Two new releases….
10 July 2019

While yesterday’s Krug mailer was somewhat cricket themed, there’s no Champagne that says Cricket more than Veuve Clicquot. The bright yellow label is instantly recognisable at venues around the land and the sheer volume of bottles opened on any given day at Lords is staggering.

Today’s release sees two new releases from Champagne’s second biggest maison. With such a huge amount of source material to play with it is not surprising that the upper echelons of their range can represent very good drinking indeed. 2012 is a vintage that is fast becoming a firm favourite and Veuve’s offering is a very fine bottle of Champagne with masses of presence and charm. At just over half Pinot Noir, it combines precise red fruit with crisp citrus notes, chalk and freshly baked sourdough. Open-knit, charming and present, it will make for very fine drinking over the next 5-10 years.

Extra Brut Extra old is a relatively new concept and today’s release is only the second iteration. The wine is made up exclusively from the extensive Clicquot reserve wine library (over 400 cuvees and counting). A blend is produced, which then spends three years sur lie, before a further three years in bottle prior to disgorgement with 3 grams of residual sugar. The blend for Version 2 is composed around a heart of ’08, ’09 and ’10 vintages with wines from ’12, ’06, ’99, ’98 and ’90 adding nuance and complexity. The version 2 we tasted had a richness that belied its low dosage, and a sense of layering that evidently comes from such a range of base wines. It’s wonderful for drinking now, would be a lovely bottle on the table and represents a very interesting development for this historic house.