By now, most of us have heard of the term champagne; as for musical master Drake once stated in his song “Signs,” “Champagne with purpose while I’m yawning.” Also by now, most of us have probably heard of Moët Hennessy, aka the parent company of Hennessy; everyone’s favorite cognac, but also the parent company to my favorite champagne, Moët’s Nectar Imperial. Recently, Moët Hennessy started their harvesting season, and I’m here to share the details with you. Besides, who doesn’t love a company that owns more than 2,800 acres of vineyards in the Champagne region? This means that Moët Hennessy is ready to celebrate this beautiful oenological journey from the vineyards to the glass.
Moët and Chandon
The nice thing about the Moët part of Moët Hennessy is that Moët & Chandon owns the largest and most diverse domain in Champagne, France. Its 1190 hectares (2,940 acres) create 800 base wines every year, hand-picked by around 3,500 grape pickers, each individual batch of juice is then analyzed, tasted and classified by cru, variety and quality. Moët & Chandon is the only House that cultivates its own selections of yeast and ensures consistency to Moët Imperial, 3 to 4 blends are made every year… damn, that’s a whole lot of grapes.
Ruinart
Chardonnay is at the heart of every Ruinart cuvée since the second half of the 20th century. Ruinart Blanc de Blancs is the iconic flagship of this range, with its unique bottle shape, revealing the light of chardonnay. The blend is 100% chardonnay from various years (20-25% of which are reserve wines from the 2 previous years). The careful blend creates a perfected chardonnay for those to enjoy with a light, fresh touch. Besides, who doesn’t love a good glass… or glasses of wine?
Krug
Joseph Krug, the founder of the House, first believed that a House of champagne should always adhere to a craftsmanship without compromise in order to consistently offer the best regardless of climate variations. The House of Krug chose to create Krug Clos du Mesnil 2004 because the year 2004 succeeded in offering ideal conditions for the maturation of beautiful grapes, with the promise of revealing the full potential of this walled plot. Krug Clos du Mesnil 2004 exalts the crisp purity of a single walled plot of vines in the village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, and of a single grape variety – Chardonnay – from a single year, 2004.
Veuve Cliquot
Since the acquisition of its first Pinot Noir Grand Cru plot, Clos Colin, Veuve Clicquot has become the second largest vineyard owner in Champagne. In 1818, Madame Clicquot invited the first-ever blended rosé, an innovative and widely used method today. Created in 1988 and launched in 1995, La Grande Dame Rosé is a wine that is both a tribute to Madame Clicquot and the reflection of the Veuve Clicquot terroir. In 2008, after a cool and rainy spring, the grapes ripened in excellent condition and created an exclusive blend by adding Pinot Noir, resulting in a bold, audacious and innovative flavor.
Dom Pérignon
Dom Pérignon is uniquely and exclusively available as a vintage. To create, only the best grapes are selected to represent the unique character of the seasons. Dom Perignon reinvents itself with each vintage, always taking risks. Each year, during Harvest, the Chef de Cave reinvents the House style with different grapes, creating a new vintage with the perfect balance between the expression of Dom Pérignon and the expression of the vintage itself. With near perfect growing conditions in 2002, the year stands as a remarkable moment for Champagne’s history. Dom Pérignon 2002 – Plenitude 2 is the rare and precious current vintage.
Please note that harvesting usually is a very long process, sometimes taking up to a year. It’s why you’ll never see wine that’s harvested in 2018 being sold in 2018; that just wouldn’t make any sense.