It is one of our favourite Champagnes, and almost the only line we’ve had in stock continuously since Uncorked opened back in 1994. Nico Billecart even did an internship with us. 200 years and seven generations after it was founded, Billecart-Salmon is one of the few major Champagne houses to remain family-owned, and their commitment to quality has been a constant over the years.

An old Champagne house with a nonconformist character, where biodynamics was being adopted as early as the 1950s. Leclerc Briant came under new ownership in 2012, and what had become an excellent (if relatively sleepy) house was suddenly electrified with new energy. Cellarmaster Frederic Zeimett has a questioning, experimental attitude to everything he does – and that is leading to an exciting new set of Champagnes. He has tried out gold-lined fermentation vessels and aging under the sea, with fascinating results. But more importantly, he has an intense focus on quality.

The house of Charles Heidsieck is based in Reims. It is the smallest of the Grand Marque houses, but has a fabulous reputation for the quality of its Champagnes; Charles Heidsieck winemakers have scooped the ‘Sparkling Winemaker of the Year’ award at the International Wine Challenge sixteen times over the last thirty years. No other house has managed that more than twice.

There`s a right-of-way called Saxon Shoreway which cuts a swathe through the Kent vineyards of Gusbourne Estate, and once upon a time this path did indeed walk the English shore. So it`s no surprise that the clay and sand soils on which these vineyards sit are full of maritime deposits, which in turn may go some way to explaining the saline character that often comes across in the estate`s sparkling wines. A millenium later, and mainly thanks to land reclamation, the sea is now six miles away as the crow flies (over Romney Marsh), but there is still a powerful coastal wind blowing over.