Brut Majeur, Champagne Ayala

This exquisitely presented cuvée from the Bollinger stable is now absolutely singing. There is absolutely no excuse for not snapping up a couple here and now. Sister to Bollinger, the Ayala Brut Majeur is a wonderfully dry and elegant champagne. Delicately aromatic with citrus, blossom and white peach notes alongside honeysuckle. The palate is fresh with apple and peach fruit, notes of hazelnut and a long, persistent finish.

Founding his champagne house at Aÿ in 1860, Fernand Ayala launched in 1865 what he called his ‘dry champagne’. The cuvée soon became all the rage in fin-de-siècle France and enjoyed huge popularity in Edwardian Britain where it was granted a royal warrant in 1908. No wonder it was also the favourite champagne of that gourmet, lover of life’s finest things, and creator of the Entente Cordiale, King Edward VII.

 - Ben Godfrey, Wine Buyer.