Behind the Bubbles: An Exclusive Look at Dan Murphy’s Champagne Showcase
Champagne review posted on Sunday 09 November,2025/Refreshed 23 december,2025
By Axel Ritenis /Wine Correspondent who attended the Dan Murphy Champagne Showcase at Double Bay as a paying Member/Guest on Saturday 08 November ,2025
The pre-Christmas Champagne showcase at Dan Murphy’s Double Bay proved to less a recognizable retail tasting and more of a masterclass, pulling back the curtain on the stylistic diversity and evolving landscape of the world’s most celebratory wine. The line-up spanned 15 labels, featuring giants like Louis Roederer, Perrier-Jouët, and Lanson, offering Sydney palates a rare chance to compare and contrast the non-vintage (NV) titans against their highly prized vintage counterparts.
The New Era of Non-Vintage: Perfect Aperitifs
The core Brut NVs set the foundation, highlighting a clear industry shift towards precision, lower dosage, and greater transparency. This section of the tasting was a perfect study in house styles tailored for the quintessential “silly season”aperitif.
The Laurent-Perrier’s NV (La Cuvée), for instance, is the epitome of elegance and freshness. Defined by a high proportion of Chardonnay (often over 50%), this champagne is deliberately crafted to be clean and delicate, focusing on hints of fresh citrus, white flowers, and white fruit notes. Aged for around four years on the lees, it achieves beautiful finesse and balance, making it an ideal crisp opening wine that refreshes the palate without overwhelming it.
Of the Aperitif Champagnes on offer, the Laurent-Perrier NV (La Cuvée) was my top pick. I particularly enjoyed its complexity, freshness, and length on the back palate. While I generally favor Taittinger Brut Réserve or the renowned elegance and intensity of Bollinger Special Cuvée—neither of which were available and are generally more expensive—the Laurent-Perrier proved to be a very compelling and high-quality alternative.
I consider that of all the NV’s on show the Laurent Perrier has the required freshness and complexity (derived from a judicious selection of base wines (including some Vintage wines)so as far as I am concerned it gives the most bang for the buck and I actually purchased a bottle on the spot.
“What matter to me is elegance,complexity and length”
In contrast, the Lanson Black Création Champagne Brut maintained its house signature of vivid freshness. Lanson famously avoids malolactic fermentation in the majority of its blend. This commitment results in a wine with a striking, almost tart, apple and citrus profile that is crisp and invigorating—a style built for longevity and vitality.
“The Black Création now benefits from Lanson’s new perpetual reserve system, adding depth while retaining its racy acidity. It provides an excellent counterpoint to the more hedonistic, brioche-driven styles, offering an assertive, zesty character perfect for stimulating the appetite.”
The Louis Roederer Collection blend stood out immediately. Moving away from the old Brut Premier, the Collection (currently the 244 or 245 iteration) showcases exceptional intensity. It balances structure with a beautiful saline freshness, delivering notes of ripe yellow fruit, lemon meringue, and a delicate hint of smoke, thanks to its significant proportion of perpetual reserve wines aged in oak. This is Champagne with gravitas, built for the table.
Similarly focused on structure was the Piper-Heidsieck Essentiel Brut Champagne. This Extra Brut style (meaning less sweetness) is defined by its long aging on lees, giving it a textural richness—all toast and almond—that beautifully supports its crisp apple core. The Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut Champagne rounded out the major NVs with its characteristic elegance, finesse, and lighter, Chardonnay-driven frames.
The Delicate and the Daring Rosés
The selection of Rosé offered a fascinating spectrum of colour and intensity. The Laurent-Perrier Brut Rosé remains the benchmark for delicacy—a pale, salmon-pink wine defined by subtle red berries and creamy texture but it has the extra dimension of a whiff of meditteranean citrus.
The Piper-Heidsieck Rosé Sauvage NV, as its name implies, is bolder, delivering darker Pinot-driven fruit and a more robust, food-friendly structure.
The inclusion of the Australian-French collaboration, Penfolds Lot 1175 Champagne Rosé and its sibling Penfolds Champagne Cuvee Brut NV, generated discussion. While admirable in ambition, both felt like exceptionally fresh and light sparkling wines. A consensus among tasters noted a distinct lack of tertiary complexity—those desirable biscuity or yeasty notes that define aged Champagne. T
hey tasted conspicuously youthful, suggesting that they had either spent minimal time on the lees during secondary fermentation or lacked the depth of older, reserve wines in the final blend. While lively, they are not yet playing in the same league as the established houses for complexity.
Pinnacles of the Flight: Exceptional Vintage Value
The tasting culminated in the Vintage and Prestige Cuvées, which showcased the true depth of the region.
The Lanson Le Vintage 2013 was a spectacular highlight, not just for its quality but for its exceptional value in today’s vintage market.
This wine, made from 100% Grand and Premier Cru fruit and aged for a minimum of nine years, is a powerhouse. It comes from a late, cold vintage known for producing high-acid, highly chiselled wines with immense aging potential. The result is a wine showing rich autolytic notes—praline, honey, and subtle spice—but underpinned by a remarkable tension and zesty freshness.
In conclusion ,..I am happy to offer my own recommendation on the best value Vintage wine at Dan’s this season.
For a wine of its age and pedigree, the Lanson 2013 Vintage offers a complexity and longevity that truly punches above its price point, making it an exceptional value proposition. This assessment was confirmed by the enthusiastic reaction of many other astute palates at the tasting, suggesting strong future demand.
