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Wine Description
The Story
THE CHARLES’ WINE represents a world of elegance and indulgence. It is beautifully balanced and captivatingly complex. The quality demands meticulous attention. A fine-tuned dose of unconventional decisions at each step of the champagne production process.
Each wine has its own personality, its own generous tone. The fresh elegance of Chardonnay. The structure of Pinot Noir. The generosity of Meunier. Blending wines of the year with reserve wines is specific to Champagne; the perfect alliance demands exceptional expertise.
Amongst the House treasures, pride of place for the wine-making team lies in an incredible number of wines that have patiently been put aside for reserve. Selected and set aside for their aromatic potential, these wines are destined to play a role in the blending of a Charles Heidsieck champagne. A Brut Réserve cuvée contains a large proportion of reserve wines (40%), representing an average of 10 years of ageing. A blend pledging an unparalleled texture, a signature of the Charles style.
Time represents a 4th varietal for the Charles Heidsieck House.
Wine Information
Throughout all of France, the 2005 harvests were magnificent. The 2005 harvest in Champagne was particularly successful due to a cold, dry winter, an early heat wave in June that promoted flowering, a reasonable amount of rainfall in the summer and, finally, a return to high temperatures in early September, ideal for ripening the grapes.
Eye: The deep golden robe presents a delicate, lively effervescence. A voluptuous impression.
Nose: Warm and autumn-like, the nose offers fragrances of candied chestnuts and honey with surprising notes of praline and lightly toasted hazelnuts.
Palate: The incredible balance offers the firmness expected of a great champagne as well as the opulence of autumn with generous flavours of roasted apricots, dates and figs which delicately coat the palate.
Vintage 2005
The 2005 vintage was a year of marked contrasts between seasons and regions. Following a fairly harsh winter, 2005 had a mild spring with relatively warm temperatures all year long. There was above average sunshine and a slight water deficit, as had been the case throughout the dry cycle of 2005/2004 and 2003. The heat and humidity in July produced larger grapes and bunches, rather unusually for the Champagne region, while the cooler weather in August, followed by a very sunny month of September, led to favourable ripening in spite of heavy parasite pressure. The harvest dates were “typical” of those of the decade: September 12th for Chardonnays and the following day for Pinots Noirs.