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  • Weather

    14° C Light rain
  • Time

    15:06 PM
  • Wine average?

    90 Tb
  • Country Ranking?

    728
  • Region Ranking?

    68
  • Popularity ranking?

    81

History

The story goes back all the way to 1625, and probably even further, when the Cattier family first started planting vines in Chigny-les-Roses, in the heart of the Montagne de Reims.

Fast-forward to 1916, when Jean Cattier returned to Chigny-les-Roses as a wounded veteran of the Great War.The city of Reims was under siege by the German Army, shaken by an onslaught of ar tiller y shells which would destroy 60% of the city. Champagne traders tried to keep their businesses running under these harsh conditions, but it was an uphill struggle. Unable to sell his poor harvest in 1916, Jean Cattier decided to turn his grapes into wine and produce his own champagne, released at the end of the war in 1918. This signalled the birth of Cattier champagne.

 

In 1936, his son Jean Cattier married Nelly Adam. They went on to have three children, Jean-Louis, Liliane and Jean-Jacques. They worked to build upthe business and pass onto their children both their passion for champagne and a flourishing company.

 

At the beginning of the 1960’s, Jean-Louis took over the vines. A little later, in 1971, his oenologist brother Jean-Jacques took the reins in the winery before later taking charge of the administrative and sales side of the company. In 1950, Jean Cattier purchased the Clos du Moulin, one of the very few historic enclosed (“Clos”) vineyards in the region (along with the Clos des Goisses).Their first harvest in the new vineyard came in 1951, which was bottled in 1952 and released onto the market in 1956. This was a pioneering moment in the history of champagne, with one of the first ever single-vineyard Clos champagnes.

 

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In 2011, Alexandre Cattier, became the thir teenth generation of Cattiers to work the vines and the fourth to produce their own champagne when he took the reins of the company, alongside his cousin Agathe, who became the Assistant Managing Director, and Marie, the new brand ambassador.

Under the guidance of Jean-Jacques Cattier, Cattier Champagne has flourished through the hard work, courage and audacity of the men and women in the family. Driven by their passion for wine and the land they work, each has helped make Cattier the brand it is today, dedicated to preserving and passing on the excellence we have inherited.

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Vineyards

The Champagne wine region includes 320 villages, 17 of which are labelled Grand Cru and 42 are Premier Cru. These prestigious villages are located in the historic centre of Champagne: the Montagne de Reims, the Côte des Blancs and the Vallée de la Marne. Grand Cru and Premier Cru represent known and renowned terroirs which are highly prized by cellar-masters. They are appreciated for their finesse, their delicacy and the consistent high quality.

 

Our vines are mostly in and around Chigny-les-Roses, Ludes and Rilly-la-Montagne, right in the heart of the Montagne de Reims and surrounded by the region’s Premier and Grand Cru vineyards.The family’s vineyards cover some 33 hectares, which have been built up and developed by the family over the generations. When you are lucky enough to own an estate as precious as this, it is your duty to give it the care it deserves. That is why a team of ten people tend the vines all year long, ensuring that the vines produce the finest possible grapes which are picked at the perfect moment. The team takes great care when ploughing the soil around the vines, paying special attention to the historic Clos du Moulin - where they do it the old-fashioned way, with a horse-pulled plough.

 

Since the mid-1990’s, we have made it a priority to take a more ethical, environmental approach to how we tend the wines.This painstaking approach was quickly rewarded by the Ampelos certification, then by a level three (the highest possible) HVE label for environmental quality. Lastly, in 2017, we were awarded the VDC label for sustainable production in Champagne.

The renown and prestige of our wines are a direct result of three factors : the quality of our soil, the skill exper tise and eye for perfection of our manager and cellar-master, Alexandre Cattier, and his team. This is reflected in a plethora of awards for our champagnes in greatest national and international competition.

 

Champagne represents the ver y highest level of excellence in sparkling wine. We owe it to ourselves to maintain this standard at every step of the process, especially in terms of how we tend our vines. Indeed, one of our top priorities is maintaining an ethical, respectful relationship with the earth we rely on.

The company has been focused on this aspect of the craft for a generation. Our vineyards were

awarded the “Ampélos” cer tification in the 1990’s, a label created by winemakers who prioritised a respect for native plants and animals.

Next came the new HVE (High Environmental Quality) certification in 2012, governed by the Ministry of Agriculture. We took on this challenge and the new set of constraints it imposed on our vineyards, finally achieving the highest HVE standard (level 3) in April 2015.

 

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There are currently 248 farms and vineyards in Champagne-Ardennes with HVE certification, out of tens of thousands.

Moreover, only 335 of the 20,000 wines estates have received our sustainable viticulture label.

As the government was drawing up its HVE certification, the Champagne producers’ association was developing another : the “sustainable viticulture in Champagne” label.

We are proud and delighted to say that we were awarded this label shortly after receiving a level 3 HVE cer tification.

There are currently very few champagne producers who have made the environment such a high priority. We’re proud to be pioneering such an ethical approach!

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Winemaking

Most of Cattier’s cellars are located underneath the family estate in Rilly-la-Montagne, where we can store some two million bottles.These cellarsare more than a century and a half old, and still bear the traces of those who sheltered there to escape the bombs of the Second World War. During the height of the Cold War in the 1960’s, the country’s most senior generals came to visit the cellars. In the event of a nuclear war, they could have been requisitioned and turned into a bomb shelter.Thankfully, they were never needed for this kind of work!

 

With 119 steps on one side and 136 on the other, these cellars are among the deepest in Champagne (almost 30 metres deep). Cellar depth has traditionally been measured in steps, a holdover from the days when builders didn’t have any more advanced ways of measuring it. What’smore, they were excavated over three different levels, with three distinct styles of arch: Gothic, Roman and Renaissance.These cellars provide theperfect conditions for bottles to mature: a constant temperature and protection from any disturbance. We like to make the most of it. This is why our Brut Premier Cru spends more than four years down there, even though the legislation only requires 15 months. Our most prestigious bottles, however, require more than 8 years resting in the cellar to open and develop their unique aromas.

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Inside information

Here are some tips to help you serve your Champagne :

How do I chill Champagne ?

To obtain the ideal serving temperature (between 6 and 8°C), place the bottle in an ice bucket for half an hour. Or more simply, place the bottle in the refrigerator the previous evening. 
If you are really far-sighted, you’ll always have a bottle of Champagne Cattier in your fridge.

What sort of glasses should I choose ?

Choose a flute or a tulip-shaped glass. This favours the effervescence and helps to concentrate the aromas. 
Do not use a broad-rimmed glass. Always rinse and dry the flute carefully. If any traces of washing-up or rinsing product remain, the champagne will lose all its effervescence. If the bubbles disappear quickly, don’t blame the Champagne : look for the cause in the glass you have used. Never fill a glass more than 2/3, or you may lose part of the aromas.

How should I open the bottle ?

When you have removed the upper part of the cap foil and the wire, tilt the bottle slightly, hold on to the cork and turn the bottle with your other hand. Allow the gas to escape slowly.

How should I taste it ?

Begin by looking at your Champagne, its colour and effervescence. Then bring the flute up to your nose and breathe in slowly to perceive the scents and aromas. Finally, take a sip and keep it in your mouth for a few moments to discover the personality and complexity of your Champagne through its taste.

 

Vines have been grown on the Champagne terroir since Roman times. The Champagne appellation area was defined in 1927, restricting its surface area to 34,000 hectares (the Bordeaux region has 113,000) which extend over 5 departments, the main one being the Marne, 150 km north-east of Paris.

It includes 312 wine-growing communes and approximately 260,000 parcels of vines, which all have a name.

There are 4 main sectors inside the appellation area :

  • The Montagne de Reims (to the north)
  • The Marne Valley (upstream and downstream from Epernay)
  • The Côte des Blancs (south of Epernay)
  • The Côte des Bars (in the Aube department)

Its geographical position at the northern limit for wine-growing is characterized by a continental-style climate: low temperatures in winter but hot in summer, regular but not excessive rainfall, good sunshine levels in spring and summer, grapes harvested on cool autumn days, etc., all of which allows the terroir to produce wines full of finesse, elegance and subtlety.

The subsoil is mostly chalk, which allows the vines to find moisture in summer and gives the Champagne wines their typicity.

Another feature of the terroir is its hillside situation, which provides maximum sun exposure and allows the rainwater to run off more easily.

To maintain its position as world leader for the production of sparkling wines, the notion of terroir, its optimization and preservation are a real competitive advantage that makes champagne both unique and magical.

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22 different wines with 102 vintages

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