Champagne "Millésimé"

What is a Millesime champagne?

Some particularly generous years are the subject of a vintage year. Contrary to a undated brut made from a blend, a Millesime champagne is issued from a single year considered as exceptional and endowed with a real typicity. What are the assets of a vintage? Journey to the heart of an exceptional champagne.

Grades and qualifications

Some harvests can be of great quality and therefore deserve to be vintage, i.e. kept as they are, without reserve wines. But there is vintage and then there is vintage, indeed some years are more remarkable than others. There is also a very precise value scale which lists the quality of the millesimes/ vintages:

It should be noted that the greatest vintages of Canard-Duchêne are 2002, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012.

A history of ageing

In addition to the quality of the harvest, a vintage champagne must rest on its deposits for at least 36 months. Some large maisons do not hesitate to put it up for sale after 5 or 10 years in the cellar. Even though vintage champagnes may contain the same grape varieties as an undated Brut (pinot noir, pinot meunier, chardonnay), they benefit from a more important ageing potential. Most of them can be kept for another 2 to 4 years, and much longer for the exceptional vintages. The magnum and the jeroboam are the perfect containers to preserve these exceptional wines.

Sublimating a vintage

Exceptional champagne means rather elaborate gastronomy. And still, an old vintage can be absolutely sumptuous with a simple leg of lamb in a herb crust. Not necessarily recommended as an aperitif, vintage champagne is best served with elaborate dishes such as a chicken supreme stuffed with truffles. It is not afraid of iodised notes either: poached salmon with hollandaise sauce, grilled lobster with green sauce, Saint Pierre à la crème, it transforms dinner into a culinary event by preventing the palate from getting tired thanks to its delicate bubbles. It is best served at a temperature between 7° and 9° in flutes or white wine glasses of the “Bordeaux” type.

Vintage champagne is the fruit of the best years of a generous harvest, it is tasted with delicacy but should not be intimidating. 5 to 6 years are vintage per decade, so you can find YOUR year!

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