Champagne Day…you know we’re going to celebrate it and we did just that with a super fun “Champagne Day Tasting”!
Here’s the hiccup with Champagne Day. We have no clue what day it is actually supposed to be.
- National Champagne Day is, of course, on December 31st.
- Global Champagne Day is on October 22nd.
And last year when we were writing our Champagne Day post, we also found October 19th was a day it was celebrated.
So, in true Bubbly Side of Life fashion, we’re going to celebrate all week long because there is ALWAYS a reason to celebrate as you well know!
You know it’s my mission to share with you accessible and affordable sparkling wines that you can enjoy any time for any occasion. And Tannins did an amazing job gathering 4 bottles of champagne that meet that criteria.
Tannins Wine Bar
We partnered with Tannins Wine Bar in Elmhurst, IL to do this Champagne Day tasting. The owners of Tannins hand-picked these 4 bottles of champagne specifically for this tasting.
And this is one of the things I love about Tannins…they know wine and they know bubbly! If you’re looking for a bottle for a celebration, go visit them! They’ll help you select the perfect one.
Here was our champagne line-up:
- Champagne Henriot Brut Rosé
- Taittinger Brut La Fracaise
- Champagne Canard-Duchêne Brut
- Champagne Bollinger Special Cuvée Non-Vintage
Keep on reading to see which bottle was our favorite (and if we agreed on one) and our thoughts on each one.
Champagne Day Tasting
First up, Champagne Henriot Brut Rosé and it was the only rosé we tasted. And it was quite good. In fact, if you’re looking for a good brut rosé champagne for the warmer months or a beach vacation, make sure to save this one.
This brut rosé is 40% chardonnay, 50% pinot noir and 10% pinot meunier. We tasted strawberry, red fruits and raspberry. It was the perfect fruity, well-balanced rosé that you can enjoy on its own on the perfect summer day.
This bottle retails at $70.
Next, we tasted Taittinger Brut La Fracaise which is a blend of chardonnay (40%), pinot noir and pinot meunier. This bottle ages on its lees (dead yeast cells which from the 2nd fermentation) for almost 4 years. And if you have ever gone bubbly tasting with me, you know this is a question I ask all the time and typically I enjoy a sparkling wine that sits on its lees for a long period of time.
The bubbles on this bottle are crazy good! It was so bubbly, which you know I love. The tiny, continuous bubbles in this bottle will not disappoint.
This brut La Francaise is very creamy with hints of vanilla and flavors of fresh fruit and honey and would definitely pair well with a cheese plate and can easily stand alone.
This bottle retails at $55 and you can often find it on sale for under $50 making it a more affordable champagne.
Moving on we’re tasting the champagne with our favorite story, Champagne Canard-Duchêne Brut.
The name Canard Duchene comes from barrel maker Victor Canard and winemaker Léonie Duchêne who met in 1860 and fell in love. 8 years after they met, they created their first champagne. Canard-Duchêne is still family run to this day.
Can we take a moment here and appreciate the fact that in the 1800s, Léonie Duchêne was a successful female winemaker! Kind of unheard of during that time. Cheers to that!
This bottle of brut is 40% pinot noir, 40% pinot meunier and 20% chardonnay and you definitely taste the pinot noir. Definitely fruit forward pairing well with light dishes.
You can find this bottle for under $40, so it’s definitely a good one to celebrate Champagne Day with (or any occasion for that matter).
Last up for the Champagne Day tasting is Champagne Bollinger Special Cuvée Non-Vintage.
As we popped this bottle we were commenting on how none of the previous bottles had a strong brioche taste to them and then we took a sip. And compared to the others, we could really taste the brioche on this one.
This is a special cuvée meaning it’s a blend of wines from various vintages. This bottle is 60% pinot noir, 25% chardonnay and 15% pinot meunier.
You definitely taste the pinot noir with flavors of black cherry and currant and I already mentioned that we could definitely taste the brioche on this one. You could easily pair this with a charcuterie board or do as we did, enjoy it on its own.
This bottle retails at $80 and you can find it on sale for $70.
Which Champagne Was Our Favorite?
After tasting all 4 of these champagnes (multiple times), we ranked our favorites. Now, we did leave out the rosé in our ranking because it was the only rosé we tasted. So, comparing the other 3 brut champagnes, my favorite was Taittinger Brut La Fracaise, followed by Champagne Canard-Duchêne Brut and then Champagne Bollinger Special Cuvée Non-Vintage.
If you’ve been around a while, you know that I always invite others to taste with me because we all have different tastes and I love to hear everyone’s thoughts and opinions.
So, Kimi was with me for this tasting and while we always can find a bottle of bubbly to share, we almost always have different favorites when doing a tasting like this. And this one was no different. Kimi’s favorite was Champagne Bollinger Special Cuvée Non-Vintage followed by Taittinger Brut La Fracaise and then Canard-Duchêne Brut.
Now it’s fair to say we did enjoy all of these for different reasons, so you can’t go wrong.
Which champagne is your favorite?
Want more?
As I mentioned, we celebrated Champagne Day all week long last year as well. And we had some champagne experts tell us all about their favorites. Take a look at The Best Champagne You Want to POP to Celebrate blog post.
And, of course, since National Champagne Day is on New Year’s Eve, we had another champagne expert chime in with her favorites to ring in the new year.
