Champagne – The Season’s New Releases

 BY ANTONIO GALLONI | NOVEMBER 30, 2018

I came away from my annual fall Champagne tastings absolutely exhilarated by the quality of the wines. As it turns out, I reviewed most of the new releases from the grandes marques in our Summer Preview, so this article focuses heavily on grower Champagnes. That is merely a coincidence, or maybe in the end, it isn’t. As I scan through the domaines covered in this article I can’t help but pause to think about how much Champagne has changed in just the last decade or so.

I was fortunate to be exposed to Champagne at an early age, and to have the opportunity to drink a wide range of wines as a consumer. A deep passion and interest in the region led me to start reviewing the wines professionally around 2007/2008. At the time, the Champagne scene was dominated by the big houses. It still is in many ways. More on that in a second. Grower Champagne meant Selosse and Egly-Ouriet first and foremost, and then everyone else. Selosse was just re-entering the US market after a long absence, as hard as that may seem to believe today. Sure, Vilmart, Pierre Péters and other small domaines were making gorgeous wines, but they weren’t recognized as the blue chips they are today, and they certainly weren’t selling their wines out immediately or working with strict allocations. Dominique Moreau, Cédric Bouchard, Olivier Collin, Fred Savart, Jérôme Prévost and so many others were just getting started. Since then, Cédric Moussé, Aurélien Laherte and Aurélien Suenen are among the newest generation of vignerons to guide their family’s estates into the upper echelon. The pace of change is dizzying, and also incredibly thrilling to watch as it unfolds.

The grandes marques still dominate much of the public consciousness in Champagne. And that is fine, as the best of these wines have, frankly, never been better. But grandes marques have also felt the energy of young, up and coming growers who have everything to prove and whose Champagnes command an increasing amount of real estate on wine lists around the world. The proliferation of single parcel Champagnes, late-disgorgement releases and ultra tête de cuvées at the grandes marques is a clear response to competitive pressure and the desire to always stay ahead. In my Summer Preview I lamented the growing Burgundization of Champagne, and while that is a very real phenomenon, it is somewhat tempered by the increase in new and/or re-emerging domaines making great wines that merit your attention. Diversity is a beautiful thing, and Champagne has never been more diverse than it is today.