From: Champagne, France

Varietals: 40% Pinot Meunier, 35% Chardonnay, 25% Pinot Noir

According to wine writer Peter Liem: "This is one of the finest grower estates in the Grande Vallée de la Marne. Chiquet's wines combine a generous depth of fruit with a pronounced character of place—if you want to know what the wines of the Grande Vallée should feel like, these are an excellent introduction. Chiquet's wines generally show well young, thanks to the forward fruitiness of their Marne terroirs. Yet with their balance and depth they can also age extremely well, even the non-vintage Brut Tradition, as I've seen from several old examples dating all the way back to 1964."

Taste: Aromas of ripe pear, apricot, peach, and honey, with a subtle strawberry nuance in the background. The palate offers very good intensity, with fresh orchard fruit and spice cake flavors picking up weight with air. Closes on a vibrant, stony note with very good clarity and length.

“... reveals an inviting bouquet of crisp yellow orchard fruit, fresh peach, honeycomb, citrus oil and warm biscuits. On the palate, it’s medium to full-bodied, fleshy and charming, with a classy mousse, a succulent core of fruit and ripe but racy balancing acids. It’s already drinking well.”—Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, 90 Points

Pairing: You’ve probably heard us sing the praises of champagne with fried chicken many times, but today, we’re feeling like Japanese comfort food, so we’re going with this delicious recipe for Chicken Katsu by Kay Chun!

About. “In 1919, two brothers, Fernand and Gaston Chiquet—winemakers born and bred—came together to create their house Chiquet Brothers. They were ‘pioneers’ in Champagne, the very first winemakers to take the initiative, bold at the time, to keep their grapes, turn them into Champagne and sell their own wine. Nicolas Chiquet planted his first vines in 1746, and since then eight generations have tilled Dizy’s soil. Gaston Chiquet registered the company in 1935 and expanded the property with land in Aÿ, Cumières and Hautvillers. Gaston Chiquet is best known for making the only Blanc de Blancs from the Pinot village of Aÿ. Aÿ was the big name in the area long before wines became sparkling, and many were the kings and popes who counted Vin d’Aÿ as their favorite wine. The vineyards slope down steeply to the village by the Marne River, and the best locations are just over the town, sheltered from the wind and with maximum exposure to the sun.” —Richard Juhlin, 4000 Champagnes

Nicolas Chiquet farms 23 hectares in the Valle de la Marne in the villages of Ay, Dizy, Hautvillers and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. All of the fruit (including that which is used in the non-vintage cuvée) comes from Premier and Grand Cru grapes. Nicolas does not employ any oak aging at Gaston Chiquet; he believes that concentration, fruit maturity, and malolactic fermentation impart enough body and texture to make aging in barrel unnecessary.

The vineyards are planted to equal (forty percent each) parts Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, and twenty percent are planted to Pinot Noir. Gaston-Chiquet also produces a vintage-dated Chardonnay from 5 parcels on the western side of the Grand Cru village of Aÿ. Usually recognized as a Grand Cru village for Pinot Noir, these vines of Chardonnay were planted in Aÿ in the 1930s.