Single blind tasting of 12 champagnes and sparkling wines

The tasting was single blind and the wines were only revealed after the final flight.

A clear win to Ca`del Bosco over Ayala in both the zero dosage and basic cuvee duels. The basic cuvée from Italy showed particularly well, but the overall level of the flight was quite ordinary

• NV Ayala Champagne Brut Majeur 87 Points

  France, Champagne

  Green apples, not too complex, slightly oxidative in style, Pinot dominated. Ok, but not much more.

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• 2009 Ca' del Bosco Franciacorta Vintage Collection Dosage Zero 88 Points

  Italy, Lombardia, Franciacorta DOCG

  Stone fruit, toffee, apples, fresh, slightly hard acididy but overall good mouthfeel. Second favourite of the flight.

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• NV Ayala Champagne Brut Nature 85 Points

  France, Champagne

  I did not enjoy this very much, the weakest wine of the evening. Raging acidity at first, out of balance, also a bit oxidative in style.

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• NV Ca' del Bosco Franciacorta Cuvée Prestige Brut 88 Points

  Italy, Lombardia, Franciacorta DOCG

  My favourite of the flight. Chardonnay driven. Mature fruit, fresh yeasty bread, quite developed on colour, spicy and quite complex. Lacks a tiny bit of freshness, but overall very enjoyable.

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Not very difficult to identify the Bollinger, but the three BdBs were so different in style that I didn`t realise that they were BdBs. On quality, both the Ca' del Bosco and the Gusbourne challenged the Bollinger. The Ayala seemd surpringsly tired, but might have suffered from being compared to the freshness in the other wines.

• 2009 Ca' del Bosco Franciacorta Vintage Collection Satèn 89 Points

  Italy, Lombardia, Franciacorta DOCG

  Young, but developed nicely in the glass. Good concentration and quite elegant. A bit Burgundian. Very dry, but creamy and good balance.

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• 2005 Ayala Champagne Blanc de Blancs 87 Points

  France, Champagne

  A bit «tired» on the nose and not too complex. Baked apples and quite smoky. But not as precise as other wines in the flight and rather unispiring. This wasn`t showing very well tonight.

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• 2009 Gusbourne Blanc de Blancs 89 Points

  United Kingdom, England, Kent

  Quite closed, but seems very pure, precise and mineral. Granny smith and apple pit. Opens up to show more floral notes with time. Lacks a bit of lift at the finish, but overall a good wine.

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• NV Bollinger Champagne Special Cuvée Brut 89 Points

  France, Champagne

  Stood out in the flight and was correctly identified as the standard Bollinger. Well balanced and my second favourite of the flight

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Clearly the strongest flight. Very close race between the Annamaria Clementi and the Grande Année for wine of the night, but I preferred the former for being a bit more developed. The Grande Année is delicious, but not quite on par with the 2002 in my opinion.

• 2009 Gusbourne Brut Réserve 89 Points

  United Kingdom, England, Kent

  Similar in style to the BdB and also suffering somewhat from being closed. I picked both of them as the English contestants in the tasting, but actually mixed up which was which when tasting. Needs time, but clearly has potential

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• 2004 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année 91 Points

  France, Champagne

  Clearly a high level champagne. Showing some oak, but deep and complex. Well balanced. Nice mouthfeel and my second favourite (by a whisker) in the tasting. Not quite as good as the 2002 though

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• 2003 Ca' del Bosco Franciacorta Cuvée Annamaria Clementi 92 Points

  Italy, Lombardia, Franciacorta DOCG

  Mature and complex. Elegant. Baked apples. Saline minerality, almost a Kimmeridigian quality. Quite noble. Wine of the tasting, a fraction ahead of La Grande Annee 04.

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• 2009 Ca' del Bosco Brut Vintage Collection 90 Points

  Italy, Lombardia, Lombardia Spumante

  Tasted right after the Annamaria Clementi, this also shows high quality. Dry with good fruit. Champagne mouthfeel. Very nice, but young and will surely develop

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Overall Bollinger showed as well as one would expect and they stand out for delivering Pinot Noir driven champagnes in a quite oxidative style without losing balance or freshness. Ca`del Bosco was impressive throughout their lineup. This wasn`t really a surprise, but nice to see when tasted against the champagnes and English sparklers. The Annamaria Clementi is a gem.

The three Ayalas were quite disappointing and the losers of the tasting. I would take the Franciacortas over these any day. The Gusbournes are potenially very interesting. They stood out both in style (very pure and mineral) and by being a bit less accessible than the other wines. I liked them, but I`d need to revisit them in a year`s time before concluding on how good they really are.