There’s only one thing better than a glass of champagne – a bottle! Explore Wine Warehouse’s comprehensive list of the best Champagnes to celebrate with this year. Meet four unique, outstanding Champagne houses, including Drappier, Bruno Paillard, Jacquart, and – new to our portfolio – Henri Giraud. Champagne lovers will want a bottle from all four houses in their kitchen this holiday season!
Champagne All Day – It’s Time to Celebrate!
Oct 22, 2021
DRAPPIER
The Drappier family has been at the forefront of viticultural in the Aube region for over 150 years. A Drappier ancestor, “Papa Pinot” was the first to plant Pinot Noir in the Aube in the 1930s. Presently 75% of Aube vineyards are planted to Pinot Noir. Drappier’s estate features Kimmeridgean clay, a dominant aspect of the Aube region’s soil structure and a perfect foundation for superior Pinot Noir. Drappier’s 50-hectare estate is family owned and largely planted to Pinot Noir. An additional 50 hectares are under long term control.
DRAPPIER CARTE D’OR
“This bright and zesty Champagne is lightly juicy and appealing, offering flavors of honeycrisp Apple, ripe white cherry, biscuit and pickled ginger. Balanced and lacy in texture, with a lingering, spiced finish.”
– 92pts Wine Spectator; 91pts Wine Advocate, 90pts Wine Enthusiast
DRAPPIER BRUT ROSÉ
“A graceful rosé that’s lacy and airy in texture, with finely knit acidity enlivening the flavors of ripe cherry and strawberry fruit and lemon chiffon, accented by hints of smoke & spice.”
– 92pts Wine Spectator, 90pts Wine Advocate; 90pts James Suckling
DRAPPIER BRUT NATURE ZERO DOSAGE
“There’s a honeyed overtone to this lacy Champagne, and along with notes of raw almond, dried white cherry and Meyer lemon peel, there’s good richness to balance the chiseled acidic frame. Creamy finish, with a lingering chime of salinity”
– 92pts Wine Spectator; 91pts Wine Enthusiast; 90pts Wine Advocate; 90pts James Suckling
DRAPPIER SANS SEUF
“Ripe berry and floral notes on the nose ride the palate’s lacy texture, along with flavors of almond biscotti and lemon pith, with a chalky underpinning. Racy and refreshing, but harmonious overall.”
– 92pts Wine Spectator
DRAPPIER BRUT ROSÉ NATURE ZERO DOSAGE
“Blackberry and black cherry notes leap from the glass of this dry and lacy, aperitif-style rosé Champagne, meeting accents of toast, lemon curd and anise on the well-balanced palate.“
– 91pts Wine Spectator; 90pts Wine Enthusiast; 90pts James Suckling
DRAPPIER GRANDE SENDRÉE GIFT BOX 2010
“The 2010 Brut Grande Sendrée unwinds with youthful aromas of citrus oil, white flowers, white peach and fresh bread. Medium to full-bodied, bright and concentrated, youthfully tightly wound, with a spine of acidity, an elegant pinpoint mousse and a penetrating, chalky finish. It can’t quite match the 2009, but it may outpace it with time, as this is a vibrant, structured young Grande Sendrée. “
93+pts Wine Advocate
DRAPPIER GRANDE SENDRÉE ROSÉ 2010
Complex nose opening onto notes of strawberry, raspberry and violets with toasted nuances. Round, supple, with a rather lively spinal column tightening the entity, the palate recalls red fruits; it is fresh and complex at the same time. A rich Champagne with great persistence.
DRAPPIER BLANC DE BLANCS SIGNATURE
“From chalk soil in the southern Côte des Bar region, this wine is intense and well balanced. The blend of Chardonnay with a touch of Blanc Vrai (Pinot Blanc) offers ripeness as well as a soft touch at the end.”
– 93pts Wine Enthusiast 90pts Wine Spectator; 90pts James Suckling
DRAPPIER CHARLES DE GAULLE
“On the palate, it’s full-bodied, rich and enveloping, with a fleshy core of fruit and nicely integrated dosage that lends the wine an old-fashioned, gourmand profile that’s appropriate enough given its namesake. I’d expect this to pick up considerable toasty complexity with additional aging on cork.”
– 92+pts Wine Advocate, 90pts James Suckling
BRUNO PAILLARD
Bruno Paillard hails from a family of Champagne brokers who specialized in a handful of Grand Cru Villages. He’s got bloodlines! Paillard is one of the smallest houses in the appellation producing only 450,000 bottles annually. Bruno Paillard’s recipe of top terroir fruit processed with less yeast, longer aging and a lower dosage results in full bodied Champagnes with elegance and harmony that have great flavor development and a unique personality.
BRUNO PAILLARD BRUT PREMIÈRE CUVEÉ
“The finesse of the bubbles creates a cashmere feel of richness, layering toasty notes of age with a spark of freshness in the wine’s lime and limestone savor (it has the fossilized oyster-shell impression of a great Chablis). Deliciously complex, it may make you hungry for an oyster.”
– 93pts Wine & Spirits; 92pts Decanter, 92+pts Wine Advocate, 91pts James Suckling, 90pts Wine Spectator
BRUNO PAILLARD BRUT BLANC DE BLANC 2012
“The Bruno Paillard Blanc de blancs 2012 offers an energetic, bright and elegant bouquet with white flowers, apricot, jasmine and orchard fruit aromas. The palate is crsytaline, very precise and possesses a fleshy texture and density with elegant and racy aromas. Lot of minerality and a seemingly weightless finish.”
– 94pts Wine Spectator
BRUNO PAILLARD BRUT ASSEMBLAGE 2012
Bright gold, indicating a generous wine. Very fine beading, lively effervescence. Ample, marked by a powerful vitality. Primary aromas of cherries, mixed with small red fruit and enveloped in ripe citrus notes. Lively attack whose generosity is deployed, bringing with it a surprising energy. A profusion of spices and ripe fruit notes mixed with fresh almond and wild strawberries.
BRUNO PAILLARD DOSAGE ZERO
“The NV Dosage Zéro is a very pretty and expressive wine. The no dosage style isn’t especially evident, as the wine’s balance is simply impeccable. Dried pear, crushed flowers and spice all flesh out. The mousse is quite refined, and that only adds appeal. Bruno Paillard’s Dosage Zéro is very much done in his style.”
– 93pts Vinous; 92pts Wine Spectator, 92pts Wine Advocate, 92 James Suckling, 90pts Wine Enthusiast
BRUNO PAILLARD BRUT ROSÉ PREMIÈRE CUVEÉ
“It opens with spicy apple-blossom scents followed by a cascade of flavors—juicy hints of strawberries, cherries, raspberries and watermelon — in a bright, complex and dynamic finish.”
– 94pts Wine & Spirits; 93pts Wine Advocate; 93pts Decanter, 92pts James Suckling; 91pts Wine Spectator; 91pts Wine Enthusiast
BRUNO PAILLARD BRUT NPU GIFT BOX 2004
”Rich, with a well-spiced range of pineapple pâte de fruit, toasted brioche, lemon thyme, crystallized honey and grated ginger notes, this vibrant version is firmed by racy, seamless integrated acidity, swathed in a satiny mousse. Long and mouthwatering, this is hard to stop sipping.”
– 95pts Wine Spectator; 95pts Wine Enthusiast, 93pts Vinous
JACQUART
One of modern Champagne’s great success stories, Jacquart began in the early 1960s as 30 small families. They are now an alliance of 700 growers controlling 7% of Champagne’s total vineyard plantings. Jacquart Champagnes express exuberance and joie de vivre in a classic French manner. They are fruity and friendly in an easy drinking style. Jacquart’s growers own 350 hectares (60+ crus). The house controls 100% of its grape needs, highly unusual in Champagne – this insures consistently high quality fruit.
JACQUART BRUT MOSAÏQUE
“This has pared back aromas of lemon citrus with hints of grilled peaches and a fresh mineral edge. The palate has impressive depth and fruit flesh. Five years on lees has rounded the palate out nicely as it now delivers smooth lemon-curd flavors. A fresh, crisp and mouthwatering finish.”
– 93pts James Suckling; 92pts Decanter; 91pts Wine Enthusiast
JACQUART BRUT ROSÉ
“Toasty and plush, showing maturity with its woodsy, mushroom notes and its fresh, contrapuntal citrus character. Dry, offering precision and balance, it builds in intensity to a long, red berry aftertaste.”
– 92pts Wine Spectator; 91pts James Suckling
JACQUART BLANC DE BLANCS
“This has pared back aromas of lemon citrus with hints of grilled peaches and a fresh mineral edge. The palate has impressive depth and fruit flesh. Five years on lees has rounded the palate out nicely as it now delivers smooth lemon-curd flavors. A fresh, crisp and mouthwatering finish.”
– 93pts James Suckling; 92pts Decanter; 91pts Wine Enthusiast
JACQUART BRUT CUVEÉ ALPHA
“Orchard fruits, toasted brioche, nuts, cooked apple, pear, lemongrass and honey, all ringing with an urgency across saliva-inducing acidity and a whiff of lemon curd. Profound. Drink sooner rather than later.”
– 96pts Decanter, Gold Medal; 93pts James Suckling
HENRI GIRAUD
The origins of Champagne Henri Giraud go back to 1625. Contemporary of Henri IV and his descendants, the Hémart family settled permanently in Aÿ at the beginning of the 17th century. Its history rooted in Aÿ, terroir of exception, and intimately mixed with the extraordinary epic of champagne from the 18th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, Léon Giraud, cuirassier of the Marne Battle, married a young lady Hémart. He rebuilt the magnificent vineyard of the family that had just been devastated by phylloxera and First World War. Claude Giraud, 12th generation of the Giraud-Hémart family, today presides over the destiny of this Champagne House.
ARGONNE CUVÉE & NEW TECHNIQUES
Claude Giraud has returned since 1990 to history and rebuilt the first oak barrels from the Argonne Forest. The famous oaks of this historic forest have for more than ten centuries raised the great wines of Champagne. “Argonne” is today the name of the house’s iconic cuvée. Each year, Sebastien Le Golvet, the Cellar Master of the house, mobilizes his merrandiers and coopers. Together, they select the most beautiful oaks of the Argonne forest, Sebastien then leads himself the toasting. This delicate work will be the last precious touch of the grande cuvées.
With its unique expertise in the vinification of great Champagne cuvées in new oak barrels, the Henri Giraud House is now working on new winemaking in small containers, either of terracotta or ovoid sandstone to optimize the exchange between the wine and its lees.The saltiness, intensity and aromatic complexity of Champagne Henri Giraud make it one of the jewels of Excellence in this region. With only 250,000 bottles of which only a few thousand bottles for its grande cuvées, these champagnes are sought- after by collectors and lovers of great wines from around the world.
CHAMPAGNE HENRI GIRAUD ESPRIT NATURE BRUT NV
“Based on the 2017 vintage (with 50% from the house’s perpetual reserve) and disgorged in January 2020, this rendition of the NV Brut Esprit Nature is showing very well, mingling aromas of yellow orchard fruit and peach with nuances of toasted bread, candied peel, white flowers, clear honey and fresh almonds. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, it’s elegantly vinous, with lively acids and a long, delicately oak-inflected finish. Fermented in barrels, some 20% of the blend derives from domaine holdings.”
– 92pts Wine Advocate; 90pts Wine Spectator
CHAMPAGNE HENRI GIRAUD DAME JANE ROSÉ NV
“There’s a plush creaminess to this rich and balanced rosé, as well as a pleasing juiciness that enlivens the flavors of plumped cherry, grilled nut and tangerine peel, with a tangy hint of fleur de sel. Lingers on the well-cut finish.”
– 92pts Wine Spectator; 92pts Wine Advocate
CHAMPAGNE HENRI GIRAUD HOMMAGE PINOT NOIR NV
“There’s a citrusy overtone to this rich Champagne, in the form of fragrant accents of verbena, lime blossom and Grand Marnier liqueur, and a backbone of lemon peel acidity that enlivens the creamy range of baked melon, toasted hazelnut and ginger biscuit flavors. A thread of warm baking spices winds along the mouthwatering finish.”
– 92pts Wine Spectator
CHAMPAGNE HENRI GIRAUD GRAND CRU AŸ FUT CHENE MV 2015
“An edgy, lively Champagne with bread dough, dried apples and apricots. Toffee with caramel with a lifted sense. Light oxidation with some nuts and saltiness. Full-bodied and very layered with so much going on. Creme brulee, pie crust and zingy acidity. Minty and lively. Strawberries and oranges coming through. This is 80% pinot noir and 20% chardonnay, all fermented in wood, 60% new.”
– 97pts James Suckling
CHAMPAGNE HENRI GIRAUD GRAND CRU ARGONNE 2012
“This is an extraordinary Champagne with aromas of strawberries, spice, dried apples, clementines and subtle bread dough, and dried oranges. Full-bodied yet tight, powerful with a core of fruit and a finish that goes on forever. 90% pinot noir and 10% chardonnay, all from the village of Ay, aged in new wood for 15 months, then aged in bottle. Superb structure and complexity. One for the cellar.”
– 99pts James Suckling, 98pts Decanter
