Prosecco, Champagne & Sparkling

On the Palate this wine displays an exceptional freshness with a velvety texture and fine balance, concluding with undertones of citrus.
Straw yellow with light green highlights. Soft, dense and foamy mousse with long lingering beads of fine bubbles. Crisp, rich and elegant bouquet with generous fragrances of apple and pears along with notes of tropical fruits.
Perfect served as an aperatif. Pairs well with rice, pasta, light meat, salt water fish, fresh and medium cheeses without ever masking their flavours.
Grapes: Chardonnay & Pinot Noir.
Origin: Franciacorta, Lombardy.
The proportion of varieties making up the cuvée may vary slightly each year. On average they are: 30% chardonnay from Franciacorta, 30% chardonnay from Trentino, 30% pinot noir from Oltrepò Pavese, and 10% pinot blanc from Alto Adige. White grapes will predominate.
Cuvée assembled from carefully-selected grapes in DOC vineyards in exceptional growing areas of Franciacorta, of Trentino-Alto Adige (with a Berlucchi Press House in Lavis, near Trento), and of the Oltrepò Pavese (Berlucchi Press House in Casteggio, near Pavia).

The bouquet has aromas of wild berries and ripe fruit with a rich and silky palate that is full bodied and satisfying.
Light salmon pink colour with a soft mousse of creamy foam providing a cascade of extremely fine bubbles.
Can be enjoyed throughout the meal. Especially suited to shellfish or cured meat antipasti as well as full flavoured sauces and meat dishes. Also pairs well with strawberry desserts, fresh fruit salads and medium aged cheeses.
Grapes: Pinot Noir & Chardonnay.
Origin: Franciacorta, Lombardy.

Prosecco describes both a variety of white grape grown in the Veneto region of Italy, and also the sparkling wine made from the grape.
The grape is grown in the Conegliano and Valdobbiadene wine-growing regions north of Treviso. Its late ripening has led to its use in dry sparkling (spumante) and semi-sparkling (frizzante) wines.
Like other sparkling wines, Prosecco is best served chilled. Prosecco was the original main ingredient in the Bellini cocktail. Prosecco also features in the Italian mixed drink made with Prosecco, vodka and lemon sorbet.
The fizz that's the bizz
Forget the thin, sugary stuff that's so often passed off as a cheap Champagne alternative - the best Prosecco is creamy and refreshingly dry. Tim Atkin picks four Italian sparklers

* The Observer, Sunday 11 November 2007
* Article history

Have you ever felt you were out of step with the majority of the population? Call me a misanthrope, a snob or a fogey, but I feel that way with increasing regularity. The older I get the more I'm baffled by the popularity of snooker, karaoke, pilates, Jonathan Ross, boy bands and flavoured lattes. Grrrrrrrrrrrr...

Until very recently, I'd have put Prosecco in the same camp. I first took against this unexceptional sparkling wine on a visit to Harry's Bar in Venice, home of the Bellini. If your idea of drinking heaven is to be surrounded by fat American tourists and paying over the odds for a cocktail made out of peaches and over-cropped Prosecco, Harry's will be your kind of place. It certainly isn't mine.

As long as Prosecco remained largely a local Venetian tipple, I ignored it. But here in the UK it has been growing in popularity as a cheap alternative to Champagne. One PR company described it recently as 'a worldwide symbol of the aspirational Italian lifestyle', as if Prosecco were a Ferrari or a pair of Versace sunglasses. I'd rather drink Asti Spumante or dry Lambrusco, and that's saying a good deal.

I'm passing this on to give you an idea of my state of mind as I rocked up at the first ever UK tasting of Prosecco. There were 32 producers in the room, most of whom had brought three wines with them. That's an awful lot of sparkling wine, I thought, as I collected my glass and free Prosecco ballpoint. Talk about being bored to death.

But guess what? I enjoyed some of the wines. The first thing I learnt is that Prosecco isn't supposed to taste like Champagne. Most of it is produced using the less time-consuming Charmat method (refermentation of the base wine in pressurised tanks, as opposed to bottles) and is designed to be drunk young. 'It's all about fruit and freshness,' one producer told me. Unlike Champagne, which derives its richness and flavours from prolonged contact with its (second) fermentation lees, the majority of Prosecco is meant to be light and comparatively simple. Expecting it to be otherwise is like backing Gillingham to win the Premiership.

There is Prosecco and Prosecco, mind you. The best stuff tends to have lower yields, is sourced from hillside sites in the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene district and is left on its lees for a period of time in tank. The worst stuff is thin, characterless and destined for a Bellini, where acidity is more important than fruit concentration and flavour.

Most Prosecco is on the sweet side. Allied to the grape's natural fruitiness, this can make the wines taste a little confected. I pointed this out to one winemaker, but he dismissed my desire to drink drier styles. 'When it's bone dry, it's tongue-cutting stuff,' he said. 'Prosecco is a semi-aromatic variety, so you can't keep the perfume in the wine and keep the sugar low. The more sugar there is in the grapes the more aromatic it is.'

There are three levels of sweetness for Prosecco: Brut (up to 15g of residual sugar), Extra Dry (12-20g) and Dry (20-35g). The top wines from the low-yielding Cartizze sub-zone tend to be pretty sweet, too. Cartizze is described as the 'Grand Cru' of the area, largely because of its ancient soils and steep slopes. The grapes for these wines are generally the ripest (and therefore sweetest) in the region and, more often than not, are bottled as Brut styles. If you serve them as an aperitif, you'll get a shock.

Asti Spumante is produced in an area to the south of the town of Asti in Piedmont, Italy and is a DOCG white sparkling wine. Asti Spumante is made from the Moscato Bianco grape. Asti Spumante is low in alcohol, and due to its sweetness is often drunk as a dessert wine. Another wine called Moscato d'Asti is made in the same region from the same grape, but produced by another technique which differentiates it from Asti.

Fantinel
Loris, Gianfranco and Luciano Fantinel - three brothers who share a passionate love of land and wine. It was their father Paron Mario, who founded the Fantinel Company and his sons are following in his footsteps with loving pride and dedication.

Champagne is a sparkling wine produced by inducing the in-bottle secondary fermentation of wine to effect carbonation. Champagne is produced exclusively within the Champagne region of France. The term "champagne" is used by some sparkling wine makers although numerous countries limit the use of the term champagne to only those wines that come from the Champagne appellation. In Europe, this principle is enshrined in the European Union by Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status. Other countries, such as the United States, have recognized the exclusive nature of this name, yet maintain a legal structure that allows longtime domestic producers of sparkling wine to continue to use the term "Champagne".
Charles Heidsieck

The house of Charles Heidsieck has seen something of a renaissance in recent years. It's been making waves with a succession of excellent wines, both vintage and non-vintage. Instrumental in the revival of this house has been Daniel Thibault, who died in 2002. Thibault was an excellent winemaker and blender, and has been responsible for what are probably the finest wines ever to bear the label of Charles Heidsieck.

The origins of Charles Heidsieck lie in 1785, when it started life as a Champagne company under the auspices of Florenz-Ludwig Heidsieck. This firm subsequently gave rise to all the Heidsieck Champagne houses; Charles Heidsieck, Heidsieck & Co Monopole and Piper-Heidsieck. Today both Charles Heidsieck and Piper-Heidsieck are under the ownership of Rémy Cointreau.

Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve Mis en CavesUp until the 1980s Charles Heidsieck produced a sound range of wines including a non-vintage Brut, a vintage wine and a prestige cuvée Champagne Charlie. But with the arrival of Daniel Thibault, and the backing of Rémy Cointreau, this was to change. Thibault's coup de grace was to convert the perfectly serviceable non vintage wine into a Brut Réserve. In order to achieve this Rémy Cointreau permitted sales to fall by millions of bottles so that Thibault could build up some reserve stocks. Whereas most houses have only a few vintages at their disposal for the production of the non vintage cuvée, Thibault had over eight vintages. Masterful blending of these older wines into the non vintage cuvée - which is, you may or may not agree, beginning to sound more like a multi-vintage prestige cuvée along the lines of Krug NV or Laurent-Perrier's Grand Siecle - with the reserve wines comprising up to 40% of the final blend, is what results in such a fabulous wine. Fabulous in it's own right, but particularly so if value for money is a concern. Further success came in 1997 when the already successful Brut Réserve was relaunched as the Brut Réserve Mis en Caves. With this change in designation Thibault was able to provide information regarding the non vintage cuvée by providing a date of cellaring on the label. The cellaring date follows on from the dated of the base vintage, so the Mis en Caves 1992, the first release, was comprised of 40% reserve wines and 60% the 1991 vintage. This model has continued with great success, with one of the most successful blends being the Mis en Caves 1997, based on the outstanding 1996 vintage. Overall I believe that this practice has been a great success for the consumer, who now actually know what they are drinking, unlike the situation with other non vintage cuvées which give no indication as to the base wine or blend at all. As such two bottles of externally identical non vintage Champagne may in fact contain two completely different wines. There is no such problem with the Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve Mis en Caves range, however, and later vintages also included the date of dégorgement.

The range of wines produced here, other than the Brut Réserve Mis en Caves, includes two vintage wines the Brut Millésime and Brut Rose Millésime, both based on 30% Chardonnay and 70% Pinot Noir & Meunier, with the rose produced by the addition of red wine rather than the saignée method. The prestige cuvée currently produced is the Blanc des Millénaires, a pure Chardonnay cuvée. Although the Brut Réserve wines have seen great acclaim, Charles Heidsieck has not been raking in the profits. Sales have fallen, partly out of necessity whilst reserve stocks were built up, partly because the Mis en Caves concept took the basic cuvée out of the non vintage market somewhat. And the difference in quality between the Mis en Caves wines and the vintage wine has narrowed sufficiently to make the non vintage wine the preferred buy, affecting sales of the vintage wine. In addition, the once popular prestige cuvée Champagne Charlie is no longer produced, replaced by Blanc des Millénaires, which has not made the same impact as its predecessor. For the consumer though, the situation is good - the Brut Reserve Mis en caves wines offer extraordinary quality at an excellent price. I hope the currently evident quality is maintained by Daniel Thibaults's replacement, Régis Camus. (24/3/04)


Charles Heidsieck Brut 2000: The nose here is delightful; although subtle, there are elements of nuts, especially almonds, swirled in cream here. the palate is broad, rather nutty, with a fresh citrus slant to it. It has a fine, palpable fruit texture. Elegantly interwoven flavours swim in a lovely vinous texture; this is stylish, still evolving, and should be fine. From the 2009 annual Champagne Tasting. 17.5+/20 (March 2009)

Charles Heidsieck Brut 2000: There is a little honey and nut on the nose here, behind a fresh layer of white fruits. Lovely style on the palate, rounded with depth and definition. Lovely array of flavours, with brioche and nut oil character, and white tropical fruits. Stylishly composed, balanced, and full of potential, although it is very approachable now. From the 2008 annual Champagne tasting. 17.5+/20 (March 2008)
1996

Charles Heidsieck Brut 1996: A fine straw-gold hue, with an equally fine and delicate bead. The nose is just lovely, elegant and seemingly creamy, with brioche and nutty character. There is a great minerality, with fine evolution showing here. The fresh and crisp mousse is supported by a creamy and broad palate of intensely expressed flavours, nutty and slightly mushroomy, but still with a fine, citrus precision. This is lovely now, but has the structure to go on for years yet, rather like the wine's finish. Excellent. From a 1996 Champagne tasting. 18.5+/20 (August 2007)

Charles Heidsieck Rosé 1996: This has a lovely, copper-tinged onion skin colour. The nose is rather close at present, but the wine has a lovely presence on the palate despite this, showing a good acid backbone and a big, structured style. Full, characterful, needs 4-5 years to show its best. Certainly one of the better wines in this line up. From the annual Champagne Information Bureau Tasting. 16.5+/20 (March 2006)
1995

Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires Brut 1995: A lightly honeyed nose, with slightly high-toned aromas of polished wood, nutty complexity and mature, dried white fruits. A lovely palate follows, showing fresh character and a mature, elegant seam of richness. A lovely, clean and clearly defined style. A very vinous, appealing, wine which has developed nicely over recent years. Nudging excellence. From the 2008 annual Champagne tasting. 17.5+/20 (March 2008)

Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires Brut 1995: A pale lemon hue, with notes of mineral honeycomb and smoky, honey-laden brioche on the nose. This is very nice indeed. Full, nutty, honeycomb character. Very open and forward, but with a good structure beneath. Firm acidity. A lovely style, with a lingering, golden nutty finish. Still a touch on the youthful side for me, although it has clearly developed a little since my last tasting, but clearly this had great quality. From the 2007 Champagne Information Bureau Tasting. 17+/20 (March 2007)

Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires Brut 1995: An appealing, lemon-gold hue. Very open and expressive nose, showing honeycomb swirled with a mineral bite. Quite aggressive style at present, with very bright acidity and a firm mousse, but there is plenty of appeal here, and certainly there is potential. Definitely one for the cellar, and should improve over the next 5-8 years. From the annual Champagne Information Bureau Tasting. 17+/20 (March 2006)
1985

Charles Heidsieck Blanc de Millénaires Brut 1985: A fine but not prominent bead on a golden yellow background. This wine has a truly captivating nose, with coffee, toast, caramel and toffee all putting in an appearance. A delightfully creamy texture to the nutty, toasty palate, with balanced acidity and a lingering finish. Lovely stuff. 17.5/20 (May 2001)
Non-Vintage

Please noted that unlike most of my other records of tasting notes on non-vintage wines, where I order the notes by date of tasting, most recent first, here I have ordered them by the cellaring date of the cuvée, most recent first.

Charles Heidsieck Mis en Cave 2004 Brut Réserve NV: Purchased April 2008, and previously tasted at the annual Champagne tasting in London one month earlier than that. Under Régis Camus Charles Heidsieck seem to have distanced themselves from the overt declaration of the cellaring date as they did with the neck-label 'mis en cave' designation, but in fact the information has merely moved to the back label (this was cellared in 2004, meaning it is based largely on the 2003 vintage), and they have also added dates of disgorgement - this was disgorged in 2007. The hue is pale and elegant, the bead plentiful and an unusual mix of fine and fatter bubbles. The nose is fine, slightly honeyed fruits, caramelised apple and pear, with a gently nutty hint of brioche. A rather appealing, somewhat fat feel to the palate, with an incisive mousse and clean acidity propping up a rather plumper style than usual. I suspect it just needs more time in bottle. Great, evolving flavours though, all lemon brioche and praline. It has come together somewhat since March 2008, but it does still seem a little unintegrated today, nevertheless it has lots of good components and good length too. 17+/20 (September 2009)

Charles Heidsieck Mis en Cave 2004 Brut Réserve NV: Current release. Not so prominently labelled as mis en caves compared with previous releases, which is a shame. There is some nicely polished fruit here, but otherwise it does not have a very expressive nose compared with some of the other wines. It is warm, ripe, rather nutty, and not quite as focused as I would have expected. Nevertheless there is some good acidity and the start of a better definition I think. Overall well composed but needs a little time. From the 2008 annual Champagne tasting. 16.5+/20 (March 2008)

Charles Heidsieck Mis en Cave 2003 Brut Réserve NV: This is the 2003 cellaring, so largely based on the 2002 vintage. Deep, smoky, brioche and fruit. Some depth and complexity here, belying the generous use of reserve wines I would think. Very fine, gentle and composed on the palate. Appealing, soft, fine mousse. Full of appeal, perhaps not as concentrated as some previous releases of this particular cuvée but very good nevertheless. Certainly one of the better wines here today. From the 2007 Champagne Information Bureau Tasting. 16.5+/20 (March 2007)

Charles Heidsieck Mis en Caves 2001 Brut Réserve NV: A good lemon-gold hue with a fairly lazy, sparse bead of surprisingly tight bubbles. White flowers and pale fruits on the nose, with a slightly nutty, stylish finesse, indicating the presence of reserve wines, showing through. Full, creamy white fruit palate, with a lovely, crisp fresh mousse. Rounded, stylish and balanced. Still showing the awkward angles of youth at present though, and so demands a year or two in the cellar to be enjoyed at its best. 16.5+/20 (October 2005)

Charles Heidsieck Mis en Caves 2000 Brut Réserve NV: A pale golden hue, with a moderate-sized bead. What a lovely nose, full of citrus character such as orange peel, with notes of dry praline. Just gorgeously expressive. Fresh and precise on the palate, showing good body, elegance and crispness, although it is full and creamy, with more citrus character. Fine length. This has shown great development since I last tasted it, and my score reflects that. Should continue to improve, and drink well, over the next few years. 17.5+/20 (March 2006)

Charles Heidsieck Mis en Caves 2000 Brut Réserve NV: Pale hue, with a very tight bead. Clean, piercing, lemon and white fruit on the nose, with green elderflower like notes. A beautifully fresh palate, with a firm mousse opening out into a creaminess on the midpalate. Lovely weight and crisp acidity. A lovely, crystal-clear purity on the finish. Altogether it's a little tight at present, but offers some lovely primary fruit flavours. Not up to the '97 bottling, but ahead of the more forward '98. Needs three to four years bottle age. 16.5+/20 (November 2004)

Charles Heidsieck Mis en Caves 1998 Brut Réserve NV: A mid gold colour in the glass, and a fairly fine bead. A lush, captivating nose, full of forward, ripe white fruits, with a background touch of nuts and marzipan which becomes more obvious as the wine warms in the glass. Also a little vegetal complexity. Plenty of fat texture on the palate, with a good creamy mousse, cut through which sharp, peppery acidity. Plenty of complex flavour too. This is delicious stuff, with a grippy, biting finish. Good, tasty, no-nonsense non-vintage Champagne for drinking over the next year or two. 17/20 (February 2004)

Charles Heidsieck Mis en Caves 1997 Brut Réserve NV: A non-vintage cuvée blended and cellared by Daniel Thibault in 1997, and based largely on the 1996 vintage. A moderately deep gold hue, with a fair bead. The nose has advanced considerably since my previous tasting (excepting some faulty bottles I experienced), with lots of walnut, honey and brioche character now evident. The palate is full and creamy, with a supple composition carrying along notes of minerals and nuts, with a bitter bite curiously reminiscent of the taste of the papery casing of pistachio nuts. Lovely structure, rather showy, although to be critical not the focus or delineation of a great Champagne, and a little short on the finish. But lovely just the same, and always great value. From a 1996 Champagne tasting. 17/20 (August 2007)

Charles Heidsieck Mis en Caves 1997 Brut Réserve NV: One of the brilliant Mis en Caves range of non-vintage Champagnes from Charles Heidsieck, based largely on the 1996 vintage and cellared by the company in 1997, hence the date. Opened with too little effort, the cork almost falling out of the bottle, clearly having lost all its elasticity. Looks good in the glass, although there is a dirty note troubling the nose. Within minutes the bead disappears and the wine is flat, in the glass and on the palate. Clearly a victim of cork failure probably secondary to poor storage prior to my acquiring them. A second bottle is opened, with the same results. Both, and numerous remaining unopened bottles, are returned to the supplier. From a tasting of non vintage Champagne. Not rated. (May 2003)

Charles Heidsieck Mis en Caves 1997 Brut Réserve NV: Lovely colour, fairly deep, and moderate bead. A fantastic nose - full of fruit, almost tropical in profile, with a smoky quality that reminds me of previous cellarings of this wine. Lovely creamy mousse on the palate, which is packed with flavour, which like the nose has a tropical fruit edge. Full bodied, youthful, with grand acidity. This is lovely stuff, with the structure necessary to see it through a period of cellaring, although very approachable now. 18/20 (November 2002) Label

Charles Heidsieck Mis en Caves 1996 Brut Réserve NV: My tasting note opens with a simple...Wow! A rich layer of biscuit and yeast on the nose, underpinned by a superb streak of citrus fruit freshness. This leads to a palate of more excellent citrus fruit with a creamy richness and biscuity undertones. A fine and elegant mousse persist through the midpalate. It culminates in a rich, lingering finish. 17/20 (May 2001)

Charles Heidsieck Mis en Caves 1995 Brut Réserve NV: A creamy golden colour, with a fine and lazy bead. Delicious aromas of cream, fresh bread and toast, with some good leesy, yeasty notes. The palate has a fine texture, elegant balancing acidity, and a good toasty, oyster richness. It finishes with a savoury, leesy note. 17/20 (May 2001)

Charles Heidsieck Mis en Caves 1994 Brut Réserve NV: A paler lemon gold, with a fine bead. The nose has a surprising intensity of tangerine and mango fruit, with a rich, toasty, yeasty aroma. On the palate, a prominent mousse and superbly fresh, elegant acidity. Lots of citrus fruit, a rich clotted cream-like texture, and a layer of bready yeast. Less classic than the Mis en Caves 1993 NV, but still superb. 17/20 (June 2000)

Charles Heidsieck Mis en Caves 1993 Brut Réserve NV: Two bottles tasted within a couple of months. The first has a rich, golden hue in the glass, a fine and quite plentiful bead. Classic biscuit aromas, with a buttery/creamy richness. Palate is a dream - rich, creamy and biscuity, and yet fresh and lively with the necessary balancing acidity. Mouth-filling, and a lovely, lingering presence. Very enjoyable. The later bottle has even greater appeal, with an attractive lemon-gold hue, and a moderately fine bead. Bready, brioche nose. Quite a rich palate, nutty flavours, a soft mousse. Some clean, apply notes, and lovely acidity. The second note is from an English sparkling wine and Champagne tasting. 17.5/20 (August 2000)

Charles Heidsieck Mis en Caves 1992 Brut Réserve NV: Good creamy oyster richness on the nose, with some citrus aromas, developing into coffee and brioche. The palate has a coffee cream richness, rather too prominent lemony acidity, and a good foaming mousse. Seems disjointed, a little harsh even. On the way down so drink up if you have any - although this may have been storage related as this wine was acquired some years after release. 16?/20 (May 2001)