden colour. A clearly evolved nose of white field mushroom duxelles and white miso is backed by chalk and edged with candied lemon. The palate...

Such an incredible nose, nutty with caramel, toffee, some Sherry-like aromas - macadamia, candied orange and mixed peel. Incredible complexity on the palate, you get...

It wasn't easy to pick a favourite with a line-up of five stellar vintages, and the ’79, ’85, and ’88 were all compelling. In...

The year began with early heat and a precocious budbreak, and growers were struck by frost in April. Flowering was disrupted by poor weather in...

Although the season started slowly, the growing conditions in 1982 were sunny, warm and mild. Showers refreshed the grapes in August, and the harvest began...

Racy and thrilling, this hits the spot in terms of direct and punchy yellow fruit flavours - lemon, grapefruit, orange and quince with a crisp...

The bouquet is striking in its diverse range of complex scents - there are succulent and delicate aromas of white fruit, lemon, mandarin and almonds....