Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve NV, 75 cl

Product Information

Weather: The 2012 weather has been hallmarked by many as very challenging but has created some stunning Champagne. Relatively low yields due to various weather conditions throughout the year. The winter months brought some frosts and hail which damaged the early stages of bud burst. Much of August was very wet and the year was saved as the sun came out in September and rescued the vintage. Most 2012 have a great balance with purity of fruit and chalky minerality and with the potential to rival the 2002 and 2008's. The company was prominent internationally when Charles-Camille managed it, as it was under five more generations, including being a market leader in the USA through Prohibition. But through the post-war period up until the late 1980s, the company slowly lost a lot of business,” says Leroux.

Daniel Thibault - 1975 to 2002 brought us Champagne Charlie with the 1979, followed by a 1981, 1982, 1983, and 1985 and the mis en cave labelling concept & introduced 40% reserve wines as being a new average! Much of what we see today with Collection Crayeres, the recent releases of old vintages of the 80's and 90's give us a glimpse into the genius of this man; champagnes that are gorgeous four to five decades after the harvest. His showmanship and the quality of his wines earned him royal warrants from many of the royal and imperial families of the time.

In 1982, Joseph Henriot's (1936-2015) biographical adventure " Champagne Charlie" was published in France The non-vintage Champagne is made with painstaking attention to detail. 60% of the blend is wine vinified that year (using an equal split of the three main Champagne grapes; chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier) and the remaining 40% is a blend of reserve wines – a mixture of chardonnay and pinot noir ranging from between five and 20 years old. There are over 400 to choose from – more than most other Champagne houses – and once the team has decided on the blend, the wine is aged for a minimum of 3 years. Cyril Brun has been chef de cave here since 2015 having spent 15 years at Veuve Clicquot. The first glass will be iced green tea, but the second could be a crisp glass of Riesling or Sauvignon blanc

Curiosity: ask questions, challenge the answers, go deeper in understanding the impact of every action. Thierry Roset - 2012 to 2014 Recruited by Daniel Thibault in 1988 as his deputy and in 2003 after Daniel passed away he became a full time member of Regis's winemaking team leading to him creating the “new Charles style” from 2007. His last "big task" was to oversee the smooth transition in winemaking when ownership shifted from Remy Cointreau to the EPI Group.

The launch or relaunch of a new wine is exciting: it will happen in a few years with Champagne Charlie. We’ve really put all our treasures into these new bottles. From a wine perspective, we like to think we’ve really pushed the boundaries. Wine connoisseurs might have been expecting us to produce a vintage wine because some previous ‘Charlie’ wines were vintages, but in increasing the reserve content the result is something very distinctive.”