If you are looking for a reason to pop a bottle of something special, look no further than the Champagne Palmer Vintage 2018.Luisa explores Champagne Palmer 2018 

Every so often, a growing season comes along that feels like a gift from heaven. In Champagne, 2018 was precisely that—a year where generous sunshine met near-perfect conditions, delivering grapes of astonishing quality. A remarkable, lucky harvest that produced a luxurious vintage, which has just been aptly launched at Gordon Ramsay’s Lucky Cat. With its stunning views over London, the restaurant provided the perfect backdrop for the launch, and its Asian menu the best food pairing. 

Let’s look inside the bottle and see what makes this vintage tick, a vintage which will go down in history books. Perfectly ripe grapes that retained the vibrant acidity needed to make a great Champagne. Palmer & Co. is nestled in the heart of Reims, considered by many the wine capital of Champagne, and here the magic happens. 

I had the pleasure of meeting director François Demouy who told me: ‘Our grapes come from the Grands Terroirs of the Montagne de Reims, we don’t settle for anything else’.  Then he added: ‘Time is essential for us—we are not in a rush. Non-vintage wines rest on lees for three to four years, while our prestige and vintage cuvées may age for a decade. This patience yields champagnes of remarkable depth and texture’.

For the 2018 vintage, that patience delivered an abundant return. Palmer’s secret weapon is indeed patience and balance. Bottles are kept ageing in deep chalk cellars to allow the juice within to integrate into something polished and refined, rather than overly heavy. 

Perfect Pairings

Cauliflower Tempura may seem an unlikely choice, but it was the perfect partner to Champagne Palmer Grands Terroirs 2018, as was a Tartare of Yellowtail, Sushi and Scallops. 

To show the consistency of this champagne through its other historical vintages, a beautiful 2015 was paired with Wagyu Gyoza, and Palmer & Co Collection vintage 1996 called for Spiced Black Cod and Rib Eye. François explained: ‘The price obviously influences, but we see that the richness and balance in our wines is what is appreciated by sommeliers and fine dining restaurants’.

The Champagne Palmer Vintage 2018 isn’t just a bottle for milestone anniversaries; it’s a celebration of a stellar vintage crafted by a house that refuses to hurry perfection. 

You can find Champagne Palmer Grands Terroirs 2018 in food halls and fine wine merchants such as Fortnum & Mason in London’s Piccadilly, where it retails at around £90 per bottle, or The Finest Bubble, a London based Champagne specialist with extensive stock and offering rapid delivery  www.thefinestbubble.com  Other champagnes in the range, including Blanc de Blancs and Rosé Solera retail from  around £55.

Restaurants offering Champagne Palmer include Bentley’s Oyster Bar & Grill and Langan’s Brasserie in Piccadilly/Mayfair, Bar Antoine at the Four Seasons Hotel in Park Lane and of course Lucky Cat in the City, where it’s served by the glass at £24 and by the bottle.

Luisa Welch is a freelance writer and a member of the Circle of Wine Writers

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