A destination wine, visit on special occasions
Vintage Sham-payne
White
Style
The trip to Vintage Champagne is not a frequent one for most of us, it’s an expensive neighbourhood and an acquired taste. As champagne ages it loses some of its crisp, fruity flavours and develops instead a more savoury character, often described as biscuity or yeasty and beyond that mushroomy. The wines are more complex, with layers of flavours. Vintages are only ‘declared’ in exceptional years, so you won’t get a vintage champagne from every year, and in contrast to the NV Champagne, each vintage will differ.These are definitely wines for a very important toast or a special dinner.
Things you should know
Top Tip: Dip your toe into vintage champagne at a wine dinner or tasting to see if you like it and test out some vintages. And find someone to fund your habit!
Specific Food Match: Those savoury notes are great for food matching, but as the wines differ so much food matching is quite a bespoke process. Parmesan, pastry and mushrooms are all good places to start.