Effervesce Sense | Sparkling victory or sparkling defeat

It’s not just champagne, you know. Every country has at least one sparkling wine it can call its own and these wines are universally used for celebrations. As resilience is again fashionable, sparkling wine is also drunk to staying power. As if to illustrate the famous quote often attributed to Napoleon, “In victory, you deserve champagne; in defeat, you need it”, Stuyvesant Champagne is offering a limited edition Kamala Harris bottle – a change from the traditional cinema-related releases such as Bollinger’s No Time To Die or Piper Heidsieck’s Cats, each of which endured in their own way in the annals of cinema history.

When you think Taittinger, instead of thinking about winning then drinking it, think about failure, determination and not giving up

This celebration of winning, losing and trying again could be one reason why for 18 years Taittinger has been the official champagne of BAFTA – for Americans, the British Oscar association. Before I was a member I did accidentally filch one of its bespoke flutes which match the Taittinger BAFTA-labelled bottles. Taittinger Brut Réserve fills the flute for all the Academy awards and is also cunningly available by the glass (and bottle) at BAFTA’s HQ 195 Piccadilly. Taittinger is such a lover of the cinema that it also sponsors one of the BIFA (British Independent Film Awards) International Film long list. So when you think Taittinger, instead of thinking about winning then drinking it, think about failure, determination and not giving up until you want to. Those are great reasons to open that bottle.

Champagne and the arts are a natural fit, and I have friends who go to Frieze London for the art and the people watching. The Ruinart Champagne Bar showcased striking and emotive art by Henrique Oliveira and Marcus Coates which complimented equally spectacular with glasses of Brut, Rosé, Blanc de Blancs, Blanc Singulier Edition 19 as well as the rhapsodic Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 2010. This BdB was fantastically rich in taste, contained a full mouth feel with a lot going on: fig, tea, spices with freshness coming in layers. I closed my eyes to savour a wine that is easily summed up as seductive.

Now, whenever I open a bottle, I am excited to try to sense the line of the wine, the touch of it on the palate, how it physically looks in the glass, its weight and where it is between hot and cold

Speaking of defeat, I can say I am not a browser of any kind of emporium. Well, now Moët & Chandon have given me a really excellent reason to go to Harrods. Tucked around the corner from cosmetics on the ground floor – pass the lifts and hang a right at Tom Ford Beauty – you’ll find a discreetly sumptuous bar undulating beneath a hanging swathe of gold sequins – 60,000 discs I’m told. It’s a great place to hide while you try to get through the huge menu with three different flights of Moët & Chandon in 50ml servings. My favourite, The Elevation is a tasting glass each of Moët & Chandon Brut Impérial, Grand Vintage 2016 and Collection Impériale Création No. 1, each liquid proof of the delicious variety of champagne flavours. If you want to go whole hog, there’s the Moët & Chandon Champagne Tower – a magnum poured over a pyramid of coupes just like at your wedding. Served with tasty snacks, this is the ne plus ultra of supper after shopping.

It’s not bad to say something is affordable if it’s great, right? That notion extends to South Africa’s Cap Classique. More of this truly sensational premium sparkling wine is now being imported – selections from the estates of Babylonstoren, Boschendal, Domaine des Dieux, Haute Cabrière, Krone, Simonsig, Steenberg Estate, Vergelegen or Villiera. The rosés, balanced and drinkable, were my favourites like Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel Brut Rosé 2022, beautiful salmon pink and the heavy gold of Domain des Dieux Rose of Sharon Brut Rosé 2013. Villiera Monro Brut, a top winner of awards and Domaine des Dieux Claudia Brut 2017 were also striking in fruit and freshness. For those Chardonnay days, Haute Cabrière Pierre Jourdan Blanc de Blancs 2018 as well as Boschendal Brut 2016, Krone Brut 2022, Babylonstoren 2018 are sparkling workhorses of pleasure, sure to fit into any scenario. One of the more available brands, Graham Beck, has also released some vintages which surprised me with their sophistication, length, balanced blend and overall wow appeal. While the Blanc de Blancs 2018 and 2019, Pinot Noir Rosé 2018 and Ultra Brut 2017 are all must-taste bottles, the Pinot Meunier 2022 – lush – and the complex Cuvée Clive 2018 really show off the scope that South African sparkling can achieve. Cap Classique is bold in balance and texture, tasting of an instantly recognisable crisp confidence. If you see a bottle, buy that bottle.

In a tasting lead by Dom Pérignon cellar master Vincent Chaperon in the heart of Chelsea, I learned something that still resonates. Launching Dom Pérignon’s 2015 and the extraordinary Dom Pérignon 2006 Plénitude 2, Chaperon suggested not to smell the wine. Focus instead, he says, on its shape, the wine’s line or curve. That is to say feel its touch, volume, weight, temperature and friction or texture of the wine itself. Now, whenever I open a bottle, I am excited to try to sense the line of the wine, the touch of it on the palate, how it physically looks in the glass, its weight and where it is between hot and cold. Wine expert Peter Crawford often described some champagne as “crunchy”. Given that touch is not the same as texture, now that word is becoming comprehensible. As for the new release Dom Pérignon 2015, think cocoa and green leaves, floral on the nose giving way to spice. Delicate, intense and confident, with white stone fruit and orange sweet citrus. Of course, the “signature” of Dom Pérignon is a slight smoky sniff, as every part of the champagne-making process is kept oxygen-free. The second of three Plenitudes which are designed to show the wine in three stages of ageing, Dom Pérignon 2006 Plénitude 2 is an exceptional release: is the result of five vintages in a row unprecedented in three centuries of winemaking in the region. This is a symphony in your mouth – silky, ample, voluptuous, fruity, minty, peppery, spicy, full of hues and harmonics.

A tip tasting all sparkling wines: remember to feel with your mouth. I will be trying to do exactly this at the upcoming tastings of the new Henriot L’Inattendue and Moët & Chandon’s latest Grand Vintage Trilogy. It’s like meditation and aerobics with some of the world’s best new releases. This means you can’t actually chat or be distracted if you really want to taste things – and that’s why you always buy non-vintage for parties, right? C