Henri Giraud Esprit Nature Brut Champagne

Based on the 2018 vintage with 50% coming from Giraud’s reserve. It is made up of 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay. Aged on the lees for 24 months before disgorgement in July 2021, this has a dosage of 6 grams per liter. The nose shows oak, cream, baked apple, lemon meringue, and warm baking spices. The palate has a presence to it with a pretty balance of baked red apples, oak spice and a toasted lemon meringue. With the presence of Pinot, this will last through 2035 D&M Tasting Notes

While the vast majority of the Champagnes that we bring you all are from growers, we are more than open to houses that innovate and preferably are still under family control. Henri Giraud ticks both boxes. The house traces its history back 16 generations to the arrival of the Hémart family in the 1600s. The Giraud family married into this tradition in the 1920s and today Claude Giraud represents the 12th generation to run the operation. Unlike a lot of other houses, Giraud is committed to remaining rather small. They own 24 acres of vines and purchase an additional 37 acres worth of fruit, with a cap of 21,000 cases per year. (Compare that to Dom Perignon’s 410,000 cases!) They are transitioning to 0% stainless in the cellar and rather focus on oak vinification with the addition of some clay amphora All of the oak barrels come from the Argonne forest and echo the way Champagne was made before 1950, including a continuing commitment to eliminate the use of pesticides and herbicides in both their vineyards as well as the vineyards where they source fruit in Aÿ. (In a bid for transparency, the back of the bottle contains a QR code that brings up a technical analysis of [or lack thereof] pesticides and herbicides.) Michael Kennel, D&M