Veuve Clicquot celebrates 200 years of Champagne
While Bordeaux's en primeur 2009 campaign is well underway, there is another option for those who want to enjoy their wine straight away: Champagne, according to the Daily Telegraph's Jonathan Ray.
Champagne is matured in advance for the customer, he added, while most of the wine is dedicated to non-vintage produce - that is, a blend of several years of grapes.
"Non-vintage Champagne accounts for 94 per cent of our sales," chef de cave Dominique Demarville of Veuve Clicquot, which is currently celebrating the 200th anniversary of its first vintage, told the newspaper.
He added: "Vintage Champagne … should be unique – different from previous years as well as different from Yellow Label. Otherwise, why bother to buy it?"
Veuve Clicquot is marking its anniversary by releasing a number of vintage Champagnes from the cellars.
Located in Reims, the Champagne house traces its origins back to 1772 when it was founded by Philippe Clicquot-Muiron.