Charles Heidsieck Champagne Blanc de Blancs: best price for this superb Decanter World Wine Awards Platinum Trophy winner: the judges call this ‘a stunner’: Gold Medals galore: single bottle delivered in gift box

Platinum Trophy and 97/100 points, Decanter World Wine Awards
Gold Trophy, Sommelier Wine Awards
Gold Medal, nternational Wine Challenge
Gold Medale, Mundus Vini
Gold Medal, Champagne Masters
92/100, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
17/20, Jancis Robonson MW

Charles Heidsieck Champagnes are outstanding and this Blanc de Blancs Brut, with a Platinum Trophy from the prestigious Decanter World Wine Awards, five Gold Trophies and Medals and 97 Points to its name, is exceptional even by its own high standards. The connoisseurs—and our Club Tasting Panel—all agree. It is a must-try Champagne which, for Blanc de Blancs aficionados, is unmissable. You will be impressed and delighted—and so will your gift recipient!

Charles Heidsieck is one of the most highly awarded Champagne Houses in the world, yet because it is not available en masse in supermarkets, only to independent wine cellars and retailers, top restaurants—and to Members of CountryClubuk—it is a real hidden gem. It also has a fascinating history that reads like an adventure novel.

Gentleman and entrepreneur, in the 19th century young Charles Heidsieck was heir to a Champagne fortune, a rebel with an extraordinary thirst for adventure. Aged just 29 he founded his Champagne House in his own image: authentic, distinguished and a stand-out among all others. In keeping with his spirit—after all, he was the original Champagne Charlie—his grandson Charles-Marcel created a Blanc de Blancs in its 1949 vintage, one of the first Champagne Houses to demonstrate its passion for Chardonnay by producing a Blanc de Blancs.

Through this cuvée, relaunched in 2018, two of the House’s areas of expertise come together—the spirit of Charles, the character of a gentleman. The considerable challenge is to make opposites co-exist: the tautness and the freshness of young Chardonnays on one hand, and the silky ‘Charles’ character on the other. This great Blanc de Blancs is an artful blend of different years and terroirs, with 25% reserve wine, to produce a wonderfully complex Champagne with rich maturity.

Three-quarters of the Chardonnay in this Blanc de Blancs is from 2012, and the rest is reserve wine with an average of five years of age. The grapes were grown principally in the Côtes des Blancs (Oger, Vertus) with supplemental fruit from Villers-Marmery, Trépail, Vaudemange, and Montgueux. It was laid down in 2013 and disgorged in 2019.

The result is a shiny, green-gold colour with an active bead—pale, crystalline gold with the typical glints of the Chardonnay varietal. The fragrance delivers the aromas of mature Chardonnay initially: white peach, candied citrus with notes of lime, honeysuckle and fresh hazelnut, giving way to subtle hints of tangerine and lemon. On the palate, generous and full bodied: an aromatic complexity that is the hallmark of Charles Heidsieck wines. Freshness and tautness mark this typically Charles generosity, and a creamy mousse. It has a velvety effervescence, thanks to 25% of reserve wines and prolonged ageing in the chalk cellars. Pure and forthright, it is not aggressive but almost unconventionally suave for a Blanc de Blancs. The harmonious finish offers surprising minerality and a slight salinity, deepening in notes of nut and pastry. This wine is perfectly balanced: opulent but alive.

Jancis Robinson notes, ‘Pretty powerful nose . . . and then quite rich on the palate. Really firm and fine. Broader than the average blanc de blancs . . . very well made and pleasing. Ambitious.‘ Awarding their Platinum Trophy, the DWWA judges called this fine Champagne ‘a stunner!’ and our Club Tasting Panel agree, highly recommending it to our Members, particularly at this advantageous web-beating Club price saving over £23 a bottle.

Charles Heidsieck Blanc de Blancs Champagne. Single bottle in gift box. RRP £90. CCUK £75 including UK mainland delivery.

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