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Wine Description
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.
Vintage 1982
One of the decade’s best vintages, which can be excellently enjoyed already now. The winter was cold and the spring cool. The cold weather moved the start of the growth season and enabled the vines to avoid spring frosts. The inflorescences, which bloomed in June, enjoyed perfect conditions. The warm and sunny weather continued through summer all the way until early September, when refreshing and needed rains arrived in the area. They saved the grapes from overmaturing. The result was an excellent vintage, which in addition to being high-quality was quantitatively one of the biggest harvests ever. The vintage was favorable especially for blanc de blancs. Stylistically, the wines are giving, heavy and rich in nuances. They are now at an excellent age, but can still endure maturing 5–7 years on the average.