It’s just mid May and Hong Kong’s temperatures already flirt with low 30s! WWX team scrambles to fill our wine fridges with crisp whites and refreshing bubbles. Quite the summer’s essential, a sip of well-chilled non-vintage Champagnes help beat sweltering early summer heat. Here’s our six favourite champagnes, all offering incredible value for money for a less than HKD 300 price tag!
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#1 Baron de Rothschild Brut NV [ 60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir ]
$275.5/btl
Expressive, well-balanced Granny’s Smith apples, yellow apricots and brioche yeasty tones makes this champagne a absolute standout from the rest given its definition and assertiveness. Using up to 40% reserve wines averaging 3 to 4 years of age, this blend provides for a balanced expression of freshness and complexity. The Chardonnay-dominant champagne bears the name of one of the most respected families in wine – Baron de Rothschild. They surely deliver that exceptional standard that attach to their name in this cuvee. A personal anecdote, we tasted this champagne blind against more than 50 comparable samples in 2017 with Drinks Business. This champagne stood out from the rest and snatched a Gold Medal (it almost qualified as a top-dog Master medal candidate!)
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#2 Andre Clouet Grande Reserve NV [ 100% Pinot Noir ]
$290/btl
Andre Clouet is one of our favourite grower champagnes. The most eye-catching bottling has to be their flagship cuvee “Un Jour de 1911”, an excellent, complex Blanc de Noirs remarked by its unique straw wrapping. Andre Clouet’s Grande Reserve bottling reflects the grower’s preference to use solera-aged reserve wines. This is a pretty, fresh strawberry fruit-infused, versatile Blanc de Noirs made with 33% solera-aged reserve wines. The integrative ability of solera system weaves a seamless, harmonious texture for this champagne.
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#3 de Venoge Cordon Bleu Brut NV [ 50% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay and 25% Pinot Meunier ]
$278.5/btl
If you wish to taste a Champagne well loved by royalty, de Venoge is your choice. The Princes cuvee of de Venoge was once exclusively produced for Dutch Royalty Princes of Orange. What we are offering today is de Venoge’s house blend Cordon Bleu, a great value-for-money, friendly Pinot Noir-dominant alternative that comes with soft citrus and yellow plum tones and relatively mellow acidity.
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#4 Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve NV [ 1/3 Pinot Noir, 1/3 Chardonnay, 1/3 Pinot Meunier ]
$258/btl
Lovingly known as Champagne Charlie, Charles Heidsieck charmed the American high society back in the 1850s before the house went on to establish a global fan base. All the “Charles” whom have run the Heidsieck house commits to reflecting the spirit of audacity and debonair in their champagnes. Using 40% reserve wines averaging 8 years of age, this is a well-layered, luxurious champagne with rich orchard and stone fruit, brioche and toasty lees and a caramelized nutty finish.
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#5 Delamotte Brut NV [ 55% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir, 10% Pinot Meunier ]
$220/btl
Most of the time, we are tempted to introduce Delamotte as sister of the much-revered, legendary yet much younger house Salon. Delamotte, with its 250+ years of history, is in itself a representative house in Champagne, being one of the five oldest wineries of the region. If Champagne Charlie speaks glamour, Delamotte speaks elegance. A specialist in Chardonnay from Cote de Blancs, Delamotte bottles its Brut NV using Chardonnay from Grand Cru sites. You will find precise minerality, fresh delicate fruit and an overall airy, reserved quality in Delamotte’s NV bottlings.
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#6 Billecart Salmon Brut Reserve NV [ 30% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir, 40% Pinot Meunier ]
$285/btl
Billecart Salmon is a master when it comes to taming the wildchild vareity Pinot Meunier. Their careful, protective handling of Pinot Meunier, fermented in cool temperature in stainless steel tanks, raise champagnes of unique, exotic aromatic qualities with exquisite floral tones. Using 50 to 60% reserve wines from the most recent three vintages, Billecart Salmon Brut Reserve is all about subtle, nuanced expression. Quite the opposite of flamboyance, the soul and spirit of Billecart Salmon champagne agrees with those who prefer woodwinds to brass, or Pride and Prejudice to Great Gatsby.
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All above champagnes are offered at the specified price for a minimum order quantity of case of 12.