Gatinois Champagne Brut Grand Cru Tradition NV 750ml

In the NV Brut Grand Cru Tradition readers will find a big, powerful wine bursting with character and personality. The intensity and pure depth of Ay come through in this deep, expressive Champagne. An intensely saline, mineral-infused finish adds the last touch of complexity. The NV Grand Cru Tradition is 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay bottled with 6 grams of dosage. This release is based on the 2008 vintage, with the addition of 30% reserve wines from 2007 and 2006. Disgorged April 2012. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2016.

• Country: France
• Region: Champagne
• Size: 750ml

Varietal

Champagne Blend

The sparkling wines of Champagne have been revered by wine drinkers for hundreds of years, and even today they maintain their reputation for excellence of flavor and character, and are consistently associated with quality, decadence, and a cause for celebration. Their unique characteristics are partly due to the careful blending of a small number of selected grape varietals, most commonly Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. These grapes, blended in fairly equal quantities, give the wines of Champagne their wonderful flavors and aromas, with the Pinot Noir offering length and backbone, and the Chardonnay varietal giving its acidity and dry, biscuity nature. It isn’t unusual to sometimes see Champagne labeled as ‘blanc de blanc’, meaning it is made using only Chardonnay varietal grapes, or ‘blanc de noir’, which is made solely with Pinot Noir.