Among all the wines, Champagne is one of my favorites. Its association with happiness and celebration, together with its unique, rich and complex aromas, really excited me almost every time when I have a good bottle. And don’t forget Champagne is the best food-wine that is a good match to many foods. If you are in doubt with what wine will match your food, Champagne is always your safest bet.
Yet, there are several practices that Champagne producers have that annoyed me quite a lot. First, most producers refuse to let consumers know what is the vintages of the grapes that produce its non-vintage Champagne. Most producers insist that they are able to use their superior blending skills to produce non-vintage Champagnes that are the same every year. However, if 80% to 90% of the grapes are coming from the latest vintage, how can non-vintage Champagne be the same every year?!
Second, other than a few Champagne producers, most are unwilling to disclose when their Champagnes are disgorged. In other words, it is almost impossible to know when the non-vintage Champagne is released to market and how long they have been aged in bottle. To most consumers that drink their Champagne almost immediately, this may not matter. However, if you have the habit to cellar outstanding non-vintage Champagne like myself, then this information becomes really important. For example, I really enjoy ageing NV Krug Grande Cuvee as they improves significantly when more ageing in bottle. Without this information, I will have no idea which one is newer and which one is older for all the non-vintage I’m collecting. The one that I purchased recently may not be the newest as I have no idea how long they have been with the retailer.
Luckily, Krug finally answered our request. For all its Grande Cuvee released to market after July 2011, they will be an ID Code. Through this ID code, we can know when this Champagne is disgorged and the growing condition of the main vintage that used to produce this Grande Cuvee. This is certainly a very welcoming news and I hope there will be more Champagne producers following this practice.