I've always been a great advocate of making up your own mind and not being influenced by what anyone else says. So, when I see headlines like this I am reminded that the 'best' champagne in the world is the one YOU like best.
Neverthless, it's useful to see what other people think and a new classifcation by a Finnish magazine is a good case in point.
I've just subscribed to Fine, a newly released publication in Finland dedicated to champagne. Like many such magazines it's packed with glossy, and very tempting, adverts from all kinds of luxury brands, but in between these there are some interesting articles on champagne.
Their ranking of the 100 'best' non-vintage champagnes is a case in point.
Let's see the results they came up with, but first, a few comments to put things in perspective:
On the plus side, I like the fact that the list covers a wide range of famous brands and also brands that the majority of consumers will never have heard of, so this list is not the rather tedious parade of what I call ' the usual suspects'.
On a slightly less positive note, the majority (62) of the champagnes were given a score of between 88 and 85 out of 100, which means that there's precious little difference between them, so little in fact that my guess is that 99 people out of 100 wouldn't be able to taste any difference at all, except simply what each of them likes, or dislikes, personally.
Anyway these were the top 10, so see what you think:
Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve
Louis Roederer Brut Premier
Taittinger Brut Réserve
De Venoge Brut Blanc de Noirs
Pommery Pop Earth Brut
Cattier Brut Premier Cru
Pol Roger Brut Réserve
Chartogne-Taillet Cuvée Sainte Anne Brut
Laurent Perrier Brut L-P
Gosset Grande Réserve
Names that you may think are conspicuously absent from this top 10, such as Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, Lanson and Bollinger do figure a little lower down the list. Interestingly though, Krug does not.
The full list of 100 also includes Blanc de Noirs champages as well as Demi-sec champagne and Zero dosage champagne, so the full spectrum of styles was included and it's great to see, at last, some recognition that there are lots of wonderful champagne experiences to be had outside the usual Brut, 'classic blend ' style that dominates the market.
There was also a classification of rosé champagnes which I'll tell you about in another blog soon.
It's very difficult, and even misleading, to regard any list such as this one as being the definitive ranking.
For example, although they didn't figure in the top 10, the two brands which had the most entries in the top 100 (which you might say was a mark of consistently high quality) were Champagne Mercier and Champagne Mailly Grand Cru - probably not the two that would have sprung immediately to your mind.
So, as I mentioned at the beginning, use this list as a guide, but don't feel obliged to agree entirely. Make up you own mind and it's a great excuse to try the ones you haven't already tasted.
Jiles
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