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  • Country ranking ?

    1 642
  • Producer ranking ?

    11
  • Decanting time

    15min
  • When to drink

    now to 2030
  • Food Pairing

    hot & spicy dishes

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A golden colour with pretty pink highlights, the colour tints seem to have captured sunshine, taking on a honeyed air.

To the nose, with its exceptional intensity, this complex and gourmet nose is the signature of Giraud style. The pear and dried cherry express the year's generosity...then a succession of thyme, cocoa, pepper, dried flower, morel mushroom and meat gravy aromas highlight the terroir in the finish : limestone and curry. This is a nose at the very summit of the champagne hierarchy in the 2000 Vintage.

The palate is supple, smooth effervescence before its body takes over, rich and full. Its vinosity sets the is rich, substantial, broad and creamy, with attractive tactile extremely round with a dash of the freshness that evokes the terroir of Ay.

This is a very weighty Champagne possessing great complexity and elegance.

 

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The Story

2005 base vintage; a blend of 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay, fermented and aged in small barrels from the Argonne Forest Deep yellow; aromas of tropical fruit, Anjou pear, smoked mozzarella and a light nuttiness. Excellent depth of fruit, with a delicate feel on the palate. The wood notes are intriguing, but not too powerful. Good acidity, excellent persistence and complexity, with a rich, compelling finish. Outstanding! Enjoy over the next 7-10 years.

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Wine Information

Here we find all the characteristics that make the "Oak Barrels" cuvee such a great success. This 2000 vintage is both impressive and appealing. It goes with all gastronomic dishes. THe sunny character of 2000 calls, above all for hot dishes. Pie-cust recipes

and hot, spicy dishes (curry, colombo) will boost the pairing choice.

Enjoy it with friends and wine-lovers, served in a curved flute or beautiful wine-glass, between 10°C and 12°C.-

 

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Vintage 2000

A warm and wet winter was followed by an equally wet spring. First, in May, came the seri- ous heat, which gave a fast owering around June 14. Chlorosis and mold growth were evi- dent. June and August were hot and dry. But if you were like me, and tried to have a July vaca- tion in Champagne that year, you noticed how cold and rainy it was. The weather was almost as bad as at home, with constant rain and local hailstorms. 

 

Everything looked hopeless, but the good weather during harvest saved a decent amount of fresh grapes. Harvest started on my birthday—September 11—and ended in early October. Chardonnay and pinot meunier did better than the delicate pinot noir. The year will become sought after thanks to their magic number. The quality does not look too fancy yet though. The wines are quite light with short lives. However, it is a very enjoyable moment, with its intense exotic aromas of passion fruit and tangerine. I am delighted to recommend some romantic bottles of the successful pink trio William Deutz Rosé, Louis Roederer Cristal Rosé, and Pommery Cuvée Louise Rosé. 

by Richard Juhlin

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Latest Pro-tasting notes

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Written Notes

Nu har de hittat helt rätt i sina strävanden efter stil och perfektion inom den stilen. En relativt svag årgång som 2000 lyser vinet med sauterneslik koncentration och simmigt rik frukt. Här finns också läder, valnöt, lakrits och animalisk underliggande kraft.
  • 93p
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Information

Origin

Ay, Champagne

Inside Information

Contemporaries of Henri IV and his descendants, the Hémart family settled permanently in Aÿ at the beginning of the 17th century. Their history took root there and became closely interwoven with the momentous historical events relating to Champagne from the 18th century onwards. At the opening of the 20th century, Léon Giraud married Miss Hémart and reconstructed the magnificent family vineyard, which had been ravaged by phylloxera. Today, Claude Giraud, the 12th generation of the Giraud-Hémart family, is in charge of the fortunes of the family business.

The Giraud-Hémart family own 20 hectares - 35 parcels of Grand Cru land of which 26 is planted with Pinot Noir and 9 with Chardonnay. Only 17 of the Champagne region's 323 Crus are classed as Grand Crus (rated 100%). The wine production of Giraud estate is environmentally-friendly, subscribing to the 'lutte-raisonnée' (limited intervention grape growing).

The overall production is limited to 250 000 bottles a year, making the Giraud Champagne stand apart from the majority of bulk-producing champagne houses.

The Giraud house is one of the few houses (Krug is another example) that conduct primary fermentations in oak. Henri Giraud pride themselves on sourcing wood for its barrels from the slow growing, tight grained, high quality trees of the ancient forest of Argonne, lying just 35 miles from the estate.

 

Described by leading wine critic Robert Parker as "the finest Champagne house virtually no one has ever heard of".

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