16 Champagnes. Five Brackets. One Brunch.
HOSTED BY TYSON STELZER
Join Tyson Stelzer, International Champagne Writer of the Year and author of seven editions of The Champagne Guide, for an afternoon exploring Champagne through 16 wines from 12 leading houses and growers. Across five brackets, Tyson will take us from growers and Blanc de Blancs through the great house cuvées, evolving blends and rosé, tasting the wines side by side and looking at the people, places and decisions that make each one distinct. Tyson has spent more than a decade documenting Champagne in extraordinary detail. His Champagne Guide now encompasses more than 5,300 reviews and profiles of more than 250 houses, making this a rare opportunity to taste with one of the region’s most experienced specialist commentators.
“The best guide ever published on Champagne.”
Huon Hooke, The Sydney Morning Herald
“One of the five or six eminent specialist critics on the subject who matter.”
World of Fine Wine
“Tyson Stelzer’s status as a wine writer and author continues to soar.”
James Halliday
Tyson Stelzer is one of Australia’s youngest, most serious and greatest wine writers.
John Jens Lamont’s Wine Store, Perth
Featuring:
André Clouet | Ayala | Billecart-Salmon | Bollinger Charles Heidsieck
Delamotte | Jacquesson | Krug | Louis Roederer | Pierre Péters | Pol Roger | Vilmart
Sunday 22 November
Tyson Stelzer hosts the Annual Champagne Extravaganza Brunch
10:00am–12:30pm
16 Champagnes and a paired 5 course brunch
$295.00 per person
The 16 Champagnes
Five brackets, each looking at a different side of Champagne. Open a bracket to see the wines and why they sit together.
First BracketThe Growers
- Pierre Péters Cuvée de Réserve Brut NV
- Vilmart Grande Réserve NV
- André Clouet Brut Royal NV
Why this bracket?
We begin with three grower Champagnes: wines made by families who farm their own vineyards and bottle under their own name. But grower Champagne is not one style.
Pierre Péters is rooted in Chardonnay and the Côte des Blancs, and its Cuvée de Réserve draws on reserve wines stretching back more than twenty years. Vilmart, from Rilly-la-Montagne, takes a very different route, with Pinot Noir leading and the wine matured in large oak casks. André Clouet brings us to Bouzy and another distinctly individual grower style.
Just how different can grower Champagne be?
Second BracketBlanc de Blancs
- Delamotte Blanc de Blancs NV
- Charles Heidsieck Blanc de Blancs NV
- Billecart-Salmon Blanc de Blancs NV
Why this bracket?
Blanc de Blancs means “white from whites”: in Champagne, a white Champagne made entirely from Chardonnay. One grape, three houses, very different results.
Delamotte gives a particularly pure Côte des Blancs expression, made from Grand Cru Chardonnay and aged four to five years before disgorgement. Charles Heidsieck approaches Chardonnay as a great blending house, drawing on 15 crus and mature reserve wines for its richer style. Billecart-Salmon completes the bracket with its own finely drawn interpretation.
How much can house style change a Blanc de Blancs?
Third BracketThe House Cuvées
- Ayala Brut Majeur NV
- Pol Roger Brut Réserve NV
- Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve NV
- Bollinger Special Cuvée NV
Why this bracket?
This is the heart of Champagne. A great non-vintage house cuvée has a difficult job: it has to taste recognisably like the house every time it is released, even though the harvest changes every year.
Ayala builds Brut Majeur around Chardonnay and a remarkably broad range of crus. Pol Roger blends the three main Champagne grapes in equal proportions, using reserve wines to keep its style steady. Charles Heidsieck and Bollinger then show two richer interpretations, with Bollinger’s Special Cuvée led by Pinot Noir and built on reserve wines, some aged in magnum for years before blending.
These are not simple wines. They are the wines on which the great houses build their identity.
What makes a Champagne taste unmistakably like its house?
Fourth BracketThe Evolving Cuvée
- Jacquesson Cuvée No. 748, 2020 Base
- Louis Roederer Collection 244 NV
- Krug Grande Cuvée 172ème Édition
Why this bracket?
Many non-vintage Champagnes are blended to keep a recognisable house style from release to release. These three lean the other way: every edition is a little different, and they want you to taste it.
Jacquesson numbers each Cuvée 700 release so the character of its base harvest can show, and No. 748 is built on 2020. Louis Roederer does something similar with Collection: 244 is built around the 2019 harvest, alongside a perpetual reserve and older wines matured in oak. Krug takes the idea to its extreme. Grande Cuvée 172ème Édition is built around 2016 but blends 146 wines from 11 different years, the oldest from 1998.
Should a non-vintage Champagne taste the same every year?
Fifth BracketRosé
- André Clouet Rosé No. 3 NV
- Charles Heidsieck Rosé Réserve NV
- Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé NV
Why this bracket?
We finish in pink. Rosé Champagne looks like one category on a wine list, but houses approach it in very different ways.
André Clouet Rosé No. 3 comes from Pinot Noir country in Bouzy and is the lighter, more delicate expression in Clouet’s rosé range. Charles Heidsieck brings its richer, more mature house style to rosé. Billecart-Salmon finishes with one of Champagne’s best-known rosés, blending Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier, with a little Pinot Noir made as red wine for colour and red-fruit character.
Is there really one rosé Champagne style?
About Tyson Stelzer
Tyson Stelzer is a multi-award winning wine writer, television host and producer, author of 18 wine books, international keynote speaker and wine show chairman and judge. He was named Wine Presenter of the Year in both 2026 and 2025 (The Prestige Awards), The International Wine & Spirit Communicator of the Year 2015 (The International Wine & Spirit Competition), the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year 2015 and 2013 (The Wine Communicators of Australia) and The International Champagne Writer of the Year 2011 (The Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Awards).
In 2021 he was named the Most Influential Opinion Maker in the annual power list of Who’s Who in Australia by Meininger’s Wine Business International (Germany).
He is the creator and host of The Champagne Tour, which was named Tour Operator of the Year 2025 (The Global Awards).
He is also the creator and host of the Advanced Champagne Certificate, winner of Innovative Wine Educator of the Year (LUXlife Global Excellence Awards 2025) and Best Interactive Wine Education Course Provider (Corporate Vision Education & Training Awards 2023). His Taste Champagne events are the biggest global champagne showcase, with 42 events to date across Australia, the UK and Hong Kong. Taste Champagne was awarded Best Global Champagne Tasting Event (LUXlife Excellence Awards 2026).
Tyson is the author of seven editions of The Champagne Guide, a regular columnist for many magazines, and a contributor to Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine. As a television presenter, he is the host and producer of the People of the Vines series.
As an international speaker, Tyson has presented at wine events across Australia, France, Italy, Austria, Greece, Montenegro, the US, UK, Japan, Hong Kong, South Africa and New Zealand. He is a regular judge and chairman at wine shows throughout Australia and is a co-creator with UK wine writer Matthew Jukes of The Great New Zealand Pinot Noir Classification and The Great Australian Red Competition, winner of Australian Wine Competition of the Year (The Food & Drink Awards 2025). Tyson is a tutor and director of the champange and sparkling program at the Len Evens Tutorial, considered to be the most exclusive wine school in the world.
Tyson is the founder and director of Teen Rescue Foundation, a charity to actively discourage and reduce harmful alcohol use and its consequences among under-age teens. He has raised more than $500,000 for charities through his philanthropic initiatives over the past 15 years.
He is a winner of the Best French Wine Book in Australia 2020 and 2014, Best Digital Wine Book in Australia 2017, Digital Wine Communicator of the Year 2015, Best Wine Book of the Year 2014, Best Trade or Technical Writer of the Year 2013 and the Award for Best Food and Wine Writing 2008.
Bracket 1 | The Growers
Pierre Péters Cuvée de Réserve Brut NV
A refined, expressive blanc de blancs, showing white flowers, fresh rose petals, pear and quince, together with hints of blanched almonds and yellow fruit. The mousse is exceptionally creamy and silky, carrying delicate floral-bud notes alongside a subtle, intriguing touch of basil and tomato leaf. Very Chardonnay in character: pure, floral and gently nutty, with lovely freshness and seamless texture. Base 2023. Dosage 6g/L
94 Points - James Suckling, Jamessuckling.com
Vilmart & Cie Grande Reserve 1er Cru Brut NV
The pedigree of Vilmart's vineyards and winemaking know-how render this one of the Montagne's finest entry-level wines, effortlessly approachable yet heighted with aromatic richness from reserve wines. Based on sunny 2022, this edition is beautifully bright and sparky up front with toasty lemon and lime, delicate cherry and fresh raspberry fruit. Beyond this, gentle honey nut richness and vanilla notes add depth to the satin-smooth, svelte palate.
92 points, Tom Hewson, Decanter
André Clouet Grande Réserve NV
Pale green yellow, silver reflections, fine, persistent mousse. Fine yellow tropical fruit notes, a hint of mango and fresh meadow herbs, candied orange zest. Medium body, fine white apple fruit, fresh structure, mineral and chalky finish, a firm food companion, versatile.
94 points, Falstaff tasting panel, Falstaff
The effusive nose of candied citrus, ripe pear and brioche pulls you into this fresh and creamy champagne that hits all the pleasure buttons for a non-vintage Brut. Then the chalky freshness at the finish pulls you back for another sip. Excellent balance! 100% pinot noir. Drink now.
93 Points - James Suckling, Jamessuckling.com
Bracket 2 | Blanc de Blancs
Delamotte Blanc de Blancs NV
Interesting aromas of chalk, raw pie crust, subtle pears and apples. It's medium-bodied with fine bubbles and a long and caressing finish. Steely and pristine. Subtle salted butter and croissant flavors at the end. From top vineyards in Cotes de Blanc. 48 months on the lees. 6 g/L dosage. Drink now.
94 Points - James Suckling, Jamessuckling.com
Charles Heidsieck Blanc de Blancs NV
Very clean and transparent on the nose with sliced apples, delicate lemon curd and hints of chalk. Zesty. Medium-bodied with plenty of lemons and grapefruit, tangy and bright. Zingy. Electric at the end. 13 percent of the 2020 base wine fermented and aged in barrel. 30% reserve wine. Dosage 7 g/L. Drink now.
94 Points - James Suckling, Jamessuckling.com
Billecart-Salmon Blanc de Blancs NV
I have long adored this wine and now there’s even more to love, sporting smart blue foil on the front label and the disgorgement date on the back. A bright, pale straw hue, this is a release that embodies its 2015 base in its contrast of structural tension with considerable concentration. Pear and apple fruit of depth and presence is cut with grapefruit and wild lemon. Reserves declare considerable dimension in layers of wild honey, toasted brioche, candied almonds, even suggestions of fruit mince spice. Such magnitude is contained impeccably, equally by energetic acidity and the omnipresent, mouth-embracing, frothing, salty chalk mineral declaration of four of the sparkling world’s most commanding chardonnay crus.
A grand statement indeed.
95 Points Tyson Stelzer, champagne.guide.com (2022)
Bracket 3 | The House Cuvées
Ayala Brut Majeur NV
Aromas of strawberries, sorbet, minerals, pears, basil, quince and linden blossoms. Crisp acidity and fine bubbles reveal ripe flavors of pineapple and melon, finishing on playful notes of red-fruit candy. 55% chardonnay, 25% pinot noir and 20% meunier. Based on 2022 with 40% reserve wine. Disgorged February 2026. 6 g/L dosage. Drink now.
95 Points - James Suckling, Jamessuckling.com (2026)
Pol Roger Brut Réserve NV
Richly biscuity on the nose, with steamed rice, fresh pear and citrus blossom complexity. Creamy mousse dissolves into red apple peel, lemon and stone fruits, with a depth of honeyed biscuits. The Reserve NV from Pol Roger is a blend of base wines from at least three vintages. With 6 months of post-disgorgement ageing, the wine is ready to enjoy now.
93 points, Sylvia Wu, Decanter
Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve NV
Showing much more development here, with its golden colour and aromas of coffee and roasted hazelnuts. Despite only very subtle bubbles now, it's intense and powerful, with mocha, golden raisins and vanilla flavours, which are drawn out into toasted buckwheat, oatcakes, and puffed rice characters. It's still bright and fresh on the finish. Wow, so delicious. Base wine: 2008. Reserve wine: 32%. Disgorged: 2021.
95 points, Natalie Earl, Decanter
Bollinger Special Cuvée NV
If it's good enough for James Bond, it's good enough for you. Bollinger Champagne has made a number of cameos in James Bond films over the year. This non-vintage Special Cuvée is an example of a classic Champagne done well. Notes of marzipan on the nose and the palate give toastiness and leesy notes, specifically sourdough. It's classic for a reason and would only elevate any table it finds itself on.
95 points, Brianne Cohen, Decanter
Bracket 4 | The Evolving Cuvée
Jacquesson Cuvée No. 748, 2020 Base
Aromas of wild berries, brioche, grapefruit, salted nuts and hints of ginger from this delightfully complex Champagne. It's dry and well structured on the palate, with bright acidity and tight bubbles. Spicy at the end. Based on 2020. 2 g/L dosage. Disgorged November 2024. Drink now or hold.
94 points, Claire Nesbitt, JamesSuckling.com
Louis Roederer Collection 244 NV
Very light straw-yellow hue with a discreet, reserved aroma: there are straw/mineral/quartzy, broken-rock and fresh herb aromas, the palate is quite full and voluminous but also dry and clean at the finish, aided by a touch of phenolic grip. It's one of the more generous blends with big flavour and some roundness, generosity and an appetising finish. (2019 base vintage).
95 Points Huon Hooke, The Real Review
Krug Grande Cuvée 172ème Édition
Beautiful notes of dried citrus fruit, lemon curd and dried apples with hints of spices, dried flowers and subtle brioche. I like the polished and caressing texture and steady, refreshing acidity. It's fresh and even austere, with notes of ground spices. So vertical and firm. Structured and long. Drink or hold.
97 points, Andrii Stetsiuk, JamesSuckling.com
The 172ème édition, based around the 2016 vintage, is a delicate, floral and saline Grande Cuvée at this early stage in its life. The palate it taut, tightly wound, gradually unfurling into toasted fruit bread, rye bread and roasted nuts, wrapped around an intricate and taut lemon core. It's exceptionally long, spicy, rounded and spherical in shape. Notes of sweet unsalted butter round out the finish, which has such length, elegance and balance. 58% of the wine is from the 2016 vintage, which saw a lot of rain in the spring and close to flowering, with 42% from reserve wines. The blend is made up of 146 separately vinified wines from 11 different years, and the oldest wine in the blend is from the 1998 vintage.
97 points, Natalie Earl, Decanter
Bracket 5 | Rosé
André Clouet Rosé No. 3 NV
A frank, generous and juicy but properly dry rosé champagne that has plenty of pinot noir red-berry character. Enough substance to easily handle the dining table. Long and bright, berry and citrus finish. 100% pinot noir, of which 8% was red wine. Drink now.
93 Points - James Suckling, Jamessuckling.com
Charles Heidsieck Rosé Réserve NV
Really perfumed with flowers and light strawberry jam as well as copper and iron. Medium-bodied, this has ultrafine bubbles, lovely fruit and hints of lemon rind. 40% pinot noir, 35% chardonnay and 25% pinot meunier. 5% of the pinot noir is sourced from Les Riceys. Dosage 8 g/L. Drink or hold.
95 Points - James Suckling, Jamessuckling.com
Twinkling salmon lights in the glass. Intriguing citrus aromas pour out, backed up by toasty, honeyed tones. The Pinot Noir character really shows through in a rich, opulent style. This rosé Champagne would be delicious with seafood. Onion skin colour in the glass with an alluring nose of citrus and hints of honeyed autolysis. The palate is equally appealing; a whisper of savoury decadence garlanding the finish. A delicate rosé Champagne with dark fruit elements and hints of black pepper. This is complex and classy, and shows evidence of very skilful winemaking.
95 points, Michael Edwards, Simon Field MW & Xavier Rousset MS, Decanter
Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé NV
This is clearly one of my favorite rosé Champagnes out there. I love the freshness and clarity in the wine, from its light pink color to crisp acidity and minerally, chalky character on the finish. It's full-bodied and dense yet agile with amazing length and beauty. Refreshing and vibrant. As it warms, it gives you delicate pinot noir character like Aloxe-Corton or another excellent appellation. Drink now.
95 points, JamesSuckling.com tasting team, JamesSuckling.com