x
  • Country ranking ?

    1 372
  • Producer ranking ?

    47
  • Decanting time

    No
  • When to drink

    Now
  • Food Pairing

    Seafood, Salads & Consommes

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The Story

Everyone knows about the genie inside the lamp. You rub the lamp, and the genie pops out. For the Champagne Charlie cuvée, we were faced with the reverse: we had to take inspiration from history, starting with the founder’s character, Charles-Camille Heidsieck (1822 - 1893), to create a champagne wine worthy of his character.

The Champagne Charlie legend is intertwined with the soul of a man who bequeathed so many new ideas to his House, and who knew what it was to be an entrepreneur, a gentleman and an innovator. Free-spirited and adventurous, his inspiration was enough to encourage his heirs today to recreate a cuvée in his name and, more particularly, in his nickname.

The Charles Heidsieck House and the spirit of Charlie invites you to savor times gone by while letting yourself be transported by a desire to form emotions, friendships and lasting dreams. Time has the power to amplify happiness.

Charles Heidsieck transmitted an important legacy: the art of blending. While his competitors focused on meticulously selecting crus, vines and varietals, he concentrated on establishing agreements with the most gifted winegrowers in Champagne, picking out wines from a large range of villages. He could turn every cuvée to good effect, leaving each to age at its own pace, depending on its character, until full maturity. One bottle of Charles Heidsieck wine can contain up to almost 60 different crus, each differing in cellaring times but generally longer than the average time.
 
In addition, our art of blending ensures that Charles Heidsieck wines boast good cellaring potential. The Champagne Charlie cuvée will be one of the most distinctive from an ageing point of view: a large part of the blend comes from réserve wines aged on lees for up to 25 years.

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Vintage 1981

Champagne:  Challenging weather conditions left a small harvest and kept the producers in suspense up until the final moments. The final result was a good but very scarce vintage.

    The mild spring woke up the vines from their winter sleep early, and vegetal growth began early in the spring. Unfortunately, heavy night frosts came in April and damaged the young sprouts. The situation only got worse when in May hailstorms damaged the vineyards. After this, the weather stayed cold, and the vines did not flower until July. In general, Chardonnay succeeded better than the red varieties in the flowering phase. August and September brought belief back to the producers, when the weather turned hot and sunny. Grapes matured in record speed, and it was possible to do the harvest right before the late September rains. As a result of previous lean harvest years, producers confirmed the sufficiency of non-vintage blends, and a large part of this vintage’s wines ended up as blend wines.

Thankfully, some of the producers also produced vintage champagnes. The have generally proven to be balanced and even excellent. The wines still have posture, elegance and concentration, even though the wines do not improve further in the cellar. The best experiences this year have been produced by Krug, whose blend exceptionally is half Chardonnay. For friends of Pinot Noir, the best win

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Latest Pro-tasting notes

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Written Notes

The name Champagne Charlie didn't go down so well in the English-speaking world, so Charles Heidsieck decided to discontinue this lovely Champagne. Juicy, exotic, and well-balanced, with a good grip and long aftertaste of mango.
  • 93p
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Information

Origin

Reims, Champagne

Other wines from this producer

Blanc de Blancs

Blanc de Millenaires Vinothèque

Blanc des Millénaires

Brut Millésimé

Brut Réserve

Champagne Charlie Vinothèque

Coteaux Champenois Blanc Montgueux

La Collection Crayères Millésime Brut

Rosé Millésime

Rosé Réserve

Rosé vintage

Vintage

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