- Colour Champagne_Sparkling
- Producer Charles Heidsieck
- Region Champagne
- Case size 6x75cl
- Available Now
NV - Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve (2017 Base) - 6x75cl
- Colour Champagne Sparkling
- Producer Charles Heidsieck
- Region Champagne
- Case size 6x75cl
- Available Now
Select pricing type
Need help? Call +44 (0)20 7793 7900 or email wine@goedhuiswaddesdon.com.
-
Goedhuis, December 2022
Charles Heidsieck’s NV is a bottle you won’t be able to resist popping. Waves of silky crème patissiere are lifted by a racy lemon zest freshness, the moreish flaky pastry richness beautifully balanced by the vibrant mineral core. Almost half the blend here is from Heidsieck’s reserves, with 10 years of ageing and a small proportion of oak ferment lending depth and complexity to this lovely Champagne. A gourmet superstar.
-
WK, August 2022, Score: 92
Based on the 2017 vintage, complemented by 50% reserve wines (emphasizing Pinot, which was in short supply in the base vintage), Heidsieck's NV Brut Réserve exhibits aromas of sweet citrus fruit, buttery pastry, dried white flowers, bee pollen, crisp orchard fruit and praline. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and seamless, with a pretty core of fruit, lively acids and chalky structure, it's a giving, charming wine that will offer a broad drinking window. Drink 2022-2035.
Producer
Charles Heidsieck
Widely considered one of the great names of Champagne, Charles Heidsieck was founded in 1851 by the original ‘Champagne Charlie’, Charles-Camille Heidsieck, a man who ‘broke America’ and popularised Champagne across the pond in the 1800s. More recently, the house’s considerable success can be attributed to the strength and depth of its winemaking team which, between them, have received the ‘Sparkling Winemaker of the Year’ at the International Wine Challenge 16 times (no other house has won more than twice!) At Charles Heidsieck, the emphasis is on simplicity, which can be seen in the production of their Brut Réserve; grapes are sourced from 60 different ‘crus’ across the region, while fermentation and ageing of the base wines takes place primarily in stainless steel to preserve freshness. The pièce de resistance, however, comes in the form of the rare gem Blanc des Millénaires. Released after almost 15 years of ageing, in Charles Heidsieck’s 2,000-year-old (UNESCO World Heritage) Gallo-Roman chalk cellars, this Blanc de Blancs is simply outstanding and is one of the rarest on the market.Region
Champagne
Champagne, the world's greatest sparkling wine, needs little introduction - with imitations produced in virtually every country capable of growing grapes, including such unlikely candidates as India and China. The Champagne region, to the north of Paris, has the most northerly vineyards in France, with vines grown on slopes with a southerly exposure to maximise sunlight. The soil is chalky, providing an excellent balance of drainage and water retention. The key to the wine is in the cellar - the bubbles result from a second fermentation in the bottle and the rich toasty flavours in great Champagne come from extended bottle ageing on the yeasty lees. Until the eighteenth century, the wines produced in the Champagne area were light acidic white wines, with no hint of sparkle. However glass and closure technology developed at that time and it was not long before Dom Perignon, a Benedictine monk at the Abbey of Hautvilliers, started experimenting with blends and produced the first recognisable champagne. In a world accustomed to still wines, the advent of champagne was almost a flop. It was saved when it became fashionable at the French court as a result of Louis XV's mistress Madame de Pompadour commenting "Champagne is the only wine that lets a woman remain beautiful after she has drunk it." And the rest is history, with famous (or infamous) champagne lovers including Casanova, Dumas, Wagner, Winston Churchill, James Bond and Coco Chanel.
