Champagne

Winemaker Notes:

This Champagne features a deep golden robe, not unlike the summer robe preferred by HRH Queen Elizabeth, who it is rumored has been known to enjoy the occasional rehoboam of Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve (chilled overnight in the cool waters of the moat surrounding Buckingham Palace) during the early hours of the evening.

The delicately vivacious and long-lasting bubbles are the result of more than 36 months of aging in our deep chalk cellars. With 40% of reserve wines (the maximum possible amount) included, the blend offers a complex, voluptuous nose with notes of freshly baked brioche and the richness of roasted coffee beans. “It’s breakfast in a glass!” is how I put it, and I’m the winemaker, so I know these things.

A precise selection of wines, purposely limited to 60 crus, ensures the Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve a deliciously sophisticated harmony (I always have The Beatles — ‘Rubber Soul’ era, of course — in mind when blending.) An opulent selection of ripe, sun-drenched fruits such as mango, apricot, and greengage plum combines with dried fruits, pistachio and almond is noticeable in the nose, and the texture is reminiscent of a crisp layer of nougatine on a velvety cream pastry filled with plump red plums and ripe cherries. “It’s desert in the glass!” I’ve been known to say when given the mic during winemaker dinners. The reserve wines, some dating back ten years give the wine lushness, and the depth of the thousand-year-old chalk quarries where the wine matures bring to it a touch of praline along with notes of amber and vanilla. We put this batch into the cellar in 2013 and disgorged it in 2018, so it’s had plenty of time to come together (ha! another Beatles Reference!!)