Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de blancs

Like all vintage champagne, our Grand Cru will spend a minimum of three years maturing on its lees in bottle in the cellar on a crown cap before being disgorged and corked. After this, it will undoubtedly benefit from a further period of bottle ageing, when all the yeasty, biscuity flavours - the result of spending over three years on its lees - combine with the elegant fruit of the Chardonnay grape to produce this unique champagne. As our Grand Cru champagne is made entirely from Chardonnay (white) grapes, it is therefore a Blanc de blancs.

Vintage Grand Cru Blanc de blancs champagne is very rare and so to further enhance its individuality we have chosen to use heavy, ancient bottles called Sacres. This unique champagne is made only for 3D Wines' Partners, so if individuality and exclusivity appeal to you, here is a champagne you can really call your own.

The designation Grand Cru denotes the very best vineyard sites in the Champagne region. It was created originally to enable the big Champagne Houses to set the prices they paid growers for their grapes. All the villages were ranked between 80% and 100% and only grapes grown in the communes designated 100% or 'Grand Cru' could charge the full price - the others were only allowed to charge their designated percentage of that price. This system of price fixing was outlawed by Brussels in 2000 - however, grapes grown in the 17 designated Grand Cru villages are all ranked 100% including the famous village of Mesnil-sur-Oger. This is the source for the grapes that go into Bertrand's superb Blanc de blancs.

All the best grapes are grown on the slopes of the chalky Champagne hills where the roots dig deep into the ground and the slopes provide the ideal combination of good drainage and humidity. The Champagne vineyards' exposure to the cold northerly climate inevitably makes grape growing a precarious operation, with the quality of the wines varying from year to year. This is one reason why most champagne is blended, made not only from grapes grown in different villages but also from different vintages and different grape varieties (Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir). Another reason is that the large Champagne Houses - who in the main control the export market - want to produce a 'house style' that doesn't vary very much from year to year. To supplement their non-vintage house 'brand' most large houses 'declare' a vintage on average every other year - although not necessarily in the same years - so you will now find a vintage being 'declared' every year, though perhaps by different houses. Vintage champagnes are made from the grapes grown in a single year - but may be a blend of different grapes and/or from different villages.

With champagne made entirely from Grand Cru grapes the potential is there in the raw material to make the best possible champagne - but if it is also a vintage, the vagaries of the weather each year add to the mix. There is no doubt that although it will certainly not be the same every year, vintage Grand Cru champagne has the potential to be the very best.

As a Partner at Maison Lenique your allocation of wine is:

• Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de blancs 2004 (white)
  21,20€ per bottle (2008 price* exc. VAT)
  2 cases (24 bottles) maximum

Next option available: April 2009. Partners joining after March 1st in any year will receive their Option the following year.

* Guide price: 2009 prices to be confirmed summer 2008. 

View our pricing policy