A list of the top 10 scores of the year and a list of the year’s most memorable Champagnes will always be slightly different.
While scanning through memories of the year, though, it wasn’t just the wines that I expected to be great – and were – whose flavours come rushing back, but wines that went a little against the grain.
Wines that reminded me that, whilst we learn easy-to-grasp takes on good and bad vintages, or winemaking techniques, or the style of certain producers, some bottles stick in the memory because they don’t quite fit the story.
A surprise from an underrated vintage
During a stunning vertical tasting of Rare that took place in Versailles in October 2025, a magnum of 1999 – not reputed as a fine vintage, and one whose wines today are almost without fail rather heavy – astonished not only the professional tasters present, but even the winemaker Émilien Boutillat.
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csOpZMOpcmljIFBhbmHDr290aXM8L3N0cm9uZz48L2E+LCBDaGVmIGRlIENhdmUgb2YgUnVpbmFydC48L3A+CjxwPkhpcyAyMDEzIERvbSBSdWluYXJ0IGVwaXRvbWlzZXMgYWxsIHRoZSB3b3JrIHVuZGVydGFrZW4gdG8gcmFpc2UgdGhpcyBjdXbDqWUgdG8gdGhlIHZlcnkgaGVpZ2h0cyBvZiBibGFuYyBkZSBibGFuY3Mg4oCTIEkgd2FzIGx1Y2t5IGVub3VnaCB0byB0YXN0ZSB0aGlzIHdpdGggUGFuYcOvb3RpcywgYW5kIHdhcyBsZWZ0IGluIG5vIGRvdWJ0IHRoYXQgaXQgaXMgYSB3aW5lIENoYW1wYWduZSBsb3ZlcnMgd2lsbCBiZSBlbmpveWluZyBmb3IgZGVjYWRlcyB0byBjb21lLjwvcD4KPHA+Cg=="}
Tom’s Champagne highlights of 2025: 12 wines to try
{}
{"wineId":"99674","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"104268","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"97496","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"104270","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"84759","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"101389","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"104271","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"94075","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"104155","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"104269","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{}
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