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  • Country ranking ?

    1 303
  • Producer ranking ?

    32
  • Decanting time

    15min
  • When to drink

    2020-2035
  • Food Pairing

    Seafood, Salads & Consommes

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The Story

Since 1808, Champagne Henriot, one of the last independent and family-owned houses in Champagne, has pursued a tradition of excellence – a fragile balance between delicacy, intensity, and purity. For seven generations, the family has selected only the very best vineyards, concentrated on the purity of chardonnay and has upheld the utmost respect for time in order to ensure the cuvee has an opportunity to reach its full expression.

 

The choices made in blending perpetuate the house style: chardonnay reigns in proportion (fifty to sixty percent). It brings finesse, elegance, richness and freshness. Pinot noir gives essential structure. Pinot meunier contributes fruit complexity. Non vintage wines may contain as many as fifty different crus in precisely orchestrated balance, with roughly twenty percent reserve wines. It is again Champagne Henriot’s task to impart a distinct personality to its wines. These wines, which may be a decade in age and are tasted at least every three months, comprise the house’s library, guaranteeing the perpetuity of its style.

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Vintage 2012

The next most exceptional vintage since 2008. A truly difficult growing season saw severe frosts in the winter. March brought warmth but early budbreak made the vines vulnerable to spring frosts. Overall, the early growing season was wet, and mildew became a serious issue. However, conditions improved dramatically in the later summer months. An August heatwave resulted in a rapid accumulation of sugar, but fortunately the nights remained cool, which helped to preserve acidity. Although yields were low (averaging at 9,210 kg/ha) due to frost, hail and disease early in the season, the 2012 harvest was exemplary in its maturity, acidity and grape health. A rare high acid, high sugar September harvest with impeccable concentration of flavour and refreshing vibrancy. Pinot Noir is the superstar of the vintage, though Pinot Meunier excelled too. A vintage that promises great longevity for the finest cuvées, it was widely declared by producers. However, Krug decided to invest in its reserve wines on this great year, and no Vintage was produced. The quality of 2012 is universally high, with the greatest releases so far including Louis Roederer Cristal and Cristal Rosé, Bollinger La Grande Année and La Grande Année Rosé, as well as Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque Rosé.

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Tasting note

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Written Notes

“This wine impresses with the 2012 charms of bright yet super intense fruit and lovely energetic vibrancy. The style is decadently generous with delicious creme brulee and toast complexity alongside heaps and heaps of ripe white and exotic fruit. On the palate it is age-mellowed yet it ends on a pure, dry, saline and spicy note. Drinking beautifully already.”

  • 93p

54% Chardonnay and 46% Pinot Noir. Six premiers and grands crus: Trépail, Mailly-Champagne, Verzenay, Avenay in Montagne de Reims, and Avize and Chouilly in the Côtes des Blancs. At least 8 years of ageing on lees. Dosage 6 g/l. Disgorged 2021. Henriot write in their tech sheet: 'Although 2012 started as one of the most worrying years, it ended up being ideal. Episodes of frost, hail and heavy rain occurred in the vineyard during the first months of the year. The weather eventually turned out to be favourable until harvest, with a series of heatwaves, which ultimately led to good development of the vegetation and the ripening of grapes.'
Very pale gold, plenty of lively mousse on pouring. Intense, rich and inviting toasty aroma, deep and yeasty with ripe lemon and clementine freshness of fruit. Terrific combination of intensity and freshness on the palate, the marked autolytic character giving an impression of sweetness even though it tastes dry. Toasty on the palate and there's still lovely citrus fruit at the core. Fine mousse, vibrant freshness through the deep and long flavours. (JH)

  • 91p
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Information

Origin

Reims, Champagne

Other wines from this producer

Brut Souverain

Cuvée 38 La Réserve Perpétuelle

Cuvee Baccarat

Cuvee des Enchanteleurs

Cuvée des Enchanteleurs

Cuvée Hemera

Henriot Blanc de Blancs

L’inattendue

Reserve Baron Philippe de Rothschild

Rosé Brut

Rosé Millésime

Rose Noire

Vinothèque

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