The Artful Diner rounded up champagne experts, including Nicolas Clerc, master sommelier at Le Pont de la Tour, Shana Dilworth-Thomas, head sommelier at The Orrery, and Times wine critic Jane MacQuitty, to ask for a special Christmas guide to bubbly.

What to look for when drinking champagne:

When poured, the champagne bubbles should create generous and long-lasting foam (or mousse). “I look for soft bubbles that slowly dissipate in my mouth,” explains Shana. “It’s like any good wine, you want layers of flavour. Champagne should have complexity; it’s spent enough time on the yeast.”

Depending on the style of champagne, whether lean and zesty like Champagne Lanson or rich and biscuity like Bollinger, you’re looking for a number of different flavours, for example lemon peel and apple or brioche and dried fruit.

A tip when looking at champagne labels:

Champagne ranges from very dry or Ultra Brut to sweet or Demi Sec. Blanc de Blancs is made from 100% chardonnay and is a great “zingy”, lean and dry champagne to drink as an aperitif, according to Times wine critic Jane Macquitty.

Shana recommends looking for the two tiny letters inscribed on every champagne label, identifying its source. Typically these are NM, RM or MA. Every bottle of champagne must be labelled with its origin and these two letters denote the type of producer, whether house, co-operative or grower.

NM stands for Négociant-Manipulant or one of the champagne houses that buys in its grapes. RM stands for Récoltant-Manipulant, or champagne made by a grower using his own grapes. CM champagne comes from a co-operative. MA indicates buyers' own brands, for example a supermarket own-label.

Be adventurous:

By identifying where your champagne comes from, you are able to understand a bit more about how it is made. Non-vintage champagnes (a blend of vintages) made by a big champagne house are typically NM. Their hallmark is consistency of style, but there is plenty to discover if you experiment with RM grower champagnes, says Nicolas [in picture above].

Growers’ champagnes make up half of the non-vintage champagnes on Nicolas’s list at Le Pont de la Tour – a point highlighted by Imbibe when it awarded him Champagne List of the Year 2011. “My job is to help people discover,” he says. “All the big champagne brands are here as vintage or prestige cuvées, but I think it’s such an open playing field in non-vintage.”

The grower brands are keeping the Grandes Marques on their toes and it’s worth trying some of their champagnes, he says. If you don’t know anything about champagne, he recommends becoming familiar with different styles through the Grandes Marques and then experimenting [see his recommendation in the picture below].

How to serve:

Champagne is best served chilled. It is better to serve it in “tulips” or “flutes”, which retain the bubbles longer, rather than “saucers”, which allow the sparkle to disappear, according to Pedro Carvalho, general manager at Avenue, which has an extensive list of champagnes by the glass.

"You don’t have to treat champagne simply as an aperitif, it cuts through the richness of foods like caviar, pâté, smoked salmon, gravadlax, oysters and lobster," he adds.

The champagnes to drink this Christmas:

The perfect aperitif, recommended by Shana: Pol Roger White Foil NV

“This is a well-balanced and medium-bodied champagne, with a fine and persistent mousse. It’s really refreshing with no trace of bitterness on the finish.” [See picture of Shana and her choice, below.]

Stock up on this fantastic quality champagne, recommended by Shana: Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs 2004 (available to buy at Waitrose)

“This is one made by a co-operative producer based in the village of Mesnil, which is a Grand Cru village. It has a very clean and refreshing style.”

Be adventurous and try a small champagne producer, recommended by Nicolas: Françis Boulard Grand Cru Mailly, Brut Nature

“This is one of the most exciting Brut non-vintage champagnes. It has a nutty, cherry flavour with dried fruits, but also lots of freshness. It’s an aperitif, I think it works better with food.”

A “push the boat out” aperitif from Jane: Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs

“This is for when you want to push the boat out. It has amazing aromatic, dry, citrus, toasted flavours.”

Further information:

Find these champagnes on wine lists at The Orrery, Avenue and Le Pont de la Tour.

Avenue’s bar serves nine different champagnes by the glass.

Jane Macquitty is hosting a wine dinner with Nicolas Clerc at Le Pont de la Tour on Thursday November 24. Book tickets here.