The 1985 Charles Heidsieck Champagne Charlie? Ken Gargett loved it. Score? 98/100 if you are playing the Grinch; 99/100 if you’d rather be Santa. Ken thinks that Charles Heidsieck should be a must for everyone’s cellar. Find out why plus what’s up with Champagne Charlie now.
To mark the start of a ten-year-long artistic program counting down to the brand’s tricentennial, Ruinart Champagne commissioned up-and-coming French artists Maya Mouawad and Cyril Laurier to create ‘Retour aux Sources,’ an immersive visual and sound installation that interacts with the vineyards and wine cellar.
2008 is a truly brilliant champagne vintage that will age for many years, and the Dom Pérignon is one of the very best of them all, if not the star. And it is also perhaps the greatest young Dom Pérignon we have seen. Ken Gargett rates it 98/100 with potential to go even higher.
Winemakers across the Champagne region are still in raptures over the 2008s; the 2008 Dom Pérignon, for example, has been declared the greatest Dom ever made. And how does the Bollinger 2008 La Grande Année stack up for Ken Gargett? Find out here.
As far as Ken Gargett is concerned, if you want a well-priced champagne that will age immaculately, Lanson is the house for you. Cheers!
The fabulous Philipponnat Clos des Goisses is considered to be the first vineyard-specific champagne ever made, dating back to 1935 when the vineyard was purchased by Pierre Philipponnat. The house has recently started releasing a prestige wine from its prestige wine in suitable vintages – such as the 2008. Here’s what Ken Gargett thinks.
Heidsieck Monopole Gout American 1907 is the world’s most expensive champagne. This is the famous “shipwreck champagne” and it has a truly extraordinary story to tell, much more interesting than simply the prices it has achieved.
Anyone who expresses even so much as a fleeting interest in great wine will soon come across Krug, for many the greatest champagne of all. And there are champagne lovers and then there are devotees of Krug: Krugists. Ken Gargett doubts that any other champagne, any wine, has a word to designate their adoring fans. Here he explains why.
For many watch enthusiasts, it is probably not a stretch to say that fine timepieces are often enjoyed with a fine glass of bubbly. And since Quill & Pad acquired an expert writer in this field in 2017 – Ken Gargett from Australia – we can happily recommend some of the best tipples in existence. Here are five very fine champagnes recommended just in time for the new year!
Individual champagnes rarely seem to attract the pre-release anticipation that we sometimes see with other wines. Ken Gargett thinks that perhaps the 1996 Krug was the last release that really generated serious excitement before it hit the market and he doubts that any champagne has created such interest since then – until we come to the 2008 Louis Roederer Cristal.