Although there are areas of the wine world which look back at 2012 as a growing season that they’d rather forget, Champagne is not one of them. Indeed, whilst many winemakers held their heads in their hands, the Champenoise celebrated with adjectives such as ‘triumphant’, ‘legendary’ and ‘miraculous’ all used liberally to describe the fruits of their labour. Jean-Baptiste Lécallion, Chef de Cave of Louis Roederer, was heard to say that ‘the quality is outstanding… a great vintage. Probably better than 1996 and close to 1990 on average. But in some special location it could well be better than that, closer to a 1947’

This was far from an easy victory, though. The growing season threw everything that it had at Champagne – February saw temperatures fall as low as -20°c after a relatively mild winter, with the cold snap bringing in its wake devastating frosts and a savage hailstorm that vignerons described as one of the worst in living memory. Just 15 minutes of intense hail saw areas of the Côte des Bar lose anywhere between 50% and 100% of its burgeoning crop, with vines sustaining damage to such a level that the effects would also be felt in 2013.

It didn’t end there; Arctic conditions gave way to a miserably rainy spring which caused poor flowering and intense disease pressure in the vineyards right through to June and July. Mildew thrived for much of the summer, with producers using organic and biodynamic methods finding themselves particularly under pressure to combat these various threats without the support of chemical intervention.

However, the weather came through at the eleventh hour, and the misery of the months thus far gave way to elation as August arrived and the sun came to stay. The six or so weeks from the beginning of August through to harvest were as perfect late-season conditions as the Champenoise could hope for (to the point where the warmth even caused a touch of over-ripeness in places) and was the miracle saviour of the vintage. Those hardy berries which had survived sub-zero temperatures, frost, hail, damp, rain and disease began to thrive in their newfound luxury and developed into a small but extremely high-quality crop.

Many Houses and growers saw yields down in the region of 4000 kg/ha to 8000 kg/ha (significantly below the permitted maximum of 11,000) but as is the case in winemaking the world over, triumph is often the result of adversity and cellarmasters universally praised ideal levels of sugar and acidity, perfect aromatic flavour profiles and enthusiastic, healthy fermentations which seemed to promise great things… and wholeheartedly delivered. In fact, some producers even chose to reduce their production of non-vintage cuvées in order to focus on emphasising the unique expression of the year.

Today, 2012 is viewed as one of the greatest vintages since 1990, with dizzyingly high scores awarded with glee by critics and a level of desirability in the market that many struggle to match. Most telling of all, great houses and grower producers alike now unfailingly celebrate 2012 (the hail and mildew but a bad memory). It is true that this vintage, which put even the most hardened winemakers to the test, represents some of the very best Champagnes available on the market today, drinking beautifully now even ten short years later whilst promising further greatness in the years to come.

It is an almost impossible task to narrow the Champagnes of 2012 down to just six of the best, but I’ve tried my hardest and selected three great Grandes Marques and three legendary growers whose 2012 vintages are some of the best to be had anywhere … I’ll let you decide the ultimate winner!