Find out who won this prestigious trophy for vintage champagne over £10. And the winner is...
Charles Heidsieck 2000 Brut
This Champagne was awarded a gold medal in 2009, when it was first launched onto the market and, by 2010, with just another 12 months in the bottle, it romped away with the Vintage Champagne Trophy.
Another year has gone by and Charles Heidsieck 2000 Brut has battled its way through yet more stiff competition to claim this prestigious trophy for the second consecutive year.
This Champagne is composed of 60% Pinot Noir from Ambonnay and Aÿ, with 40% Chardonnay from Avize and Oger, and a dosage of 12g/l to ensure its smooth development over as long as possible.
Charles Heidsieck releases very few vintages, just six in the last 36 years, for example, the others being 1985, 1989, 1990, 1995 and 1996. The 1996 was made in such a small quantity that it was released only in France.
As Charles Heidsieck’s chef de caves Régis Camus explains, “Daniel Thibault and I were so impressed with the acidity of the 1996 vins clairs that we knew they would be invaluable as reserve wine components for future blends of the Brut Réserve.
We therefore produced barely enough of vintage to satisfy the French market, thus markets such as the UK passed from 1995 to 2000.”
This house is also one of the very few to disgorge the entire production of every vintage upon release, so you will never see a late-disgorged, and thus artificially fresh, version of the same vintage.
The Charles Heidsieck 2000 Brut is exactly the same disgorgement as the Charles Heidsieck 2000 Brut we tasted last year and, if they submit this vintage as a library vintage in 10 years time, it will be the same disgorgement again.
It is the quality of Charles Heidsieck, its historic disgorgement regime and the avoidance of low dosage that guarantees its consistency and longevity, enabling it to win more DWWA trophies and gold medals than any other Champagne house.
Availability
UK: http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/charles+heidsieck/2000/uk?Xlist_format=N&Xbottle_size=all&Xprice_set=CUR&Xprice_min=&Xprice_max=
US: http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/charles+heidsieck/2000/usa?Xlist_format=N&Xbottle_size=all&Xprice_set=CUR&Xprice_min=&Xprice_max=
Website www.charlesheidsieck.com
Telephone 33 (0) 326 84.43.50
Written by Tom Stevenson
