No substitutes for this unique Champagne

published 16 June 2017

NV Moutard, Champ Persin, Cte des Bar, Champagne, France (£29.99, Askewine, 020-8746 1585; Askewine.com).

I don't drink an awful lot of Champagne. I would rather seek out a great dry or even off-dry white wine at Champagne-o'clock with which to slake my thirst. Champagne is expensive you could say that virtually every bottle of Champagne is a tenner more than it was a decade ago and I don't want to spend a fortune on run-of-the-mill Champs. Comparing the price of Champagne with still wine, I am amazed I ever drink the stuff.

Of course, there are a handful of exceptions. I adore a few of the great houses and a few of the artisan producers, too. Moutard was not one of these until I tasted this wine a fortnight ago, but it is a remarkable wine and offers uncommon value.

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From the southerly Cte des Bar region, with its riper fruit and bolder flavours, and made from 100% chardonnay, the key point here is that there is no malolactic fermentation employed, so the acidity is searingly dry. A dramatic finish is balanced by the lush palate. It is incredibly clever and I was amazed with the pleasure/tension flavour ratio that kept me heading back to the glass for more. This is one Champagne that offers a unique flavour and it should never be substituted with a still white wine!

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year (MatthewJukes.com).

Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.

Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.

He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.

Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’. He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner.

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy. His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.