Armand de Brignac has released its first ever vintage champagne, a limited release Blanc de Noirs style cuvee from the warm and sunny 2015 harvest, which is priced at £2,650 per magnum. The new Champagne joins the five multi-vintage styles in the brand’s range, but is released in very limited quantity with just 1,258 individually numbered magnums going on sale next month (November) in Harrods and other luxury retailers. Alexandre Cattier, the head winemaker at Champagne Cattier, the Chigny-les-Roses based house that produces all the Armand de Brignac wines, explained why the brand had decided to break the mould of multi-vintage styles and produce a vintaged champagne at a tasting of the entire range to launch the new vintage. “Why not?” he said, pointing out that the 2015 was a good starting point “because it was a very good vintage for us”. “With good ripeness levels and no rain, it was very easy to get the best grapes. It’s a generous style reflecting the sunny summer that was easy to make. We ended up with a Blanc de Noirs because both Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier were good.” The blend is a majority of Pinot Noir (70%) coming from a mix of grand and premier cru villages including Mally and Verzenay, while the remaining 30% of Pinot Meunier was sourced in the Cattier heartland crus of Chigny les Roses, Rilly la Montagne and Ludes. “Some say that 2015 was a good, rather than great year, but it was particularly good
This Article was originally published on The Drink Business - Fine Wine
