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Viinin Kuvailu
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.
Wine Information
This three year-old disgorgement was not our best bottle of Charlie 1985 as on other occasions it has reached as high as 96 points. This bottle showed its age with slight oxidation and drying fruit. One could still see it has once been a great wine. Very deep golden colour with slow, small-sized bubbles. Grilled almonds, honey, dried fruits and vanilla on the complex nose. The light mushroomy notes deduct from the appeal. Rich and vinous on the palate with the finish slightly drying out.
Vuosikerta 1985
Severe winter temperatures and spring frosts did great damage, leaving many in the region unhopeful of a good year. The destruction was excessive especially in the northern Montagne de Reims, in the hillside vineyards west of Reims and in the Aube. The early summer weather did not raise the hopes, but finally fine September weather came to the rescue and yields ended up being better than feared (albeit tiny, 6,827 kg/ha) when picking commenced on September 30th. Champagnes from 1985 are typically beautifully balanced and intense with great length and character that is still improving today. Dom Pérignon, Charles Heidsieck Champagne Charlie and Blanc des Millénaires, Krug Vintage and Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque excelled, to name a few.
