André Clouet brut Chalky
AOC Champagne, 750 ml
| Grape variety: | Chardonnay |
| Producer: | André Clouet / Jean François Clouet |
| Origin: | France / Champagne |
Description
Chalky - Visually and on the palate, a homage to the chalk terroir of Champagne! 100% Chardonnay from the 2013 vintage (although not declared as such) from the Montagne de Reims and the Côte de Blancs. With only 6g of residual sweetness, this Blanc de Blancs Champagne presents itself elegant, full-bodied, yet firm and with an almost maritime salinity, accompanied by an exotic citrus basket and fresh apple notes. A Clouet Champagne with its very typical charm and creamy smoothness, accompanied by plenty of minerality and aromatic length.
Falstaff Sparkling Special 2022: 93 points
Champagne André Clouet scored 93 Punkte on the Falstaff Sparkling Special 2022 wit the Champagne Chalky Brut NV.
Attributes
| Origin: | France / Champagne |
| Grape variety: | Chardonnay |
| Ripening potential: | 1 to 3 years after purchase |
| Drinking temperature: | 8 to 10 °C |
| Food Pairing: | Apéro pastries, Smoked fish, Succulent chicken breast with cream sauc, Oysters, Giant crevettes, grilled langoustines |
| Vinification: | bottle fermentation, pressed carefully and immediately |
| Harvest: | hand-picking |
| Maturation: | on the yeast |
| Maturation duration: | 84 months |
| Volume: | 12.0 % |
| Residual sugar: | 6g/l |
| Note: | Contains sulphites |
André Clouet / Jean François Clouet
We didn’t find the low house, dating from the 17th century, straight away, even though the village of Bouzy is not very large. Modest buildings are grouped around a courtyard, behind which a vineyard lies, similar to a clos.
But first of all, Jean François Clouet, last scion of this old family that is traceable to the court of Louis XV, guided us to an elevation. We found ourselves above Bouzy on the south side of the Montagne de Reims range of hills. Jean François points westwards: In 451 AD, Attila the Hun came riding from that direction and it was here that he met the army of the Western Roman Empire. But today, instead of a battlefield, a tranquil sea of vines stretches towards the horizon.
Chardonnay
King or beggar?
Hardly any variety of vine shows such a broad spectrum of quality as the Chardonnay. Its wines range from faceless neutrality to breath-taking class. It is an extremely low-maintenance vine, which explains why it is grown around the world – even in places where it probably should not be. The aromas of the Chardonnay variety are not very pronounced: a bit of green apple, a little hazelnut; in warmer latitudes, also melon and exotic fruits. The wines are often defined by maturing in casks. They develop more or less subtle notes of butter, toasted bread and vanilla. The grapes achieve their highest expression in their region of origin, Burgundy. Its heart beats in the Côte de Beaune: one might think of the plant growth of Meursault or Puligny-Montrachet. With their finesse and complexity, they can survive for decades. Chardonnay also achieves first class in some Blanc-de-Blancs champagnes. It additionally yields great wines in the Burgundian Chablis, and increasingly in Australia and Chile. A simple rule of thumb for pairing with food: When butter and cream are involved, you cannot go wrong with Chardonnay.
France
France – Philosophy in a bottle
According to French philosophy, wine should be an expression of the soil and climate. They use the word “terroir” to describe this. Terroir makes every wine different, and many especially good. French wine is regarded worldwide as an expression of cultural perfection. The French believe that humans are responsible for the quality of the berries, the vine variety for their character, and nature for the quantity. This philosophy can be expressed succinctly as: “the truth is the vineyard, not the man.”
